Building Certification

On this page: Buildings · Professionals · Components

Buildings

A building is certified when a PHI-accredited Certifier, or PHI itself, has checked its design and construction against PHI’s criteria and found that they are met. It’s the proof that a building performs as designed, and it’s what codes, funders, and lenders ask for.

The standards and their criteria

PHI or a PHI-accredited Certifier reviews the design and construction documentation, with energy calculated in the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP). The review checks limits on heating and cooling demand and on renewable primary energy, airtightness by pressurization test, and minimum criteria for overheating, humidity, ventilation, noise, and thermal comfort. Buildings are certified to Passive House Classic, Plus, or Premium, EnerPHit, or the PHI Low Energy Building Standard. The main limits, from PHI’s Criteria for Buildings v10c, are per square foot of treated floor area unless noted.

Read onlineDownload PDF

Criterion	Passive House	EnerPHit	PHI Low Energy Building
Heating demand	≤ 4.75 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (15 kWh/(m²·yr)), or a heating load ≤ 3.17 Btu/(hr·ft²) (10 W/m²)	≤ 4.75 to 11.09 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (15 to 35 kWh/(m²·yr)) by climate zone; 7.92 (25) in a cool-temperate climate	≤ 9.51 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (30 kWh/(m²·yr))
Cooling and dehumidification demand	≤ 4.75 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (15 kWh/(m²·yr)), plus an allowance for climate and use	The Passive House limit	The Passive House limit plus 4.75 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (15 kWh/(m²·yr))
Airtightness, air changes an hour at 50 Pa	≤ 0.6 ACH50	≤ 1.0 ACH50	≤ 1.0 ACH50
Renewable primary energy (PER) demand	Classic ≤ 19.02, Plus ≤ 14.26, Premium ≤ 9.51 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (60, 45, 30 kWh/(m²·yr))	The Passive House limit for each class, plus an allowance for higher heating or cooling demand	≤ 23.77 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (75 kWh/(m²·yr))
Renewable energy generation, per square foot of building footprint	Plus ≥ 19.02, Premium ≥ 38.04 kBtu/(ft²·yr) (60, 120 kWh/(m²·yr)); none for Classic	As for Passive House	None required

EnerPHit, for retrofits, can be met instead by the building-component method, with limits on each part of the envelope and the systems. The PHPP calculates each project’s cooling allowance and EnerPHit climate zone.

How certification works

The Certifier is independent and can’t also be the project’s Passive House designer. Its work runs in five stages.

Stage	What the Certifier does	When
1. Preliminary review	Confirms the approach with the project’s consultant, including the climate data set and the number of PHPP models, lists the submittals, and reviews the early design and PHPP.	Schematic design and design development
2. Design stage review	Reviews the design against the criteria and reports the likelihood of certification, what’s outstanding, and the risks. Issues a design assurance letter on request.	Construction documents, before construction contracts are awarded
3. Construction review	Reviews certification submittals, duct leakage tests, and ventilation pre-commissioning, and flags risks to certification.	Construction
4. As-built assessment	Reviews the final PHPP, updated with the airtightness test, ventilation commissioning, and changes made during construction.	End of construction
5. Certification	Obtains the certificate ID from PHI, issues the certificate and plaque, and adds the building to the Passive House Database.	Completion

The airtightness test is carried out by someone who didn’t build the airtight layer. Quality control on site belongs to the contractor and the Passive House designer or consultant; Certifier site visits are an optional service, not required for certification.

The Certifier’s scope of services

“To allow time to make any necessary adjustments, and avoid change orders, the Design Stage Review should be completed prior to the award of construction contracts.”

Building Certifier Scope of Services, North American Certifiers Circle

The NACC’s Building Certifier Scope of Services (July 2024) is a template for the agreement between a client and a Certifier: the core services at each stage above, and optional ones such as site visits, blower door testing, thermal bridge and moisture reviews, and coaching for the team. It was adapted for North America from the Passivhaus Trust’s guidance, with the NACC’s members and PHI. Download the Scope of Services (PDF).

Certifiers

Building Certifiers working on projects in the US: the Passive House Institute itself, and the PHI-accredited Certifiers in PHN’s directory of Passive House professionals. PHI lists every accredited Certifier on its site.

Country	Certifier	Based in
United States	AUROS Group	Rochester, NY
	CertiPHIers Cooperative	Chelsea, MI; Portland
	eMod Studio	Somerville, MA
	Home Energy Services	Berkeley, CA
	Steven Winter Associates	Norwalk, CT
Canada	Peel Passive House Consulting	Blue Mountains and Peterborough, ON
	RDH Building Science	Toronto and Vancouver
	Stich Passive Design	British Columbia
Germany	Elements Air	Darmstadt
	Herz & Lang	Weitnau
	Passive House Institute (PHI)	Darmstadt
	Passive Potential	Bavaria
Greece	Hellenic Passive House Institute	Athens
Ireland	MosArt (Passive House Academy)	Dublin
Italy	Energy Plus Project	Treviso
	ZEPHIR Passivhaus Italia
Spain	Praxis Resilient Buildings	Barcelona

The North American Certifiers Circle (NACC) brings together organizations certifying buildings to PHI’s standards in North America.

Where certification has teeth

Codes in six states and the District of Columbia accept PHI certification as a way to comply, and Massachusetts requires Passive House for large multifamily buildings: Codes. Utilities, housing finance agencies, and lenders reward it: Building Financial Incentives.

