Celebrating 20 years of Open Haus

Passivhaus comfort and energy efficiency were experienced first-hand this November during the UK Passivhaus Open Days, which marked the 20th anniversary of the International Passive House Open Days.

A total of 26 Passivhaus projects opened their doors for the Open Days in the UK and the total number of visitors experiencing the warmth and comfort of Passivhaus is estimated at over 1000. Self-builders, building professionals, and local authority officers were among those visiting Passivhaus projects which ranged from small-scale step-by-step bungalow retrofits to large-scale social housing schemes. It was fantastic to have projects at a range of stages, with several projects under construction, allowing visitors the chance to look 'under the bonnet' of a Passivhaus.

Passivhaus Q&As

The Open Days give the Passivhaus curious a fantastic chance to ask questions of owners and the design team behind the project.

Top discussions that arose during the Open Days included:

What is it like living in a Passivhaus?
How to build to Passivhaus standard with only a standard build budget.
How to undertake a step-by-step, low key, affordable approach to meaningful retrofit if you can't do a deep retrofit in one go.
Understanding the issue of thermal mass of buildings.
What are the costs saved on energy?
Is the local authority in your area keen on Passivhaus?
How does the Passivhaus standard compare to EPCs?
Specifying natural materials for building Passivhaus and calculating whole life-cycle carbon emissions to fully capture the build’s carbon impact.

Thanks to Mark for opening his EnerPHit class Q barn for the @AECBnet and #iPHopendays
In Maidstone.
See project ID7100 on the international database. Timber frame by Passivhaus Contracts, planning and tech design by Conker#classQ #barnconversion pic.twitter.com/VAckAhwHR2
— Conker Conservation (@ConkerCC) November 12, 2023

Thanks everyone who joined us for guided tours of #Greenhaus last week, as part of @PassivhausTrust Open Days.

At #Greenhaus we’re working with partners to deliver 96 #affordable #sustainable homes in #Salford, the largest #Passivhaus-certified development in the #NorthWest pic.twitter.com/DcCLqJKTSi
— Muse (@muse_places) November 14, 2023

Thank you to everyone who came along to the #iPHopendays over the weekend. It was great to see so much enthusiasm and passion for #EnerPHit pic.twitter.com/aFFeHxz0AD
— EcoDesignConsultants (@alanbudden) June 26, 2023

Feedback from Open Day organisers

Feedback from visitors

‘Thank you for a fantastic visit, learned a lot, friendly sharing of knowledge and generous sharing of mistakes and lessons learned also essential. Great cake too!’ ❤️

Just one of the lovely visitor’s comments from today’s open day at Old Holloway #iPHopendays #passivhaus pic.twitter.com/ucOmr3MXPy
— jurajmikurcik.bsky.social (@JurajMikurcik) November 11, 2023

Thanks to @ProgInPrac for an excellent tour around a current #passivhaus project in Salford yesterday. Great to see the rigour needed during the build. Excellent answers from Hannah to the many tricky questions from the group. #iPHopendays pic.twitter.com/dMgWiDS3lZ
— corin (@corin_yarrow) November 11, 2023

Wiltshire self-declared Passivhaus - Passivhaus Open Days 2023

Rev the dog at Denby Dale Passivhaus - Passivhaus Open Days 2023

Get involved next year!

If you are a Passivhaus owner or occupant, please do consider getting involved in the Passivhaus Open Days in 2024 (held in June & November). The Open Days are an excellent way of helping to spread the Passivhaus love and there is a huge level of interest and appetite to find out more. We are very grateful to all those who took part this year!