This is a Passivhaus Basics blog post that gives an overview of the Passivhaus Standard. Want to watch a 2-minute overview first? Jump to the video at the bottom

The Passivhaus Standard is often referred to as “the world‘s leading standard in energy efficient design.” And usually a description of the standard includes details of the specific technical requirements. (If you are curious about the technical requirements, I cover the key elements in this post.)

The Passivhaus Standard is indeed an international, rigorous, scientific, performance standard for the design and construction of energy efficient buildings. It applies to all kinds of buildings, not just houses. However, the Passivhaus Standard is not just about the technical requirements of energy efficient design, it encompasses:

  • Comfort
  • Energy Efficiency, and
  • Quality Assurance

It is the combination of these three key aspects that make the Passivhaus Standard what it is.

What do Comfort, Energy Efficiency and Quality Assurance mean in practical terms for a house that is certified to the Passivhaus Standard?

026 What is the Passivhaus Standard
Continue reading

The Passivhaus Standard is the world’s foremost standard for energy efficient and comfortable buildings. Buildings certified to the Passivhaus Standard are often more energy efficient than conventional buildings by a factor of 10. In the face of climate change, architecture in the anthropocene must change. Buildings need to consume radically less energy to emit radically less CO2.

Buildings certified to the Passivhaus Standard are also incredibly successful at meeting design predictions. The performance gap is eliminated. And passivhaus buildings maintain their performance over time. The rigorous integrated design and quality assurance requirements of certification process for the Passivhaus Standard ensure this.

And yet there are many misunderstandings about what the Passivhaus Standard is. In some cases it gets confused with other aspirations. In other cases the standard gets accused of not being one thing or another, regardless of what it actually is! There is even a sense of the ‘tall poppy syndrome’ at play within the sustainable / green building community sometimes.

This blog will help clear up some of the common misconceptions around the Passivhaus Standard.

016 What the Passivhaus Standard is Not
Continue reading