Introduction

A Passive House (or Passivhaus) is a very well-insulated and draught-free building designed to provide the highest level of comfort and health for occupants. The methodology set out in 1988 by Dr Wolfgang Feist, Founder and Scientific Director of the Passive House Institute (PHI), built upon a collaborative research project to address the problems of unhealthy, unsustainable and unaffordable homes initiated by Bo Adamson, Professor of Building Construction at the University of Lund, Sweden, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Coming from a background in physics, Dr Feist and his team at the Passive House Institute developed the methodology into the leading international standard for low-energy buildings, offering an optimum standard of thermal comfort and user satisfaction.