Resources

Resource	From	What it covers
Building Certifier Scope of Services	NACC, July 2024	The Certifier’s core and optional services, stage by stage, as a template for an agreement.
Criteria for Buildings v10c	PHI	The criteria, the calculation conditions, and the documents to submit.
iPHA’s Q&A with PHI: Building Certification	iPHA, December 2020	How certification works, from Corinna Geiger of PHI’s Building Certification Department.
NACC brochure	NACC, January 2023	The circle and its members.
Video: building certification	PHN, August 2022	An overview with Andrew Peel.
Video: certification tips	PHN	Tips from a Passive House Certifier.
Video: multifamily certification	Passive House Massachusetts	PHI’s path to certification for multifamily projects.
Passive House Database and map	PHI	Certified buildings worldwide.
Find a professional	PHI	PHI’s search for accredited Certifiers, designers, and consultants.

Professionals

PHI certifies people as well as buildings. A certificate shows that a professional knows the standard, and certified professionals are listed in PHI’s database.

The certificates

From PHI’s pages on the Designer and Consultant and Tradesperson certificates.

Certificate	Who it’s for	How to earn it	How to renew it
Certified Passive House Designer (CPHD)	Architects, engineers, and others whose education qualifies them to plan buildings or building systems on their own (PHI lists the qualifications).	Pass PHI’s exam, three hours, through an accredited exam provider (registering takes a valid PHPP license). Or document a certified building you planned, energy balance included.	100 credit points from accredited courses and events within five years, or document another certified building.
Certified Passive House Consultant	Those who pass and whose education doesn’t carry the Designer title. PHI holds the two titles equal in Passive House knowledge.	The same as the Designer.	The same as the Designer.
Certified Passive House Tradesperson (CPHT)	Builders and the trades.	Pass PHI’s tradesperson exam, two hours, through an accredited exam provider.	Document your work on a Passive House or another very efficient building (the criteria depend on your trade and the climate), or 30 credit points, no more than 20 of them from any one of teaching, events, or advanced training.

PHN’s courses prepare you for the exams: CPHD/C courses and CPHT courses. PHN’s continuing education counts toward renewal: Certification renewal.

To find a certified professional: PHN’s directory, or PHI’s search. PHI also certifies PHPP experts, retrofit experts, site supervisors, construction verifiers, component assessors, trainers, and Building Certifiers.

Where codes and programs name PHI credentials

Some codes and programs give a defined role to a PHI Certified Passive House Designer or Consultant (CPHD/C).

Where	Code or program	Role of the credential
Colorado	Denver affordable housing pilot	A certified consultant carries out the required feasibility study; a PHI-certified consultant qualifies.
Delaware	DSHA 2025–26 QAP	Energy points require a narrative from a certified consultant or PHI designer, with PHPP modeling.
Massachusetts	Specialized and Stretch Codes, 225 CMR 23 §C407.3.2.2	Before the certificate of occupancy, a CPHC or CPHD states that the test results meet the model and the code’s mandatory limits.
	Cambridge Zoning Ordinance Art. 22 §22.24.3, §22.25	A certified consultant can serve as the project’s green building professional; credentials and PHPP results are filed.
	Mass Save Passive House Incentives	Owners must hire a certified consultant, from the feasibility study through certification; a PHI-certified consultant qualifies.
New York	NYStretch-2020 §R408.1.2	A Certified Passive House Consultant verifies compliance on the PHI path.

Components

PHI tests and certifies the components that decide a building’s comfort, hygiene, and energy use. A certified component carries PHI’s seal and comes with tested values for the energy model in the PHPP, so a designer can rely on the numbers.

PHI certifies windows, doors, curtain walls, and skylights; insulated glass and its spacers; opaque wall, roof, and floor systems, and renovation systems; airtightness systems; thermal breaks for balconies, columns, and façade anchors; sun protection and window installation systems; attic stairs; ventilation units with heat recovery; heat pumps; and drain water heat recovery.

Windows: the limit for each climate

A window must meet a U-value limit for its climate, as a component and as installed in the wall. In Btu/(hr·ft²·°F), with W/(m²·K) in parentheses, from PHI’s criteria for transparent components (version 5.7, 2026).

PHI climate zone	Window U-value, at most	Installed, at most
Arctic	0.070 (0.40)	0.079 (0.45)
Cold	0.106 (0.60)	0.114 (0.65)
Cool-temperate	0.141 (0.80)	0.150 (0.85)
Warm-temperate	0.176 (1.00)	0.185 (1.05)
Warm	0.211 (1.20)	0.220 (1.25)
Hot	0.211 (1.20)	0.220 (1.25)
Very hot	0.176 (1.00)	0.185 (1.05)

The limits for the hot and very hot zones are on trial and may change.

Efficiency classes

Windows and other glazed components are also rated by how much heat their opaque parts lose: the frame and the glass edge. Class phC is the minimum for certification.

Class	Heat loss through the frame and glass edge (Ψopaque)	PHI’s description
phA+	≤ 0.038 Btu/(hr·ft·°F) (0.065 W/(m·K))	Very advanced component
phA	≤ 0.064 Btu/(hr·ft·°F) (0.110 W/(m·K))	Advanced component
phB	≤ 0.090 Btu/(hr·ft·°F) (0.155 W/(m·K))	Basic component
phC	≤ 0.116 Btu/(hr·ft·°F) (0.200 W/(m·K))	Certifiable component

Certified components and their certificates are in PHI’s component database. PHN’s manufacturers directory lists manufacturers active in the US and marks those with PHI-certified components.

Questions about certification: info@passivehousenetwork.org.

Checked October 2026. PHI’s criteria govern; the figures above are its main limits.