While the temperatures outside Adnan Abdulrahman's house reached 47 degrees Celsius last summer, inside it was only 25 degrees. Air conditioning the house required very little energy.
Abdulrahman, a professor of Persian language at the University of Sulaymaniyah, built his house using the Passive House system by 65 percent. The cost of the system is higher, but it is environmentally friendly and reduces energy consumption for air conditioning purposes.
The Passive House is an international standard for building houses and buildings. According to experts and companies specialized in this field, the house saves energy by up to 90%.
In Iraq, fuel, specifically kerosene, is a major source for heating houses and buildings during winter. On average, each family consumes between two and eight barrels (220 liters) of kerosene throughout the cold season, costing them between 300,000 to 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars IQD (USD200-670).
Burning fuel is also a significant source of environmental pollution. In addition to kerosene, Iraqis consume a large amount of electricity for air conditioning purposes.
Abdulrahman, who used the Passive House system to build the roof and exterior facade of the house, stated, "I used to consume seven barrels of oil, but now I only need to consume one barrel."
Low energy consumption and environmental protection
The Passive House system is not only related to heat and cold, but also prevents noise pollution inside the house and purifies the house's air through filters. This ensures that the house does not contribute to heat dissipation into the ecosystem, unlike traditional houses, according to Muslim Muhammad.
Muhammad, a young engineer from the city of Halabja, obtained a certificate in the field of Passive House systems from Germany and is currently working in this field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
"The system is energy-saving and environmentally friendly."
He explained that scientific research has proven that Passive House System reduces energy consumption by 90%, as the building's occupants will not need air conditioning in the summer or winter, and the air inside the house is free of pollution.
One of the main foundations of Passive Houses is that they include a natural ventilation system. The air that enters the house passes through filters, preventing polluted air from entering the house.
The system is energy-saving and environmentally friendly
"If the temperature in the winter is 10 degrees below zero, it will be 25 degrees Celsius inside the house, and you will not need to operate heaters or radiators," he added.
"The Passive House lasts longer than a traditional house."
The eco-friendly system has been implemented in Iraqi provinces and the Kurdistan Region since 2019. However, the use of this system is still limited to the well-paid classes of society.
It consists of thick insulation and a well-designed standard ventilation system to maintain thermal balance inside the house.
"The Passive House was designed primarily to serve the environment, as buildings used to consume large amounts of energy and produce harmful emissions that enter the atmosphere, leading to global warming and affecting the climate," Muhammad added.
"This system reduces the emission of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other toxic gases emitted from buildings, reducing air pollution."
The US Environmental Protection Agency EPA, which most countries rely on for laws and standards related to air pollution, has set standards for six major air pollutants that affect human health if exceeded.
The pollutants consist of ground-level ozone, fine suspended particles, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead.
According to the United Nations reports, the building construction sector contributes significantly to climate change globally, as it constitutes 21% of greenhouse gas emissions.
San Saravan, a member of the Sulaymaniyah Nature and Property Defense Authority, says, "The importance of this type of initiative (Passive Houses) lies in the fact that our planet is exposed to the danger of hot gases that have led to global warming. We know that cities are undergoing random expansion that is not based on any environmental standards."
This approach is supported by Yerevan Shaswar, who holds a master’s degree in air quality. "While the air quality in the Kurdistan Region was good during the past 10 years, it is now in a bad state because most pollutants have exceeded the specified standards."
The KRG Ministry of Health says that environmental pollution is one of the causes of cancer, as it recorded 9,911 cases of cancer in 2023, with statistics indicating that lung cancer is the second most common case.
"One of the main foundations of Passive Houses is that they include a natural ventilation system. The air that enters the house passes through filters, preventing polluted air from entering the house. The system also maintains the humidity level inside it," Engineer Muhammad says.
Adnan Abdulrahman, who used the Passive House system to build his house, confirmed the same thing and said, "We do not suffer from high humidity and suffocation; the air we breathe is clean."
Long-term benefits
According to Abdulrahman, "Building a Passive House costs a relatively higher amount compared to traditional houses, but over time, the house will save you many times that amount. For example, I consume one barrel of kerosene annually instead of six barrels."
Building a house using the Passive House system costs an amount higher than building a traditional house by percentages ranging between 5-20%, depending on the type of building materials produced by the companies.
Muhammad pointed out that the prices of materials vary according to their quality and the company that manufactures them.
"The costs of consuming electricity, fuel, and water for air conditioning purposes decreased from one million dinars to less than 300 thousand dinars."
"If I had built the entire house using the Passive House system, I would have saved more, because only 65% of my house was built with the Passive House system," he added, noting that "the temperature inside my house throughout the past summer was 25 degrees Celsius, and I needed very little energy to air-condition the house."
The spokesman for the Sulaymaniyah Environment Department, Mustafa Juma, says that there are few Passive Houses in the Kurdistan Region, "but it is an important start to serve the environment, as this system provides the energy needed to air-condition buildings."
A 2022 United Nations report indicates that buildings were responsible for 34% of global energy demand and 37% of carbon dioxide emissions related to energy and industrial processes.
The spokesman for the Sulaymaniyah Environment Department explained that the Passive House "is able to establish a special, close, and interconnected relationship with the outside world and adapts and integrates accordingly and continuously."
He pointed out that the houses built with the Passive House system "retain heat during the winter and reuse the heat generated inside the house through a special system for ventilation, and also benefit from the sun’s heat.”
The Sulaymaniyah Municipality, until the completion of this press report, has not made any statement about whether there are instructions for building Passive Houses or not.
“Since I built my house using the Passive House system, I have become more concerned with environmental issues,” Abdulrahman says.
High cost and scarcity of information
One of the challenges facing the Passive House system is its high cost compared to traditional houses, at a time when KRI has been suffering for years from delayed payment of employees’ salaries and deductions, as the region’s employees have been deprived of 20 monthly salaries since 2014.
An employee in a company specializing in building Passive Houses in Sulaymaniyah said, “If building a traditional house with an area of 100 square meters costs $20,000, then building it using the Passive House system will cost $25,000.”
Non-payment of salaries and limited revenues are among the reasons for the decline in environmental awareness and the failure to resort to such initiatives.
The spokesperson for the Sulaymaniyah Environment indicated that their follow-ups showed that the cost of building a Passive House is higher by a percentage ranging between 5 to 20 %, "depending on the quality of the materials and their design."
Other challenges include a lack of experience and the lack of sufficient information among citizens about the system.
Herish Abdullah, a government employee, who was about to build a house in the Qularaesi neighborhood of Sulaymaniyah, said, "I don't know anything about the Passive House system; I heard about it from you," and after explaining, he said, "If that's the case, it will require a larger amount, which is beyond my financial capabilities."
The system is not popular and people rarely take into consideration building an eco-friendly housing unit amid lack of rules and regulations by the local authorities to protect the environment.
"There is no public awareness about climate change; the media is negligent in this regard and has not done its duty in conveying information. Non-payment of salaries and limited revenues are among the reasons for the decline in environmental awareness and the failure to resort to such initiatives," Saravan concluded.
