Optimizing High Performance Building Design
July 11 – August 2, 2025
The UN reported at COP26 that the building sector accounts for 38% of total global energy-related CO2 emissions. In order to reach net-zero, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that direct building CO2 emissions need to fall by 50% by 2030. This course will provide participants with advanced understanding of low energy, high performance buildings incorporating building physics. The course will concentrate on the principles behind the Passive House standard for achieving high performance buildings. Unlike the full Passive House Designer course and exam, these sessions do not require calculations, but explain the fundamentals behind the standard. The course is supplemented with site visits, additional modules such as embodied carbon, renewable energy, micro grids, and software demonstrations.
You’ll learn how to:
- Be an innovator in your sector for achieving sustainability and supporting climate change mitigation;
- Apply your skills in your academics and professional life with a sustainable approach to;
- Expand your network in a global community of other building performance design participants.
This program is right for you if:
- You want to describe the function of design-PH and PHPP software applications that support Passive House Certification;
- You’re looking to share how emerging focus on embodied carbon, renewable energy systems and microgrids is influencing the building sector;
- You want to participate in site visits that demonstrate current applications of emerging trends and high performance buildings.
What will you be able to do after this course?
- Explain the role of the built environment in support of climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience;
- Describe the principles of the Passive House Standard;
- Explain the role of insulation, air-tightness, thermal bridge free design, high performance windows and ventilation in achieving Passive House certification.