Smart Plus Homes: A passion for bringing passive house to the nation

Daniel Kress is a man on a mission. His aim is to have Passive House design principles implemented into the National Construction Code by 2030.

He came to Australia from Germany in 2015 to work for a small building company in Perth but realised quickly that he would not spread the Passive House message far enough or fast enough if he relied on doing it building by building.

In 2017 he founded Smart Plus Homes, an accredited training body, with the aim of spreading the Passive House message throughout the Australian building industry.

“The problem is that people don’t know what they don’t know. Everyone here is focusing on energy efficiency but that is only solving half the problem,” he says.

Passive House focuses on two important aspects of sustainable house design:

• Separating the environment inside the house from the environment outside the house to preserve energy for heating or cooling
• Ensuring hygiene and comfort inside the house, using heat recovery and ventilation to prevent condensation and mould growth, which can lead to respiratory problems

“That doesn’t mean you can’t open the window – I encourage people to open the windows all the time. It’s just that you know that on some days it may cost you a little more in heating or cooling,” he says.

Daniel initially trained as a carpenter in Germany after discovering a passion for building as a child, working with his father. He now holds masters degrees in civil engineering from both Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany and Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.

He offers certified Passive House training for designers and trades people as well as more general introductory courses and informative seminars. Smart Plus Homes runs training courses around Australia, at Box Hill Institute in Melbourne and in-house on request.