Passive House, or Passivhaus as it’s most commonly known, is an energy efficiency standard for buildings. Buildings that are built to this standard require very little energy in their use. Through careful design and execution in construction, a well insulated and sealed building envelope is achieved by making optimal use of solar gain which results in low energy consumption and low bills from your energy supplier.

Passivhaus methodology, combined with renewable technologies, has the potential to reduce a building’s carbon footprint to zero. A step further in sustainable building would be to select materials that have low levels of embodied carbon.

A Passivhaus building can be built using methods commonly used to construct a standard house, such as masonry cavity wall or timber frame. Although a Passivhaus will require more insulation, and detailed design and good on-site workmanship to ensure the insulation is continuous and uninterrupted around the building. There is a requirement to build with no air gaps so that heat doesn’t escape, and because the building is airtight it requires a mechanical ventilation system with a heat recovery unit so that fresh filtered air is provided and stale warm air is extracted.

High performance triple glazed windows and doors will also be needed. If of poor specification, windows and doors can be one the worst areas for heat loss and inadequately performing windows that are badly installed can lead to unwanted draughts.

The design of the building is also imperative to its performance and careful attention to construction details will require an experienced Architectural professional who can design to Passivhaus standards with the understanding of the various elements to ensure the stringent requirements of Passivhaus are met.

In some cases full Passivhaus certification is sought, and there is no obligation for the building to be Passivhaus certified. The principles can be followed to achieve all the benefits but without the certificate.

This approach is in alignment with Fabric First (see below). In these instances, the energy consumption and u-values may not be within the requirements of Passivhaus, however the overall performance would exceed the minimum requirements of the building regulations.

There are a growing number of buildings and homes built to the Passivhaus standard; there are over 1,680 certified buildings and over 385 projects in the UK*. With many more people looking to reduce their energy consumption, save on fuel bills and live in a comfortable and stable environment.

*Passivhaus Trust: UK projects counter (estimate as of August 2023)

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