Passivhaus Trust Activities

The Passivhaus Trust runs a core programme of research, education and policy / lobbying activities, as described below. Trust partners and members also provide a range of guidance, training and support, which Trust members can access at discounted rates. If there’s anything else you need, please contact us and we’ll try to help!

Research and guidance

The Passivhaus Trust runs technical working groups to investigate detailed aspects of applying Passivhaus in the UK, examining issues such as UK weather conditions, thermal bridging values, and feedback on the use of the PHPP package. The findings from these working groups will result in a series of technical guidance notes, aiming to ensure the integrity and success of Passivhaus buildings in the UK.

The Trust is also working on a series of introductory guidance notes, to help new clients, designers and others to engage with Passivhaus. Further details will be added to this site as work progresses.

Technical Panel meeting, April 2011                                               Founders and Partners meeting, January 2011

Education and training

The Passivhaus Trust runs an active programme of education events throughout the year, culminating in our Annual Conference. Events range from introductory visits to Passivhaus buildings for those new to Passivhaus, through to advanced technical and masterclass sessions for expert practitioners. Full details of our events programme are available here.

Trust members receive discounted attendance rates for all these events. Members also receive a discount on many of our partners’ events.

Mayville Community Centre Site visit, October 2010               Ecobuild 2011 Fringe Event

Policy and lobbying

As well as providing the advice and support described above, the Passivhaus Trust works to promote uptake of Passivhaus in the UK. This may be based on informal engagement with Government organisations and their consultation processes, but will also involve more active promotion of the Passivhaus standard, particularly:

• Investigating integration of the Passivhaus standard with UK Building Regulations
• Examining possible alignment of Passivhaus and the Code for Sustainable Homes
• Exploring Passivhaus experience in relation to the UK Planning
• Ensuring quality of buildings claiming Passivhaus standards in the UK

In addition, the Trust will work with partners to promote Passivhaus more generally, including to planners, building clients, local authorities, architects, engineers and others.

The Passivhaus Trust's first ongoing work on policy is regarding the 2013 domestic building regulations. Download our Policy position document here.