Passive House is a paradigm. It is not an architectural style.

Passive House design has implications for siting, orientation, and fenestration (quantity, size, and location of windows). It requires a clear definition and understanding of the elements that make up the building envelope (what separates the inside from the outside). In general, a simple shape is more energy efficient, easier to construct with quality, and cheaper to build and maintain than a complicated shape. Beyond that, a Passive House can pretty much look any way you want.

We find that construction budgets and practical considerations typically limit design choices,  Passive House does not.

Yes.

We have a track record of designing buildings that our clients love. Through careful design and listening, we work very closely with them through the entire process. We provide services, experience and expertise. We do not simply sell drawings.

When you look at our portfolio, you are seeing styles requested and guided by our clients’ desires. Coming from a European background and upbringing, we are used to a more modern aesthetic in housing, but it is not the only “look” we can design. 

In principle, yes—and we have. However, the cheapest Passive House project is the one that was conceived of and planned as a Passive House by experienced professionals from the start of the project.

Consulting works more like a retrofit: You are already paying someone for design work, or have invested the time yourself. Then you are engaging another professional to advise, correct, change or detail designs, and modify the work you had already invested in. This process is less efficient and the outcome may be compromised much in the way that a retrofit cannot address all shortcomings of an existing building.

In short, it can be done but we do not recommend it for projects that are a clean slate at the beginning of the process in an effort to maximize your outcome and save you money.

In some cases, we partner with colleagues, or teams on Passive House projects as a consultant. This is different from “making a design a Passive House” as we collaboratively create the Passive House using an integrated design approach.

This is not a simple question. Compare this to a car with four wheels and a steering wheel. There are economy cars, small cars, big cars, luxury cars, race cars—you name it. Similarly, buildings are unique in their function, size, location, quality, trim level, and the teams that build them vary greatly, too. Additionally, while most cars are mass-produced, buildings are generally one-offs and therefore, we have yet an additional element of uncertainty: The prototype is the final product.

The answer to this question therefore comes in lifts throughout the design process. Starting with initial broad estimates based on site, scope, complexity and budget, we help you build an understanding from the outset based on what we observe in the marketplace.

Once schematics are made, we engage with local, professional builders to have your actual project priced. The price in turn generally affects the design and this process repeats until the feasibility of your project is established and things progress towards construction documents, permit and construction.

It is important to note that you actually have a to of levers to influence project cost, ranging from the site selection (some sites are easier and cheaper to build on than others) to total house size and quality level of finishes and amenities.

Here is one quick way to answer that question in broad strokes:

Take your budget number

* subtract a 5% contingency

* subtract your (anticipated) lot purchase price
(if you own the property already you can skip this line item)

* subtract a design/ engineering fee allowance (perhaps 10-15% of the remaining sum)

* (subtract allowances for landscaping, furnishings, or financing cost per your liking)

Divide the rest by your desired square footage and then discuss with local builders how that overlays with current construction cost in your area.

First of all, a Passive House is optimized to provide a low life cycle cost. It does not cost more when considering total cost of ownership. You pay differently for a Passive House. There are components like the building envelope including windows that have a higher investment cost, much in the way that a good winter jacket costs more than a t-shirt.

Investment cost is only half the story as the enhanced building envelope of a Passive House pays back in the form of tangible benefits and savings over time, making Passive House a better value than business as usual. 

To accurately assess Passive House investment cost we need to learn a lot more about your baseline cost. Whether you plan to build the cheapest code-compliant building possible, or a well appointed high-quality custom building makes a huge difference to this conversation. Passive House investment cost will be higher when compared to a really low baseline. They may be marginal, or zero when compared to a high baseline.

Absolutely. There are individual tax incentives for items like insulation, windows, heat pump systems, heat pump water heaters and heat pump dryers—things that make sense for a Passive House. Homeowners can collect up to maximum of $14,000 in rebates. Electrek provides a great article detailing homeowner benefits of the IRA.

In Minnesota, you can tap a local incentive through the utilities, as well as a federal tax credit for energy efficient construction. As incentives may be in flux, or vary from location to location, we do not publish specific numbers here but advise that various programs exist.

The Passive House building standard was engineered to deliver an economic sweet-spot just as much as energy targets. Therefore, it is not the pinnacle of energy efficiency, but rather specifically dialed in to maximize the value proposition. The best bang for the buck is achieved when the Passive House paradigm is completely followed and its targets are being met.

The standard actually breaks down into multiple tiers (Low Energy Home, Classic, Plus, Premium and EnerPHit). Therefore, it provides choices that respond to nuances of individual projects such as new construction vs. retrofit, compromised building sites, or buildings with renewable energy systems such as solar PV.

Net-zero commonly defines buildings with renewable energy systems that produce the same amount of energy on site as is consumed in an average year. Residential buildings in Minnesota and surrounding states (U.S. climate zones 6 and 7) cannot realistically achieve this target if not built to the Passive House standard, which reduces heating and cooling energy demand by 90%. Without Passive House, energy loads are simply too great to be offset on site. It would also be a very expensive endeavor to try to achieve net-zero without the elimination of wasteful heating and cooling energy use.

In other words, energy efficiency is the foundation for net-zero, not vice versa.

Passive House’s “efficiency first” approach is universal and whether we call it Passive House, or something else, the basic principles are the same for all as they are based on simple building science such as heat loss, or heat gain.

Passive House provides many tangible benefits beyond energy efficiency such as comfort, resilience, indoor environmental quality, quietness, and durability to name a few. These benefits are byproducts of efficiency that a conventional building with renewable systems cannot provide. Therefore, a Passive House offers a much broader value proposition that returns on many more levels than energy balance alone—including payback.

