About Passive House

The world's highest standard for energy efficiency

Passive House is not a style, but rather a standard of building — a standard so rigorous that it meets, and far surpasses, conventional building codes

Passive House is the world’s most rigorous building standard for energy efficiency and human health. Pioneered in Saskatchewan, and further developed and refined in Germany, Passive House is a standard that has been adopted as the building standard in numerous jurisdictions around the world. It is being used by high-rise developers in Vancouver and Toronto, and is becoming increasingly common as a building approach for affordable housing, due to the extreme savings on operating costs. Passive House relies on a super-insulated, tightly sealed building envelope to retain heat, while meticulously engineered mechanical systems recover heat and supply a constant source of fresh, healthy air.

The result is a home that consumes up to 90% less energy than most existing buildings and 75% less than conventionally built new homes. A Passive House delivers excellent indoor air quality and exceptional levels of thermal comfort. It is significantly less costly to operate than conventional homes, allowing homeowners to quickly recover the added initial costs of a superior building envelope.

Homes built by Langlois Eco Homes are also designed to be "solar ready." With energy demand reduced to a fraction of what a conventional house would require, homebuyers can opt for the addition of rooftop solar arrays that allow them to reach Net Zero — producing as much energy as your house consumes — with minimal extra investment.

Passive House is “passive” because it lets the house do the work of keeping the heat in

The Passive House approach relies on a few key components:

an airtight building envelope;
extremely high levels of insulation;
no thermal bridges that allow the transfer of heat and cold;
optimization of solar orientation;
high-performance, triple-glazed windows;
mechanical systems engineered for heat recovery and a constant flow of fresh air; and
a simple, compact building design.

Reducing home heating is the single most effective way to reduce your carbon footprint

In Canada, the fuels we use for heating and cooling our homes account for approximately 12% of all carbon emissions. Worldwide, buildings account for some 30-40% of carbon emissions. Those are substantial numbers.

We can reduce carbon emissions if we address the leakage of heat from our homes — by building better, right from the start.

We’ve chosen the Passive House standard as our preferred option because we believe it is the most responsible way to build — for those who live in these homes, for our communities, the planet, and for generations to come.