What is Passive House?
Passive House is an energy and construction standard based on five principles:
An airtight enclosure: a house shouldn’t ‘breathe.’ We don’t breathe by poking holes in our bodies; neither should your home.
A fresh air system: energy recovery ventilation (ERV). Incoming air is filtered. Heat (or lack of heat) and moisture are transferred from the outgoing to the incoming streams, providing fresh, clean air with a minimal energy penalty. Bonus: no bugs; no dust.
Well insulated, far beyond the norm. Heat is kept in (or out, depending on the season). Insulation is commonly on the exterior. Do you wear your sweater, or eat it?
High-performance windows and doors, often triple glazed.
No thermal bridges. For example, consider an apartment building with concrete floors and balconies connected as one unit. The balconies are like fins on radiators. Any component that is continuous from interior to exterior may conduct heat in or out— at a surprisingly high cost to both comfort and your wallet.
The standard is based on science, and it requires verification. Daniel Levy was an early adopter of the program in the US, and is certified as both a Passive House Consultant and a Passive House Builder by the Passive House Institute US: https://phius.org
Why did I use the example of an apartment in #5? The name passivhas was coined in Germany; it translates to PASSIVE BUILDING. The standard applies to all building types, and is often easier to meet in multifamily buildings and offices than homes. More occupants, more appliances, more computers and data centers—with less exterior surface area—means the space heating load may be minimal in a cold climate. Water heating may eclipse the energy demand of space conditioning.
Is Passive House a new idea? Some principals of Passive Building have been practiced for thousands of years—such as adobe buildings built into mountainsides. All modern aspects of Passive House were demonstrated in 1977 at the Saskatchewan (Canada) Conservation House. with our decisions largely controlled by corporate interests, it didn’t gain traction.
https://passivehouseaccelerator.com/
The Passive House Accelerator provides a wealth of information including basic explanations to in-depth technical information, videos, interviews, a weekly international Zoom session, a magazine, and product showcases.