DARMSTADT, GERMANY - Newsaktuell - 15 July 2021 - Happy Birthday - Passive House is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Passive House is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The ground-breaking project by Professor Wolfgang Feist paved the way for highly energy efficient buildings. Passive House buildings consume significantly less energy for heating and cooling and are therefore pivotal to global climate protection. The Passive House standard is leading the way for a significant reduction in the building sector's share of approximately 40 % of global CO₂ emissions. International beacon projects are competing for the Passive House Award 2021. The architectural award will be handed over by the Passive House Institute at the 25^th International Passive House Conference in September.  

The first Passive House building in the world is now 30 years old. Building physicist Professor Wolfgang Feist (right) and his family built this pilot project in the early 1990s. The building in Darmstadt, Germany, was later equipped with a photovoltaics system and certified as a Passive House Plus in 2015. © Peter Cook
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International projects built to the Passive House standard: (above) multifamily building with photovoltaics system in Seoul, South Korea and Passive House district in Nidderau, Germany. Numerous of the more than 120 houses there are also equipped with a photovoltaics system and generate their own renewable energy. (Below) Passive House indoor swimming pool in Bamberg, Germany and Rocking Horse Nursery in Aberdeen, Scotland. © Passive House Institute (3); University of Aberdeen, photographer Graeme MacDonald
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"Of course, I'm happy about this development: seeing the progress from the first experimental residential building to the projects and districts worldwide designed to the Passive House standard", explains building physicist Wolfgang Feist. Nevertheless, the Passive House pioneer makes it clear that "without significantly greater commitment on the part of the governments, there will be very little progress in the energy efficient construction of buildings."

Passive House Award

Today, 30 years after the first Passive House building kindergartens, schools, sports halls, supermarkets, indoor swimming pools, museums and entire districts to the Passive House standard are a matter of course. These buildings constitute an important contribution to effective climate protection and social equality. The high level of living comfort is an added bonus.

More than 80 projects from 19 countries are competing for the Passive House Award 2021. The presentation of this Award with a special focus on regenerative energy will be live-streamed during the 25th International Passive House Conference. The conference will take place in September in Wuppertal, Germany, and online: 16 lecture series will be dealing with energy efficient construction and retrofitting topics.

- Picture is available at AP Images (

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