Certified Passive House Design in Melbourne & Victoria

The opposite is true. Conventional Australian homes often suffer from condensation and mould precisely because they are draughty and poorly ventilated.

Warm, moist indoor air leaks into cold wall cavities where it condenses, creating the conditions for mould growth and dust mite problems.

A Passive House eliminates this by controlling air movement through a continuous airtight envelope and providing constant mechanical ventilation that removes stale, moist air and replaces it with filtered fresh air.

The result is significantly healthier indoor air quality than a conventional home

A Passive House retains its internal temperature for significantly longer than a conventional home because the heavily insulated, airtight envelope acts like a thermal flask.

During a summer heatwave or winter cold snap, comfortable indoor temperatures can be maintained for many hours or even days without power.

This thermal resilience is particularly valued by clients in regional Victoria where outages from storms, bushfires or grid instability are increasingly common.

For homes with battery storage and solar PV, the impact of a grid outage may not be noticed at all. 

Of Course Windows and Doors can of course be opened as normal.  

No. Modern heat recovery ventilation systems such as the units we typically specify operate at very low noise levels.

In normal operation the system is virtually inaudible. Ductwork is sized and routed to minimise air velocity and turbulence, and the unit itself is housed in a dedicated services cupboard away from living spaces.

Most clients report that they forget the system is running until someone mentions it and that is our own experience too.

Passive House walls are typically thicker than conventional Australian construction because they contain more insulation, but the difference is less dramatic than many people expect.

A typical Passive House wall in Melbourne might be 250 to 350mm thick depending on the construction system, compared to around 200mm for conventional brick veneer.

In our SIPs and timber frame projects the insulation is integrated within the structural panel, so the additional thickness is modest.

In practice it reads as architectural substance and quality rather than bulk, and the improved comfort is immediately noticeable.

Explore our Projects

PHPP stands for Passive House Planning Package.

It is the internationally recognised energy modelling software developed by the Passive House Institute and is the primary design tool for every certified Passive House project.

Unlike simpler Australian energy rating tools, PHPP models the building as a complete thermal system, accounting for insulation, glazing, orientation, shading, ventilation, internal heat gains and local climate data simultaneously.

This allows us to test and optimise every aspect of the design before construction begins, ensuring the finished building will perform as intended rather than relying on assumptions.

Yes. The Passive House Institute has a dedicated certification pathway called EnerPHit specifically for retrofitting existing buildings.

EnerPHit uses adjusted performance thresholds that recognise the constraints of working with existing structures while still delivering a dramatic improvement in comfort, air quality and energy performance.

Our Geelong West and Macclesfield projecta are examples of EnerPHit renovations of heritage homes where we achieved high-performance results within strict heritage overlay requirements.

View the Geelong West project.

As of April 2026, there are fewer than 150 Certified Passive House Projects in Australia. including Classic, Plus, Premium and EnerPHit. 

There are fewer than 50 Passive House Plus projects, of which three are ours, with some others targeting this level.  

This number is relatively small compared to Europe, where tens of thousands have been built.

This means choosing a designer with demonstrated certification experience is particularly important. We have delivered multiple certified projects at Classic and Plus level, with a Premium project currently underway.

See our plus projects at Kyneton, Camberwell or McKinnon

No. Certification is optional and is pursued at your discretion.

However, we design all our projects to meet Passive House performance levels regardless, because we believe this produces the best outcome for comfort, health and energy efficiency.

Certification adds independent verification and an internationally recognised quality mark that protects your investment and enhances resale value.

We discuss whether to pursue formal certification during the feasibility stage based on your priorities and budget.

No. The complexity sits with us, not with you.

Passive House requires rigorous energy modelling, detailed construction documentation and careful site supervision, but that is our job.

As the client, your experience should feel straightforward: we guide you through a structured design process, explain decisions in plain language, and manage the technical coordination with engineers, certifiers and builders on your behalf.

This additional design consideration and detailed documentation should also lead to better buildings and simpler contract administration.  

Many of our clients tell us the process was simpler than they expected because everything is planned and resolved before construction begins rather than being figured out on site. 

Most of our clients report annual energy bills of a few hundred dollars or less (usually the standing charge and minimal night-time usage), and several generate a net income from exporting surplus solar electricity to the grid.

A certified Passive House typically reduces heating and cooling energy demand by up to 90 percent compared to a conventional home, and when combined with a rooftop solar PV system the remaining electricity needs are largely or entirely covered by self-generation.

The exact figure depends on your home’s size, your usage patterns and your solar capacity, but the shift from thousands of dollars per year to a few hundred (or a net credit) is consistent across our completed projects.

In most Victorian climate zones, triple glazing is strongly recommended and is the standard we specify for certified Passive House projects.

Triple glazing provides significantly better thermal insulation (lower U-values), reduces condensation risk on cold mornings, and improves acoustic performance compared to double glazing.

The additional cost of triple glazing over high-quality double glazing is modest relative to the overall project budget, and the comfort and performance benefits are substantial.

In some specific circumstances, such as well-shaded south-facing windows with minimal solar exposure, high-performance double glazing may be acceptable within the PHPP model, but this is determined case by case through energy modelling rather than as a general rule.

This is a common question and the short answer is no.

Adding solar capacity and oversized air conditioning to a poorly insulated, draughty home is like trying to fill a bath with the plug out. You can do it, but you will waste enormous amounts of energy doing so.

A Passive House addresses the problem at the source: the building envelope itself.

By insulating, sealing and ventilating the home properly, you reduce the energy demand so dramatically that a modest solar system can cover everything.

The result is a home that stays comfortable during power outages, is not dependent on mechanical systems running constantly, requires far less maintenance, and costs far less to operate over its lifetime.

Passive houses are healthy and comfortably free of draughts and cold and excess heat.

Solar panels are an excellent addition to a Passive House, but they are not a substitute for a well-designed building envelope.

A thermal bridge is any point in the building envelope where heat can transfer more easily through the structure than through the surrounding insulated areas.

Common examples include steel lintels above windows, concrete slab edges, metal fixings that penetrate through insulation, and junctions where walls meet roofs or floors.

In a conventional home these thermal bridges are ignored or accepted.

In a Passive House they are eliminated through careful detailing because even small thermal bridges can significantly increase heat loss, cause localised condensation and create cold spots on interior surfaces.

This is one of the reasons we prefer timber construction: timber has much lower thermal conductivity than steel or concrete, making it inherently easier to achieve a thermal bridge-free envelope.

The certification process is managed by us on your behalf and does not require significant effort from you as the client.

It involves detailed PHPP energy modelling during the design phase, careful documentation of all building envelope components and systems, quality assurance during construction (including photographic evidence of airtightness detailing), an independent blower door test to verify airtightness on the completed building, and a final review of all documentation by an accredited independent certifier.

The certifier reviews the evidence and issues the certificate once they are satisfied the building meets the standard.

We have been through this process multiple times and manage it as part of our normal architectural services.  It complements the contract administration role we provide as architects.