Certified Passive House Designer / Consultant study guide
Certified Passive House Designer / Consultant · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Passive House Designer/Consultant credential is issued by the Passive House Institute (PHI) and signals that you can plan and verify buildings to the Passive House standard. Designers typically come from architecture or engineering backgrounds and take the full design exam; consultants often work on component specification, quality assurance and certification support. The Certified Passive House Designer / Consultant study guide has 7 sections and about 2,273 words.
01Passive House principles, certification criteria and the PHPP
Passive House design rests on a continuous, thermal-bridge-free envelope with high insulation, airtight construction, high-performance windows, and balanced ventilation with heat recovery; a fifth principle is a minimal, often ventilation-based distribution system. The exam tests whether you can apply the certification limits, not just recite them.
372 words, about 2 min02Building envelope: thermal insulation, thermal bridges, airtightness and construction details
Opaque envelope U-values in a Central European Passive House typically land at 0.10–0.15 W/(m²K), driven by the 15 kWh/(m²a) target rather than by a fixed code. The stronger rule is “thermal-bridge-free”: every junction should reach Ψ ≤ 0.01 W/(mK), a linear loss small enough to ignore.
351 words, about 2 min03Windows, doors and solar control: glazing, frames, installation and shading
Certification requires a window U-value U w ≤ 0.80 W/(m²K) and, critically, an installed U wd ≤ 0.85 W/(m²K) including the installation thermal bridge. Good units combine triple glazing (U g ≈ 0.5–0.6 W/(m²K)), insulated frames (U f ≈ 0.7–0.9), and a warm-edge spacer with Ψ g ≈ 0.03–0.04 W/(mK).
338 words, about 2 min04Ventilation and indoor air quality: ventilation concepts, heat recovery, duct design and summer comfort
A Passive House uses balanced mechanical ventilation: outdoor air supplied to living rooms and bedrooms, extract from kitchen, bathrooms and WC, with designed overflow paths (door gaps or transfer grilles). Design airflow is typically 0.3–0.4 air changes per hour of dwelling volume, sized from occupancy (about 30 m³/h per person) and extract-room requirements.
337 words, about 2 min05Heating, cooling, domestic hot water and renewables: load calculation, distribution and generation
The 10 W/m² heating load limit is what allows supply air to carry the heat: at roughly 30 m³/h per person and a supply temperature near 50 °C, air delivers about 10 W/m². Above that you need radiators or floor heating, a design warning sign.
311 words, about 2 min06Energy balance, PHPP calculations and verification: heating demand, primary energy, summertime and economics
PHPP solves a monthly balance: transmission and ventilation losses minus useful solar and internal gains, with a utilization factor accounting for the fact that gains cannot always offset losses, especially in summer and shoulder seasons. Heating demand is the annual sum divided by TFA.
302 words, about 2 min07Quality assurance, construction supervision, commissioning and certification process
Certification depends on evidence, not intention. The chain includes design review, a thermal-bridge catalogue, site inspections at key stages (foundation, airtight layer, window installation, services) and photographic records.
262 words, about 1 min