A Passive House is a building standard that is truly energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time. Passive Houses are heated primarily by the sun, they capture the the sun’s energy in the form of heat, using the design and construction of the home itself to eliminate the need for a conventional heat source. Superior insulation, airtight construction, energy-efficient windows and carefully controlled ventilation are essential components of the home’s construction.
Most Passive Houses incorporate supercharged wall insulation (nearly eight inches of densely packed cellulose and Polyiso, a type of rigid foam board), triple-pane windows, and an energy-recovery ventilator, which draws fresh air into the house while expelling kitchen and bathroom exhaust. In the winter, the ventilator transfers heat from the interior exhaust to the fresh air being pulled in from the exterior. (The process is reversed in the summer, with the cooler, drier inside air pretreating the hot, humid air coming in from the outside.)