A church which will fulfil the requirements of a passive building was erected in Nowy Targ at the Szaflarska Równia (Szaflarska Plane). The authors of the building project, the architects: Tomasz Pyszczek and Marcin Stelmach from Kraków claim it to be the first such building of public utility in Poland. The core of passive building is based on a very low demand for energy used for heating – below 15kWh/(sq. metre year), which means that during a heating period 15 kWh is needed to heat one square metre, which corresponds burning 1.5 litres of fuel oil or 1.7 cubic metres of gas or 2.3 kilograms of carbon. For the purpose of comparison, demand for heat in conventional buildings is equal to approximately 120 kWh/ (sq. metre year). These savings can be achieved by maximal loss reduction of heat and using its natural resources, e.g. solar radiation or people residing in rooms. Every building is known to lose heat through external barriers, which are walls, windows, roof. Therefore building designers aim above all to improve technical parameters of these elements. Rooms are air-conditioned through mechanical systems, which, apart from their very important function of air-conditioning, are installed to warm rooms with the use of heat acquired from sun and air removed outside. In practical terms a passive building does not require traditional heating installations what enables to significantly reduce building costs. Erection of the church at the Szaflarska Równia (Szaflarska Plane) started in May 2008. The church is to be of compact block, with a tall roof with a solar collector located in its southern surface; windows in the southern façade will also catch as much solar energy as possible. The project assumes warming foundation walls with a 30-cm foamed polystyrene layer, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery above 90%, application of a heating pump used to warm floor, windows and external walls with their high thermo-insulation (coefficient U  = 0,75 W / m2 K for windows and 0,10 W / m2 K for walls and roof).

Property Journal 02-03/09