The temperature is always in the Goldilocks zone, not too hot or too cold—no matter if it’s 45°C or -5°C degrees outside.
The air is always fresh, clean and healthy thanks to continuous ventilation. Throw open doors and windows whenever it suits, but indoor air quality is taken care of regardless.
A Passivhaus home will stay cooler for longer even during heatwaves, thanks to appropriate levels of insulation and shading.
These homes use only tiny amounts of energy for heating and cooling: you’ll enjoy big savings on energy bills for the lifetime of the house.
Passivhaus is an international design standard that guarantees human health and comfort, building performance and long-lasting, quality buildings.
Hillary renovation: design by Envirotecture
Passivhaus starts at the design stage
Each of the Passivhaus Design & Construct plans has been carefully modelled in specialist software, taking into account how the building will perform with regards to energy efficiency and comfortable indoor temperatures (that’s as much about staying cool in summer as it is warm in winter). Our skilled designers have fine-tuned the individual components, such as insulation levels, glazing design and window performance, to find the sweet spot between price and performance.
Independently verified
An independent, third-party certifier then reviews the digital model and confirms that the house build will meet the standard, so long as it’s built in accordance with the design. With Passivhaus Design & Construct’s experienced build teams, you can count on that. As an owner, you have the certainty that you’ll get the quality and comfort you’ve paid for, before any construction work starts.
A holistic approach
Sometimes people talk about Passivhaus just in terms of building components, like tilt and turn windows or better insulation. It’s true, a Passivhaus building has a quality building envelope (it’s airtight and there are no cold patches where heat leaks out or gets in), it’s very well-insulated, the windows and doors are better quality and there’s continuous ventilation.
But, the beauty of the Passivhaus approach is that it’s a standard and a system. In the hands of a skilled Passivhaus designer, all these different components work together, taking into account the building design, its site and orientation and the specific climate. Homeowners have reassurance about how their house is going to work and how it will feel: there’s no guesswork.
Details from Passivhaus new builds by Envirotecture.
Isn't Passivhaus overkill for Australia's mild winters?
Because Passivhaus is a performance standard, it’s suited to anywhere in the world. Australian winters are much warmer than northern Europe, where Passivhaus was developed. That just means it’s easier and cheaper to reach the standard here. And Australian Passivhaus designers are helping pioneer ways to design energy-efficient homes and other buildings in tropical climates.
Besides: there’s no part of the world where people don’t deserve outstanding indoor air quality, peace and quiet and the comfort of a quality, durable build. Those are all benefits of building the Passivhaus way.
Can't passive solar do all this?
The Passivhaus Design & Construct architects are skilled in Passivhaus design and they have decades of experience in designing passive solar homes. They use passive solar principles whenever that’s useful and appropriate for a specific project. It’s integrated with the predictive power and sophisticated modelling provided by Passivhaus, offering the best of both worlds.
The Nunn family live in a certified Passivhaus home in northern Sydney that was designed and built by Passivhaus Design & Construct. It’s energy efficient, all-electric, comfortable and healthy and their family thrives. Read more about their journey
A Passivhaus under construction, showing a high-quality insulation install in the walls, an immaculately taped building membrane, and internal ductwork from the mechanical ventilation system snaking from the unit to all rooms in the house through the service cavity above the finished ceiling.
Learn more about Passivhaus
Want more technical details? Check out the eight principles of Passivhaus, from the UK Passivhaus Trust.
Or download the free book, Passivhaus in Australia: Why these healthy, comfortable and resilient buildings should be our new normal. Lots of case studies of Australian homes, international examples, clear, non-technical explanations. Published by APA in 2020, a number of Passivhaus Design & Construct’s people contributed to this book.
