Description

Overview: Compare energy standards, models, and results. How difficult is it? What can we do to accelerate the recognition and acceptance of Passive House performance?

Presentation 1:

A Modeling Crosswalk: Recognizing Passive House Performance within California Title 24 and Beyond

Presented by Keith Saechao, Frontier Energy

Passive House design performance can be translated into state energy code compliance software while preserving credit for high-performance envelope and ventilation strategies. By examining a case study comparing PHPP, WUFI Passive, and CBECC results across residential prototypes and climate zones in California, differences among modeling tools that cause Passive House measures to lose visibility in compliance outputs are identified. The results provide a repeatable framework for improving consistency, documentation, and recognition of Passive House performance within compliance pathways for energy codes in California and other jurisdictions.

Presentation 2:

PHN Energy Study – Phase II

Presented by Marine Sanchez, RDH

See the results of a PHN-commissioned study by RDH that set out to compare widely-used building standards (IECC, ASHRAE 90.1, LEED) against Passive House for multifamily buildings across climate zones 1-7. The study can provide policymakers and market actors with greater clarity on where Passive House sits relative to code minimum and other performance-based pathways. Study outcomes will help inform incentives and compliance pathways by better recognizing Passive House outcomes within familiar code frameworks.

1.25 AIA & 1 PHI CEUs

Moderated by Bronwyn Barry, Passive House BB

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain how differences in model purpose, inputs, defaults, and output metrics create credit loss when moving from Passive House tools into compliance software. 
2. Apply a practical framework for producing consistent cross tool comparisons that can be replicated in other jurisdictions and software environments.
3. Highlight key inputs and protocol differences between hourly and Passive House energy models, and how those differences affect reported building performance. 
4. Provide clear insights to support policy and program design, by placing Passive House among IECC/ASHRAE/LEED pathways and allow increased adoption of recognition of Passive House as a compliance pathway.