6. Lighting and electrical appliances

To minimize the total primary energy consumption, low-energy lighting (such as compact fluorescent lamps), and high-efficiency electrical appliances are normally used.

2. Answer the following questions:

1. What points about passive houses have been touched upon in the text?

2. Can you give a definition of the term “passive house”?

3. What countries have already followed the passive house standard?

4. What does a typical passive house consist of?

5. Can you think of some advantages and disadvantages of passive solar design?

6. What are the differences of a passive house in comparison with a conventional house?

7. What factors should be taken into account when building a passive house?

8. What are the peculiarities of a passive solar design?

9. What are the main reasons of choosing to build a house according to the passive house standard?

3. Read the following information and try to guess what type of house is described in each paragraph.

The term passive house refers to the rigorous, voluntary, passive house standard for energy efficiency in buildings. This can be achieved by a mixture of energy conservation technologies and the use of renewable energy sources. However, in the absence of recognized standards, the mix between these - and consequently the energy-use profile and environmental impact of the building - can vary significantly. It results in many new types of buildings.

a) ultra-low energy buildings

b) a near-zero energy building

c) energy-plus buildings

e) an autonomous building

f) zero energy buildings

g) a low-energy house

1. Such buildings require little energy for space heating or cooling.

2. It is a general term applied to buildings with no net energy consumption and no carbon emissions annually. They are autonomous from the energy grid supply - energy is produced on-site.

3. It is a building approaching zero energy use.

4. Buildings that produce a surplus of energy during a portion of the year.

5. It is any type of house that uses less energy than a regular house.

6. It is a building designed to be operated independently from infrastructural support services such as the electric power grid, municipal water systems, sewage treatment systems, storm drains, communication services, and in some cases, public roads.

Reading task C

1. Go over the vocabulary list. Consult a dictionary if you need.
	assembly (n) proprietor (n) rubble (n) recyclable (adj) conventional (adj) unanimous (adj) heat squandering (part) sustainable (adj) fungal (adj) capacity (n) lay off (v) boom (v) shingle (n)	emission (n) advocate (v) blinds (n) perspire (v) wavelength (n) glazed (part) surplus (n) grid (n) self-sufficient (adj) recoup (v) yardstick (n) breakthrough (n) settlement (n)
2. Notice the pronunciation of the proper and geographical names from the text.
	Hubert Fritz Arbeits-gemeinschaft Holz Erkheim Bavaria Baufritz Darmstadt Freiburg Fraunhofer Institute North America		Scandinavia Arnim Seidel Rolf Disch Heliotrop Hans Erhorn Stuttgart Freiburg Germany