ABSTRACT
The Passivhaus Institut (PHI), based in Darmstadt, Germany, originally developed a single Passive House (PH) standard for new buildings that combined simplicity and precision. This standard's criteria were succinct, limited to requirements for heating energy, overall primary energy, and air tightness. The PHI established component requirements for each of seven climate zones, which range from Arctic to very hot. The component requirements were derived using an economic optimization process intended to identify the set of components that has the lowest life cycle costs for a reference building in a given climate zone. In Sweden the energy agency gave a mandate to the Forum for Energy Efficient Building (FEBY) to set the specifications for passive houses in order to promote market acceptance of very low-energy buildings. The Swedish requirements were adaptations of the PHI's specifications for the Swedish climate, with separate ones for the south and north of Sweden.
