Superior energy efficiency, sustainability and high quality of the construction are the main arguments why people prefer passive houses.

Nowadays it is hard to impress with energy efficiency, since it is found all around us – energy-efficient lighting, energy-efficient buildings, energy-efficient electrical goods and more and more widespread use of renewable energy resources in the household. The concept of an “energy-efficient building”, including the passive building, is known to an increasingly large part of public who are at least slightly interested in reducing home energy consumption housing opportunities and solutions. However, it should be said that the insight and understanding about these energy-efficiency characteristics of buildings is correct.
In energy-efficient buildings, many details matter, which would be of a secondary value according to the Latvian construction norms (LBN 002-01), such as the orientation of the building, the glazed surface area ratio in each facade, the amount of thermal bridges, the effectiveness of the ventilation system and building material choices.

As a result of a simplified energy efficiency approach, many new buildings have been built in Latvia in the pre-crisis years whose heating energy consumption does not differ significantly from those built in the Soviet period.

Why choose a SINERGO house?

Professional and certified team

Competent staff is involved in specific energy-efficiency matters of the project, such as thermal bridge analysis, development of envelope sealing solutions, technical parameters of the heat insulation materials, with experience in complex energy consumption analysis.

High quality of the construction works

SINERGO houses are built according to the applicable Passive House construction standards. Adherence to these high standards guarantees the quality of building in all aspects of construction.

High-quality building materials

We use only the highest quality and proven construction materials from reliable suppliers, as well as windows, doors and ventilation system certified by the Passive House Institute.

Quality control tests

Regular quality controls are carried out in the construction phase, e.g., airtightness Blower door test, for early identification and correction of any shortcomings, and at least one thermography test is carried out in winter after the completion of the project.

Our experience and competence guarantee that the result will always match the promise and the quality criteria of the project!

Quality control using the Blower door method

The passive house is so warm and economical because it is surrounded by a continuous layer of insulation. Each construction joint must be precise and tightly sealed to retain the heat inside the house. Low-quality and poorly sealed joints can create the risk of condensation and mould due to moisture migration, and draughts and cold air zones at the floor level can occur due to air flow. The Blower door airtightness test method allows for determining the areas requiring additional sealing in a timely manner.

The Blower door tool set includes a special fan, which is installed in the front door or window of the house for the test. The fan is connected to sensors and a computer, which allows for creating a temporary air pressure difference of 50 Pa (Pascal) between the interior and exterior of the house. With such a pressure difference, the air starts leaking through all poorly sealed joints and it can be immediately detected using sensors and the computer. The Blower door method can be considered the main quality check for construction works, because the resulting measurements indicate both good design and the quality of execution.

Quality control with the blower door is carried out at least two times during the construction – immediately after the installation of heat insulation and the airtight layer and before the completion of the construction works.

According to the Passive house standards,  uncontrolled leakage through gaps must be smaller than 0.6 of the total house volume per hour during a pressure test at 50 Pascal (both pressurized and depressurized).

SINERGO average Blower Door test result is just n50 = 0.25 h-1, which is 2x better than Passive house requirement!

Analysis of thermal bridges of a house

All Sinergo houses undergo the calculations of the principal thermal bridges using special calculation software to precisely estimate the heat losses through the construction’s weak spots. Such calculations are of vital importance for achievement of passive house characteristics.

The given calculation analyses the exterior wall corner joint and, as seen from the results, the temperature distribution in the corner joint is very uniform and there is no temperature drop on the interior surface, which is characteristic of thermally inefficient structures.