This is an important subject for our society as we move towards a clean grid. Talk to us if you wish to go deeper on this subject.

Sure. However, in a cold climate zone it is generally impractical and not feasible to offset the heating and cooling loads of code-normal buildings with solar panels. 

A Passive House with its “winter jacket” and south-facing windows is a passive solar collector and battery for heating, or cooling energy. It therefore eliminates wasteful energy use first—making the use of renewable energy systems such as solar panels on the roof much more economical and impactful. With Passive House, zero-energy becomes a reality in cold climates.

Airtightness of the building envelope (that’s the walls, slab, and roof—basically what separates inside from outside) is essential to efficient and durable buildings. In the past, many problems were caused by building envelopes that were not airtight enough!

The professional knowledge required to answer this question is based on building science, a critical professional skill needed to build any high performance building like a Passive House.

Using building science, let’s shed a little more light on that: Leakage of warm moist air into assemblies during periods where conditions are conducive to condensation—combined with lack of drying potential of these assemblies—can cause early building degradation, rot or mold. By making the envelope very airtight, and field testing the tightness—thus eliminating potentially failure points—builders and homeowners can be assured that no worrisome leaking is occurring to promote this process. In addition, the selection of proper building materials that allow for drying of any moisture inside of assemblies can further make the building envelope more robust.

So in short, an airtight building envelope is an insurance policy against problems.

How does a Passive House “breathe”?

First of all, let’s be clear that a building does not breathe, you do. Building assemblies, however, do need to be able to stay dry over their life as water can cause damage to layers and structure. The safest way to construct a building envelope is to enable bi-directional drying. This simply means that assemblies can dry inward, or outward.

Airtightness does not mean that moisture cannot migrate through assemblies, or drying occur. As a matter of fact, the safe approach to building envelope design is to create airtight but vapor-permeable assemblies. All this means is that leaking into the assemblies is eliminated (as stated above), and drying potential is increased. This combination warrants safe assemblies in just about any climate zone. Whenever building with wood and organic materials this should be the preferred approach that we have been practicing our entire career.

What we describe about leaky buildings above is tied to this conversation as the leaks provide the air you breathe in a non-airtight building. That air generally came through imperfections of the building envelope (as well as open doors and windows of course). We call this process random ventilation, as it is not controlled, filtered, or continuous to all spaces within the building. The quality of the air is affected by the layers it has to pass through and contaminants it can pick up along the way. In short, this works somewhat, but air quality and outside air content of the air you breathe are unknown and may be less than ideal.

An airtight building eliminates random ventilation. In its place, a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery is installed to provide controlled and continuous filtered outside air to all living, working, or sleeping spaces within the building. At the same time, contaminated, odor or moisture-laden air from kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, or mechanical spaces is expelled through the system (with heat, or cold recovery). This ensures very high air quality at all times and in all spaces. Air filtration is especially appreciated by those suffering from allergies or respiratory illnesses, or in locations where airborne contaminants such as dust, spray, or smoke are a concern.

Yes.

As a matter of fact, south-facing windows in a Passive House are the heaters in cold climates and provide 60% or more of the heat load. So not only can you have them, they are an integral part of a passive solar design strategy such as Passive House.

In larger Passive House buildings such as multi-family buildings, the impact of solar heat gains is diminished and the function of the windows becomes more daylighting than solar collector.

Yes.

Just note that whenever you open a window you invite what is outside inside. So if it is cold and dry, or hot and humid, that is what you will be bringing in. Also, window ventilation does not offer filtration.

No.

We are architects and engineers. We design and engineer buildings. Professional builders build them.

No. It is important for you to get to know and select a build team that you trust.

However, you are not on your own. We generally assist our clients with the builder selection process. We also frequently provide a short list or suggestion for a build team in the area who has worked for our clients previously, who has expressed interest in working with us, or who has experience with Passive House construction.

No.

While it is critical that someone on the design and build team is trained, has credentials and—most importantly—is experienced with Passive House, the builder does not have to be a certified Passive House tradesperson. As a matter of fact, many, if not most of the Passive House projects in North America today were built by build teams who had not built a Passive House before. 

To create a quality Passive House economically it is most important that the design and engineering plans and specifications are comprehensive and meet the Passive House criteria. This means that you want to very carefully select your design and engineering team.

We offer that a skilled build team that knows how to work with plans and specifications and is open minded towards building better can successfully build a Passive House based on our plans and specifications.

Technically no, and we all started with our first Passive House project at some point in time.

However, in our extensive experience it is critical that the design and planning for a Passive House project incorporates Passive House principles and criteria from day one. Additionally, the market has shown that there are vast differences in cost, quality and success for certification between teams with deeply skilled and experienced designers, and those who are learning on the job.

We have provided Passive House design and engineering services—including for some of North America’s first certified Passive House buildings—since 2008.

No but we can provide resources for appraisals and incentives, which are helpful when you are seeking financing.

Generally, we cannot find your lot. 

However, once you identify a lot you are interested in purchasing, we can assist with an opinion and insights on the quality of the site and its potential impact on a project, its complexity, and cost.

This is a loaded question as the design and build processes are dynamic and projects vary greatly in scope, complexity and budget. Weather and seasons play into this as well—particularly in our cold climate zones. 

We generally advise our residential clients to consider about a year for design and another year for construction.

We have seen some projects go quicker but it is also not uncommon for projects to take longer.

We are glad you asked. Let’s schedule a conversation to discuss your project and we will answer these questions for you.