What is a Passive House?

Passive House – or Passivhaus as it is often known – is a building standard which sets the energy demand required to heat a building or provide hot water and which can be calculated at design stage and not just once the building is constructed. This rigour eliminates what is known as the ‘performance gap’, where predicted heating and hot water systems do not deliver what they were designed to achieve.

The Passivhaus standard includes several main principles including high levels of insulation, whole-house ventilation with heat recovery, airtight construction, thermal bridge-free detailing and controls for heating and hot water.

Attention to detail at both design and construction stages is vital for the success of the standard and the result is a comfortable living environment with plenty of healthy, fresh air and no uncontrolled draughts. Nowadays, it is possible to build to this standard with a very small additional cost but it is essential that you work with architects who have been trained in the standard and builders who are familiar with the benefits of attention to installation detail on site. Lomas and Mitchell Architects are qualified Passivhaus Designers and have experience in designing homes to these exacting standards.

Find out more about one of our Passive House projects The Fishery - Built to immaculate energy efficient standards.