Passive House

Our entire design team is experts in sustainable design and several are Certified Passive House Consultants. Passive House is the world’s leading standard for energy-efficient construction, with the promise of slashing the heating energy consumption of buildings by an amazing 90%! It combines building enclosure efficiency and passive solar strategies in a system for designing and building cost-effective, comfortable, energy-efficient buildings. A Passive House is a very well-insulated, virtually air-tight building that is primarily heated by passive solar gain and by internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc.

 The major components are:

• Super-insulated envelope

• Ultra-high-performance windows

• Airtight construction (0.6 air changes /hr at 50 Pascals)

• Eliminating or reducing thermal bridging

• Heat-recovery ventilation

• Using passive heat sources (solar of course, but also equipment, lighting, and occupants).

Its effectiveness has been demonstrated in projects in every climate zone around the world, ranging from single-family homes to very large commercial and institutional structures. More than 20,000 examples have been completed worldwide. For more information, please visit:  www.passivehouse.us, or www.phnw.org/