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Passive House at the crossroads: The past and the present of a voluntary standard that managed to bridge the energy efficiency gap

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  • Müller, Liana
  • Berker, Thomas

Abstract

Improving energy efficiency in dwellings is generally seen as the low-hanging fruit of climate change mitigation. In particular decreased heat loss through better insulation is suggested as one of the most cost-effective means to achieve the ambitious national and international goals of climate gas reduction. However, the literature shows that a profitable technological solution is not sufficient to reach the energy goals. Aspects such as a lack of information, unobserved costs, and heterogeneity among users can compromise the success of technical innovation. Still, there are successful concepts that drive the technological development in the construction sector. The Passive House is an example for such innovations that manage to bridge the energy efficiency gap. This paper addresses the Passive House concept and standard as a success story of technological innovation. With Bruno Latour's Science in Action (1987) as a starting point, we describe the conditions under which the standard was created, the role of the network built around the Passive House Institute, and the consequences of exporting the standard. We identify success factors that have supported the diffusion of the Passive House standard and concept and discuss its possible development in the current situation which is characterized by its wide-spread adoption.

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  • Müller, Liana & Berker, Thomas, 2013. "Passive House at the crossroads: The past and the present of a voluntary standard that managed to bridge the energy efficiency gap," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 586-593.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:60:y:2013:i:c:p:586-593
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.057
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. António Figueiredo & Filipe Rebelo & Rui Alexandre Castanho & Rui Oliveira & Sérgio Lousada & Romeu Vicente & Victor M. Ferreira, 2020. "Implementation and Challenges of the Passive House Concept in Portugal: Lessons Learnt from Successful Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Ray Galvin, 2024. "How Not to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions: An Unbalanced Focus on Energy Efficiency in Germany’s Building Rehabilitation Policies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-20, September.
    3. Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Faure, Corinne, 2019. "Exploring the diffusion of low-energy houses: An empirical study in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1382-1393.
    4. Henshaw, Victoria & Guy, Simon, 2015. "Embodied thermal environments: an examination of older-people's sensory experiences in a variety of residential types," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 233-240.
    5. Hawks, M.A. & Cho, S., 2024. "Review and analysis of current solutions and trends for zero energy building (ZEB) thermal systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    6. Nayara R. M. Sakiyama & Joyce C. Carlo & Leonardo Mazzaferro & Harald Garrecht, 2021. "Building Optimization through a Parametric Design Platform: Using Sensitivity Analysis to Improve a Radial-Based Algorithm Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-25, May.
    7. Diaz de Garayo, S. & Martínez, A. & Astrain, D., 2022. "Optimal combination of an air-to-air thermoelectric heat pump with a heat recovery system to HVAC a passive house dwelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).

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