What is Passive House?
Passive House is a design standard that ensures healthy, comfortable, energy efficient buildings. The ‘fabric-first’ construction concept focuses on the thermal envelope of a building to achieve optimal thermal comfort conditions inside.
The standard takes into account insulation, airtightness, window and door design, ventilation systems with heat recovery and the elimination of thermal bridges.
Passive House is considered the most rigorous voluntary, energy and health based standard in the design and construction industry today, resulting in buildings that consume as much as 90% less heating and cooling energy compared to conventional buildings. Applicable to any building type or design, the Passive House (Passivhaus) high-performance building standard is internationally recognised, science-based and proven.
- Australian Passive House Association
This video by Hans-Jörn Eich is a great pictorial explanation of how it all works.
Want to know more?
Your Home - Australia’s Guide to Environmentally Sustainable Homes
Passipedia - The Passive House Resource