Passive House Building Certification
Passive House Building Certification is a stamp of quality assurance that a building meets the high performance and comfort levels of the Passive House standard.
Passive House Certification Criteria
For a building to be certified as a Passive House, it must meet the following main criteria:
- Space Heat Demand max. 15 kWh/m2a OR Heating load max. 10 W/m2
- Space Cooling Demand max. 15 kWh/m2a
- Pressurization Test Result at 50 Pa with air change rates being limited to n50 = 0.6/h
- Total Primary Energy Renewable demand max. 60 kWh/m2a
- Maximum 10% of the time throughout the whole year the inside temperature can be above 25°C
The Certification Process
This involves an initial design review of the project, ideally before a building permit application is submitted. All drawings, specifications, calculations and other documentation are reviewed to ensure they meet the requirements of the Passive House standard. A short report is then issued, highlighting any issues that put certification at risk. This enables the project team to address these issues before specifications are fixed. With all the improvements implemented, the final design should also be assessed. After the final assessment is passed, the construction of the project can begin.
When the project is fully built and commissioned, the post construction documentation is reviewed. If the project meets the all requirements, a certificate is issued. If the project does not meet all the requirements, a short report describing the shortcomings will be issued. If the shortcomings can be resolved, the project can be resubmitted for another assessment.
Why should you certify your Passive House?
Advantages for the owner
- Certainty that the agreed-upon energy standard will actually be achieved
- Increase in property value through independent quality assessment
- Certified Passive House verification using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) can also be submitted for various subsidy programmes.
Advantages for the designer
- Prevention of errors due to thorough external checking of planning prior to the start of construction
- Recognition as a Certified Passive House Designer is possible by submitting a certified building
Having a project you want to certify?
Click on the button to fill in the certification questionnaire and we will give you an offer for the certification of your project. After we send you the offer, we will schedule a free 30-minute discovery call at which we will further discuss your project and the certification procedure.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your questions aren’t covered below, you can contact us or chat with us.
The design stage review can take between 1-3 months, depending on whether the correct documentation is submitted. The post-construction review takes around 2 weeks.
We are accredited by the PHI to certify buildings all over the world. Currently, we are working on certifications of various Passive House projects spread over 3 continents.