Passive House Certification for New Homes

The Passive House building standard is recommended for projects aiming to acheive optimal building performance.

Power House Energy Consulting, as PHIUS Verifiers, can provide the required verification for all PHIUS projects as well as design support and coordination for the PHIUS Prescriptive path - when a CPHC design consultant is not required.
We integrate ‘passive principals’ into our high performance building consulting services- we fully drink the cool aid, yet acknowledge full certification may not always be a good fit, based on project goals, budgets, builder experience etc.

This overview is not exhaustive. This is meant to be a primer for our builder , homeowner, and designer clients. The most relevant and comprehensive resource is the PHIUS Certification Guidebook. And if that document too technical, or deep for you to skim through, then PHIUS Certification is likely not a good fit!

What is a Passive House ?

In a nut shell, a Certified Passive House is a home that is very healthy, comfortable and uses relatively little energy for heating cooling and operation. There is a focus on thermal performance and right sized and designed heating , ventilation, and air conditioning systems.

PHIUS has an elegant and short overview of Passive Building Principals to review.

The climate specific PHIUS standard is design and verification ‘heavy’. Workflow, design, and construction process is different than a ‘code minimum’ process, as well as most architect lead ‘heavy designed’ processes. This means there is less to figure out during construction- from airbarrier detailing to mechanical system design and more. The result is a durable, resilient, low energy, super functional home that is comfortable and healthy. Our verification scope is robust , ensuring what is designed , is built, and all program requirements are met.

PHIUS Certified projects have substantial soft costs and require additional features over the MA building codes. Achieving this level of performance must start very early in design and be a primary motivator for the project owner. There is no ‘backing into’ this certification. Our specific involvement as PHIUS Verifier, varies, based on the experience of the project team.

Energy Star Homes, ZERH, IAQ - a suite of programs

Passive House builds on additional programs, with the HERS system at it’s core. These programs include Energy Star, ZERH (zero energy ready homes) , and IAP (indoor air plus) . The requirements are integrated into the PHIUS verification process , although review of these programs are necessary, early and often, for project success. 

The current 45L federal tax credit, is valued at $5,000 for a single family home that is ZERH Certified . 

The MA Stretch Code has a Passive House compliance path. Satisfying code requirements is seamless. 

$25,000 Mass Save Passive House Incentive

In late 2024, the Mass Save New Construction rebate programs began utilizing this building standard for its highest rebate tier. This carrot offsets soft and hard costs for meeting the standard. As your Mass Save partnered Rater, Power House delivers these incentives to our clients at the end of the project. As listed above, there is an additional $5,000 Federal tax credit also available, based on the ZERH Certification .

Is Passive House right for my project ? 

  1. Consider if building an efficient, resilient, healthy, durable, future ready home is a primary design objective.

  2. Review the Passive Building Principals on the PHIUS webpage

  3. Review the PHIUS Certification Guidebook. Don’t get lost or overwhelmed in the weeds. Just scan it and read some random parts to get a flavor.

  4. Still interested, and serious about going for it ? Send us a note! We’d be happy to chat about your project. Most of the time , engaging an experienced designer/CPHC is a first step. But we can give you some good nuts-and-bolts perspectives, and compare this path to other less robust options toward achieving a high performance home.