A Passive House is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in buildings that reduces a building’s ecological footprint. Certification results in low-energy buildings that require minimal energy for heating or cooling. Originally developed for cold climate regions, the Passive House concept has been highly effective in ensuring superior energy performance in the countries where it is applied.
The Passive House principles, developed in Germany, standardize key energy-efficient design parameters such as thermal insulation, airtightness, thermal bridge-free design, high-performance windows, and heat recovery ventilation. Compared to conventional buildings, Passive Houses achieve up to 90% energy savings.
Well-insulated and airtight Passive Houses rely on internal heat gains from electrical appliances, occupants, and solar energy to passively heat the indoor environment. A heat recovery ventilation system ensures a continuous supply of fresh air while minimizing energy losses.
During the 1980s, Sweden and Denmark introduced low-energy buildings as a mandatory energy standard for new constructions. Key strategies such as high insulation, minimized thermal bridges, insulated glass, and heat recovery ventilation were developed to reduce energy consumption in buildings.
Building upon these foundations, the Passive House concept was first proposed in May 1988 by Professor Bo Adamson of Lund University, Sweden, and Professor Wolfgang Feist of the Institute for Housing and the Environment, Germany.
Supported by research projects funded by the State of Hesse, Germany, the first Passive House was constructed in 1991 in Darmstadt, Germany. In September 1996, the Passive House Institute (PHI) was established in Darmstadt to standardize, promote, and regulate the Passive House concept.
To encourage adoption across Europe, the Passive House Institute initiated the CEPHEUS (Cost-Effective Passive Houses as European Standards) project, implementing 250 Passive House projects across different regions and monitoring their performance. After the successful completion of CEPHEUS, Passive House design principles were adopted and implemented across Europe.
From 1996 to 2010, over 25,000 Passive Houses were built, primarily in Germany and Austria. In North America, the first Passive House was built in Urbana, Illinois, in 2003. Today, more than 50,000 Passive Houses exist worldwide, with 18,000 of them located in Austria.
ERKE co-founder Ö. Dilda YAMAN has been officially certified as a Passive House Designer by the Passive House Institute (PHI). ERKE’s dedication to sustainability has deepened with its involvement in Passive House projects, reinforcing its commitment to minimizing environmental impact and advancing sustainable building solutions.
Passive Houses are designed according to five fundamental principles:
The Passive House Institute (PHI) has introduced three certification levels for buildings integrating renewable energy sources:
For all three classes, the heating/cooling demand must not exceed 15 kWh/m² per year.
Buildings must be designed and constructed according to the Passive House Institute’s (PHI) standards. Once completed, they are evaluated and certified based on compliance with these standards.
Since Passive House design requires advanced technical knowledge, projects should be led by Certified Passive House Designers (CEPH Training)—architects and engineers trained by PHI or its accredited institutions. Working with experts helps prevent time and financial losses.
Even if a building is designed to meet Passive House principles, it must pass the airtightness test conducted by the Passive House Institute to receive certification.
Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification is an important environmental standard that supports sustainable design approaches like Passive House. It promotes the use of materials with minimal environmental impact, designed for reuse and circular economy principles.
In Passive Houses, recyclable and energy-integrated materials are selected in line with Cradle to Cradle principles, further enhancing building performance while reducing environmental impact.
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