Passive House Resources

CanPHI-West Membership Directory: Canadian list of Certified Passive House Designers, architects, contractors, as well as other CanPHI trained PH enthusiasts

Projects

According to iPHA, 2106:
“Within the last several years, Passive House has gained rapidly in popularity, with over 50,000 residential and non-residential units in existence worldwide, and over 5,500 certified according to strict Passive House Institute certification criteria. These numbers are on the rise.”

Passive House Project Database (PHI): Selected Passive House projects worldwide

Map of Certified Passive House Buildings (iPHA, PHI)

International Selection: PH designs from around the globe published in Construct Ireland, 2011 (PDF, as published in Construct Ireland, Iss 8, Vol 5, page 22-23)
“… there is a common misconception that building to the passive house standard involves sacrificing design freedom for the sake of thermal performance.”

Passive House Architecture Award Exhibition: With further links to winning entries and The Passive House Architecture Award book
“Good architecture is the embodiment of function, well-being and design.”

CanPHI-West Project Listing

Technical Information

Passive House Compendium: All PH formulas and related information condensed on a few pages — works great as a Cheat Sheet for the Passive House Exam

Passipedia: A wealth of Passive House knowledge with links to other Passive House resources (certain articles are only accessible for iPHA / Affiliate members)

How to build a Passivhaus: The UK Passivhaus Trust’s online knowledge base

Publications

For reviews of books published in English: The Blog of Elrond Burrell – Passivhaus Books

Net Zero Energy Buildings, Passive House + Renewables: This 2015 eBook by NAPHN demonstrates that the Passive House pathway is the best way to reach Net Zero.

Passive House pamphlet: The PH basics by iPHA (PDF 2p)

Active for more comfort – The Passive House: In-depth brochure by iPHA (PDF 76p 11.6MB)
Information for property developers, contractors and clients

Free guides from BRE:

BRE Passivhaus Primer – Introduction (PDF 8p)
BRE Passivhaus Primer – Designer’s Guide (PDF 12p)
BRE Passivhaus Primer – Contractor’s Guide (PDF 12p)
BRE Passivhaus Primer – Airtightness Guide (PDF 24p)

Free guides from UK Passivhaus Trust:

Technical Guidance – Why choose Passivhaus? (24 p)
Technical Guidance – Passivhaus: an Introduction (12 p)
Technical Guidance – How to Build a Passivhaus: Rules of Thumb (52 p)
Technical Guidance – Passivhaus Quality Assurance: Large & Complex Buildings (17p)

eBooks by NYPH:

New York Passive House 2015 (48 p)
The Developer’s Guide (13 p)
Passive NYC – A snapshot of low energy building opportunities, barriers, & resources (32 p)

Passive Design Toolkit – For Homes: By the City of Vancouver (PDF 58p 4.72MB)
Passive Design Toolkit – For Larger Buildings: By the City of Vancouver (PDF 114p 12.58MB)

Non Domestic Passive House Design Guidelines: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (PDF 97p 7MB)
Guidelines including a very broad range of case study Passive House projects including not just offices and schools, but also a large Irish supermarket, a church, sports hall, factory and veterinary clinic.

Details for Passive Houses – A Catalogue of Ecologically Rated Construction: By IBO, the Austrian Institute for Healthy and Ecological Building

CEPHEUS – Living Comfort without Heating: This book is the concluding document of the CEPHEUS Austria 1998 – 2001 Projects (Cost Efficient Passive Houses as European Standards). The book’s chapters (English and German) and the detailed project reports (German only, 50-70 pages for each of the 9 Austrian projects) are available for download.

Passive House CD: Passive House in warm climates

Solar Versus Superinsulation – A 30-Year-Old Debate: A dispute from the late ’70s and early ’80s still sheds light on energy-efficient design: Article by Martin Holladay on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com
Also by Martin Holladay on a similar topic: The History of Superinsulated Houses in North America

‘Zero-Energy’ Construction Crosses the Ocean: Article in the New York Times, 1 December 2011
“When you wake up after sleeping in a passive house … you never have that sort of ‘ugh’ feeling… you wake up with the best sleep ever, because it’s incredibly oxygenated air.”

High Performance Homes – Why isn’t Canada spearheading the movement to build more sustainable homes?: Article in Canadian Geographic magazine, June 2012
“Passive House is the most economical way to build today if the operational costs over many years are taken into the equation.”

Pro/Con: Does Passivhaus Make Sense Over Here? Three North American experts weigh in on applying a German energy efficiency standard across North America’s broad climate zones.

The Passive House Difference – Comparing apples to oranges…: About the differences in energy measurements between Passive House and other standards, by iPHA.

be.passive: Belgium PH quarterly magazine with very good project pictures & details, mostly in French

Blogs / Podcasts

Passivhaus in Plain English & More: Blog by Elrond Burrell, including great articles like these:
Zero-Carbon Buildings? It’s the Wrong Target
10 Things I Hate About Passivhaus!

House Planning Help: Podcast by Ben Adam-Smith, including great topics like these:
What Do You Get for Passivhaus Certification?
The Saskatchewan Conservation House – with Harold Orr
Is Natural Ventilation Fit for Purpose?

Emu Building Science: Blog by Enrico Bonilauri, including great articles like these:
Thermal transmittance of glass: the Ug value
PHPP 9: a misunderstanding?

Passive Green: A collection of stories about building progressively green on the Canadian West Coast.

Forums

iPHA Forum: A dynamic platform for exchange (only accessible for iPHA / Affiliate members)

PHnw Google Group: Focused on the Pacific Northwest

The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) Forum: UK based and not only about Passivhaus

Software Tools

Passive House Planning Package (PHPP): The key design software planning tool for Passive House

THERM: Freeware for calculating window frame and envelope performance (U-values)

WUFI: Software for calculating the coupled heat and moisture transfer in building components

Several useful tools for PH design: By David White

Building Physics | SI-Imperial: A handy Passive House unit converter for Apple devices

Navigation

Passive House Resources

Presentations by Harrmann Consulting

“A Multi-Generation Triplex Passive House in the Canadian Rocky Mountains”

“The New PHPP Version 9: Project Specific Cause & Effect”

Other Resources for Passivhaus

Organizations and Groups

International

Canada

US

Europe

People (in North America)

Certifiers

Consultants, Designers etc.