Timber passive house technologies of Slovenian contemporary architecture

Energy efficiency is essential in the efforts to achieve a 20 % reduction of primary power consumption by 2020. It is widely recognized that the potential of energy saving in buildings is large. Considering the tendencies of energy production and price, it is becoming urgent to reduce energy consumption in buildings. The choice of materials for a building with a high energy efficiency becomes much more important and strategies for reducing the use of primary energy for the production of materials and components becomes key. Renewable building materials should already be integrated into the early phases of building planning. The positive trend towards wooden construction is dictated by international guidelines, where a wooden building is an important starting point, not only for low-energy, but also low-emission building with exceptional health and safety aspects. In Europe, the most comprehensive and widely used is a concept of ultra-low energy house, more precisely, the passive house concept. Most Slovenian buildings combine contemporary styling with a degree of energy efficiency that comes close to passive house standards. It is widely recognised that the Slovenian construction industry is relatively advanced in the field of low energy buildings. In the light of the growing importance of energy-efficient building methods, it could be said that timber passive house would play an increasingly important role in the future.