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Writer's pictureMark Turnquest, CIPM

The contrast between Passive House and Net Zero House

The difference between a Passive House and a Net Nero House.


Passive house is a performance base standard and Net Zero House is a prescriptive standard.


For a home to be Net Zero it has to produce more energy than it uses.


In the passive house, you have a heating demand a demand (how much energy you use in a year) a load (intensity of energy you use) target, and air exchanges per hour (can not be higher than 0.6) for the passive house.


For Net Zero House you can not be any higher than 1.0 or less for air exchanges.

A tight envelope reduces air leakage and creates an air barrier that causes very tight air exchanges.


Passive Houses use simple designs with fewer house corners.


Net Zero all houses have to be built according to the building code, 20% more air-tight energy efficient or 40% or 80%.


Net Zero is offsetting your energy use.


Net Zero is more of a step code.


Both Passive Houses and Net Zero Houses are high-performance homes. They are houses that use an as small amount of energy as possible.


With a passive house, there is a maximum of energy you can use per year per sq. ft. in your house.


Net Zero Houses are based on climate zone.


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