Passive Solar Homes vs. Passive House Standards: What’s the Difference?

Reader Contribution by Paul Scheckel
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What’s the difference between a “passive solar” home and a home built to “Passive House” standards? Is one better than the other?

“Passive solar” is a design approach that was popularized in

the 1970s and in which heat from the sun is strategically captured to warm homes. Passive solar’s low-tech approach doesn’t abide by any established standard, but the design principles are consistent: Passive solar homes capitalize on solar heat that radiates through south-facing windows (north-facing windows if the home is in the Southern Hemisphere). As the sun warms the house, the heat is retained via insulation and by use of thermal mass — such as concrete, stones or tile — that stores and slowly releases it.

About 20 years after the popularization of passive solar homes, German physicist Wolfgang Feist founded the Passivhaus Institut (PHI), which formalized “Passivhaus,” a comprehensive energy-efficient building standard that was influenced by early passive solar designs, but which placed more importance on an airtight envelope, high-efficiency windows and conditioned air recovery. By 2010, the newly formed Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) had carved out a place for the extremely efficient, very specific and highly demanding standard in the U.S. market. PHI and PHIUS are now working separately to advance Passive House standards in the United States.

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