What is Passive House?

As New Englanders, we have a reputation of being Yankees. Politely described as frugal, we don’t like spending money on oil, gas, and electricity. When you come right down to it, we’re thrifty and we’re practical.

In Connecticut’s climate, comfort usually comes at a high cost. Warm in winter and cool in summer usually requires a lot of energy. That’s our problem: we can’t be both comfortable and thrifty… Or can we?

As architects, designers, builders, consultants, and tradespeople, it’s our job to tackle problems in buildings and devise sensible, practical solutions. Sensible is usually simple, and that’s exactly what the Passive House standard is: a simple, sensible, practical solution to our problems. Passive House is a clear path to low energy buildings.

Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee famously observed “How empty is theory in the presence of fact!” Passive House is not only practical and simple, but it’s based on scientific research. Backed by data. With its data-driven principles, science is our guide.

As individuals, we have a wide variety of priorities. One person may need lower energy bills, another person may need to control indoor air quality to manage their asthma, and yet another may want a more durable house for less maintenance and higher resale value.

Passive House is first about low energy, but there are perks: comfort, superior indoor air quality, greater durability, and resilience being a few of them. Whatever our priorities, we all desire to create better buildings—Passive House buildings.

Connecticut Passive House is a growing community of professionals providing Passive House design and construction solutions as well as education and outreach. We are just getting organized. We are incorporating and launching our website. Join us. Even better, pitch in and help. The more talent, vision and experience the better!