Passive House is a building concept based on rigorous energy performance and comfort principles. Side by side you may not be able to tell a passive house building from another, they may look the same but a passive house building will perform much better. With passive house it is in the details you don’t see.
According to Passive House Institute U.S a passive building is built according to these five building standards.
• Employs continuous insulation throughout its entire envelope without any thermal bridging.
• The building envelope is extremely airtight, preventing infiltration of outside air and loss of conditioned air.
• Employs high-performance windows and doors – solar gain is managed to exploit the sun’s energy in the heating season and to minimize overheating during the cooling season.
• Uses some form of balanced heat and moisture recovery ventilation.
• Uses a minimal space conditioning system.
Phius.org / what is passive building / passive house principles
Warren Construction has built two passive house buildings recently, The Friends School of Portland and the Maine Coast Waldorf High School.
