A performance standard for very-low-energy buildings, first realised in terraced houses at Darmstadt-Kranichstein (1990–91): so well insulated and airtight that they need almost no heating.
The concept grew out of conversations between Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist in 1988. Instead of prescribing forms, it sets targets: a space-heating demand of no more than 15 kWh per square metre of floor per year; an airtight envelope leaking no more than 0.6 air changes an hour under a pressure of 50 pascals; and ventilation with heat recovery. Thick insulation without thermal bridges, triple glazing and careful use of solar gain do the rest. Feist founded the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt in 1996.
The book, part by part
I The criteria
Heating demand ≤ 15 kWh/m²·a; airtightness ≤ 0.6 h⁻¹ at 50 Pa; heat-recovery ventilation; no thermal bridges.