Jon Bootland, chief executive of the Passivhaus Trust, shares key indicators that Passivhaus is a growing force in the UK construction industry
Earlier this month, a Passivhaus retrofit project took centre stage on primetime TV in Guy Martin’s House Without Bills on Channel 4.
The 90-minute feature-length programme follows the nine-month renovation of a semi-detached house in the Manchester suburb of Stretford, with the ultimate aim of driving its heating bills as low as possible. This involves a total transformation to Passivhaus retrofit standards, with Guy Martin working on each of the key installations. Guy showed the finished project off to Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester.
The programme, still available to watch on catch-up, should be of interest to all construction professionals and helps convey the quality assurance and attention to detail that Passivhaus requires. Having Passivhaus brought to a wider TV audience is just one way that Passivhaus – both for newbuild and retrofit projects – is becoming better understood within the UK construction industry.
Passivhaus in policy
There are a number of policy drivers that are contributing to the uptake of Passivhaus:
Scottish Passivhaus Equivalent
The Scottish Government is currently developing a Scottish Passivhaus equivalent policy for all new buildings, with a second consultation on the policy due later in 2026. The Passivhaus Trust has been part of a cross-industry working group with the Scottish Building Standards team, which has developed a consensus position on the standard.
The consultation in early 2026 will reveal the exact proposals for the Scottish Passivhaus Equivalent standard. It is our understanding that the proposed Passivhaus Equivalent standard will likely not require full Passivhaus certification for all buildings, although it is expected to represent a significant policy step-change. We are also hopeful that buildings certified to the Passivhaus standard will be deemed to satisfy the new building standards.
Wales
In Wales, the recently launched ‘Tai ar y Cyd’ Pattern Book, backed by 23 Welsh social housing providers, and supported by the Welsh Government, includes Passivhaus as its suggested ‘enhanced’ standard. In addition, funding conditions for Welsh social housing schemes permit the adoption of a ‘fabric first’ alternative to EPC A, which draws on the Passivhaus methodology.
Greater London
The GLA’s London Plan requires a minimum on-site energy reduction of at least 35% beyond Building Regulations for major developments, with an ideal target of 50%. As a result, over 3600 Passivhaus social homes are completed or underway, thanks to the London Plan’s higher specifications.
Local authority adoption
Pioneering Passivhaus programmes for social housing and public building projects have been adopted by councils including Exeter, Norwich, Glasgow, Herefordshire, Salford, Edinburgh, York, and Midlothian. Local plans developed by local authorities such as Cornwall, Bath & NE Somerset, and Central Lincolnshire, call on developers to go beyond building regulations, often drawing on the Passivhaus methodology.
Scottish schools
60% of new schools in Scotland are currently targeting the Passivhaus standard, thanks to an innovative funding mechanism for new build schools, developed by the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT). Projects receiving funding from SFT need to meet a very clear energy target and funding may be reduced if post-occupancy modelling demonstrates that the school buildings are not performing as designed. Many local authorities have chosen the Certified Passivhaus route to guarantee good building performance, and de-risk the funding.
Homes England’s Healthy Homes guidance
The health benefits of Passivhaus were recently publicly acknowledged in the Introduction to Homes England’s Healthy Homes guidance: “Passivhaus is a well-established design and quality assurance system aimed at reducing energy demand, addressing the ‘performance gap’ of new buildings and improving comfort levels for residents. There is significant overlap between a Passivhaus approach and the aims of Healthy Homes.”
Passivhaus dwellings automatically achieve ‘good practice’ enhanced status within the Healthy Homes guidance on three specific healthy homes measures: building fabric and energy performance; overheating; and ventilation and indoor air quality.
Passivhaus retrofit
The Passivhaus retrofit methodology and standard plays a starring role in the Guy Martin’s House Without Bills programme. This approach has been adopted by universities, local authorities, private developers, and housing associations, for educational buildings, offices, housing, holiday accommodation, as well as by private homeowners.
The Passivhaus Trust has recently updated its position paper on Passivhaus retrofit. Passivhaus reliably closes the performance gap and future-proofs the UK’s building stock. We want to see it adopted by policymakers. As local authorities and housing providers face mounting pressures – from regulatory compliance to fuel poverty and climate targets – the Passivhaus standard and methodology offers a clear path forward for both newbuild and retrofit.
We recommend that a retrofit project begins with a comprehensive whole building analysis. This means that the existing building has been modelled in the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) to understand the existing energy demands and this model has been used to test various levels of retrofit. Accurate modelling in the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) provides a solid baseline, enables comparison of options, and supports both full and partial or phased strategies. Even when other approaches are selected, this structured process helps ensure that outcomes are reliable and opportunities for improvement are not lost. This process ensures that money spent is reliably translated into value realised.
Where projects adopt a specific Passivhaus standard they will also benefit from the performance assurance provided by the Passivhaus certification process. An additional and appropriate quality assurance mechanism should be used to augment any approach which does not include Passivhaus certification
Training
The Passivhaus Trust is on a mission to increase Passivhaus training with ambitions to train 50% of the construction industry to deliver Passivhaus or equivalent standards by 2030 or before.
Introductory Passivhaus training is now freely available for RIBA University Architecture Schools. Certified Passivhaus Tradesperson and Designer courses are offered by a number of providers and the Passivhaus Trust delivers a range of advanced training for professionals, including a Passivhaus Retrofit Masterclass series that is currently underway,
Josh Day, Managing Director of SME building contractor Myzsa Group appears in the Guy Martin’s House Without Bills programme. The programme demonstrates how construction professionals are moving towards Passivhaus as the quality assured gold standard for buildings. After his Construction Management degree, Josh was fortunate to be employed as Passivhaus Champion on the UK’s first Passivhaus secondary school project with Willmott Dixon, which proved to be an excellent apprenticeship in Passivhaus. Josh has subsequently acquired both Passivhaus Consultant and Passivhaus Tradesperson qualifications.
He recently remarked that:“Every project I work on confirms my belief that it really is the gold standard for the construction industry, delivering quality assurance and a job everyone on the team can be proud of. I am a total Passivhaus convert and couldn’t go back to conventional construction methods. “
We strongly encourage the UK construction industry to stay ahead of the curve, by upskilling in Passivhaus to deliver low-energy, high-quality buildings.
The post Raising the profile of Passivhaus appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
