Passive House has moved from being a boutique energy standard to being the fastest growing near net-zero building standard in the world. Passivhaus buildings that require 80 percent less energy for heating and cooling are not only possible today, but they are being built for little to no additional cost. Passive House is the most economical way to build, with reduced energy & maintenance costs more than covering the borrowing costs (repayment plus interest) for the upfront cost premium. Passive House represents the lowest cost of ownership, which is why Passive House has been the affordable housing method of choice in Europe for two decades.
And now Passive House is now being applied to affordable, resilient housing in N.America. Since Pennsylvania’s 2015 decision to give Passive House the green light for multi-family affordable housing, eight other states have followed suit: Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island. In Pennsylvania 422 new affordable housing units will be built to Passive House standards in the next year alone. Even Habitat for Humanity in the US is now building its homes to Passive House standards.
In the past year, Passivhaus has been adopted by German, Austrian and Irish governments as the minimum building standard. In other words, Passive House is here to stay.
The Business Case for Passive House
