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What is Passivhaus?

Passivhaus or 'Passive House' is the fastest growing energy performance standard in the world with 30,000 buildings realised to date, the majority of those since 2000. The Passivhaus Standards strengths lie in the simplicity of its approach; build a house that has an excellent thermal performance, exceptional airtightness with mechanical ventilation!

This robust approach to building design allows the designer to minimise the 'Heating Demand' of the building and in some residential buildings only specify a heated towel rail as means of conventional heating, this heat can then be recovered and circulated by a Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) unit.

As well as being an energy performance standard Passivhaus also provides excellent indoor air quality, this is achieved by reducing the air infiltration rates and supplying fresh air which is filtered and post heated by the MVHR unit.  

Global Application

The Passivhaus Standard can be applied to any climate in the world and works equally as well in warm climates as it does in more moderate climates. To date Passivhaus buildings have been designed and built in every European country, Australia, China, Japan, Canada the USA and South America....a research station has even been constructed to the Passivhaus Standard in Antarctica!

Fuel Poverty

As we become more aware of fuel poverty it becomes increasingly important to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, with fuel prices continuing to rise the low heating demand of Passivhaus Buildings of less than 15kWh per square metre per year means that annual fuel costs are reduced by a factor of 5-10. For example a household living in a 70m² Passivhaus with gas heating could spend as little as £25 on space heating each year.

It has been proven that a Passivhaus will not fall below 16°C, even without heating during the coldest winter months; this is due to the excellent thermal performance and low air infiltration rates.