Passive and Net-Zero Home Building; What does it mean? What's the difference?

With the move towards more sustainable building practices, passive home building is making waves in the construction industry. Passive homes produce low operating emissions in comparison to the average structure. Benefits of building a passive home include improved air quality, temperature distribution that is consistent, reduced sound transmission, and a big plus for homeowners, it leads to reduced heating and cooling costs (City of Vancouver, Build a Passive House, 2020). Check out this sixty second video from the City of Vancouver website that explains very simply “What is a Passive House?”

Passive homes focus on using passive measures, rather than active methods (floor heating, fireplace, air conditioning) of heating and cooling spaces. As the video describes, a passive home in simple terms means insulating well, ensuring no air leakage and utilizing passive sources of heat such as the sun, body heat and heat generated by household appliances.

So what is Net-Zero building?

Net-Zero means producing as much energy as is consumed. Utilizing energy-efficient products, sustainable structures, and on-site energy generation (such as solar or wind) offsets the energy consumption (ECHOtape, Net Zero and Passive House – The Future of Home Building, 2019). Check out this article for a more detailed explanation.

We are proud to offer diverse options for building high-efficient homes. You may be thinking about ways to increase the energy efficiency of your home, and no you do not need to do the entire passive home deal. There are many ways we can offer to reduce your energy consumption such as energy efficient appliances and reducing heat loss through building envelope improvements.

Contact us today for more information!