Passive house

Also called Passivhaus, passive houses

A building so insulated, airtight and ventilated with heat recovery that it needs almost no heating; the German Passivhaus standard sets 15 kWh/m² a year.

Rules that use the word

The passive house: insulate, seal, recover. Make the envelope so well insulated and airtight, and recover so much heat from the exhaust air, that the building needs almost no active heating.

Where it appears in the book

In the chapters Frame and Skin, The Contemporary.

Nearby in the glossary

Parametric design · Parametricism · Parterre · Parti · Passive solar design · Patte d’oie · Pattern language · Pedestal