Energy Efficiency Improvements on the Passive House Concept in Wooden House Construction in Sweden

Abstract: In the current business context, the demand for energy efficiency in the wooden house construction has been increased due to higher requests for the service by society. Passive house standards can be considered as a key concept to increase the energy efficiency of the building. Improvements in energy efficiency have prompted new advances in the construction industry that focus on the building industry development.   Improving energy efficiency in wooden houses is one of the major targets of wooden house construction sector in Sweden. To accomplish this desire, energy efficiency improvements in the wooden building industry are required to develop their building and construction practices into a more sustainable and energy-efficient approach. The aim of this research is to investigate current processes and challenging factors related to the energy efficiency of wooden houses in Sweden and identify the methods to improve the energy efficiency of wooden houses in the passive house concept. The purpose of this research is to define the current problems and challenges within the energy efficiency wooden house construction industry and provide recommendations to improve the energy efficiency performance of construction process in upcoming wooden house construction projects in Sweden towards energy efficiency in passive house standards.   This study has been conducted through a qualitative approach; the data was collected through a semi-structured interview with five engineering professionals in the energy efficiency sector within the wooden building construction industry and all the data analysis was done by using thematic analysis.   The findings were that innovative materials and building envelope are the main consideration in the newly built wooden house and climate zone consideration, design complexity and practical difficulties in the construction phase are the main elements challenging to improve building the passive house with the Swedish energy efficiency building regulations. Supplier-led systemic innovation, formalization of wooden passive house certifications, and technological advancement to build a well-developed building envelope are the required improvements to increase the energy efficiency of wooden house construction in the passive house concept.