Improving passive house certification: recommendations based on end-user experiences

The house construction sector in Europe is facing the need to meet stricter energy requirements. For example, some customers are demanding passive houses with almost no demand for space heating. Passive house quality assurance systems have been introduced to certify the energy performance of such houses. The aim of this study was to identify opportunities for improving passive house certification in line with customer's comfort expectations. Questionnaires, site visits and interviews were carried out to identify and assess the comfort concerns of owner-occupiers in certified single-family passive houses in Flanders, northern Belgium. The results show that certified passive houses in Flanders are well rated and perceived as very comfortable. However, there were some cases where comfort concerns were expressed related to perceived flaws in the design or construction of the building services. In particular, the study recommends incorporating criteria for the planning and installation of user-friendly ventilation systems into passive house certification and providing end-users with better information.