Passivhaus is, in short, the gold standard for energy-efficient homes. According to physicist Wolfgang Feist, co-founder of the concept: “The heat losses of the building are reduced so much that it hardly needs any heating at all.” Certified houses are built with high-quality insulation, triple glazing, insulated frames, mechanical ventilation, and airtightness levels around twenty times higher than a typical UK build. These homes are so good at retaining heat that the sun, inhabitants, and household appliances fulfil most heating needs – hence ‘passive house’.
The standard was developed by Feist and structural engineer Bo Adamson in the early 1990s, with the first certified homes appearing in Germany soon after. It is managed by the Darmstadt-based Passivhaus Institute, an independent non-profit research body. The concept is well established and well regarded, but so far there are few certified houses in existence today (approximately 38,000 units as...