Passive House Design Click to view PDF in detail

Constructing a passive house entails a lot of work, and since such process incurs a lot of costs, you have to make sure that everything is done carefully right from the planning and designing process down to construction. Therefore, we at Nearby Engineers make sure that we can provide you with an error-free design to make sure you can avoid any errors during the construction phase.

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Passive House Design

Passive House Design

A property that is a Passive House means that it has complied with the standards for energy efficiency in a building which reduces its overall ecological footprint. As a result, the building can enjoy ultra-low energy consumption for various applications including space cooling and/or heating.

Despite the name, a passive house isn’t restricted to residential properties alone. The standard also applies to other properties including office spaces, supermarkets, and more. Additionally, it’s not a supplement to architectural design. Rather, it’s a design process which seamlessly integrates with architectural design. While it applies mainly to new buildings, it can also be used for renovations.

Here at , we can bring your dream of a passive house to life. Our passive house certified design service will ensure that we can comply with the standards for a highly energy-efficient building.

What to Expect from Our Passive House Certified Design Service

The Passive House standard isn’t a compulsory standard which is required by law – it is more of a voluntary compliance. However, there are certain criteria that must be met in order to come up with a Passive House certified design.

By working with us at for your Passive House certified design requirements, you can expect the following:

  • We as the designer will provide you with more valuable inputs regarding how we can further improve the quality of your design. We can also suggest various solutions to simplify the design and implement it in a more cost-effective approach.
  • You can be guaranteed that your property will indeed turn out to be a Passive House. This is possible with the help of our years of knowledge and expertise in the MEP (manufacturing, engineering, plumbing) industry.
  • You will be able to enjoy a more energy-efficient and economical building with very minimal ecological footprint.

Criteria We Follow for Our Designs

Before we proceed to the design phase, we make sure that our engineers and designers follow the various criteria for a Passive House design. These criteria are as follows:

  • Space Heating Energy Demand should not go beyond 15 kWh for every square meter of net living every year. However, in areas where active cooling is required, the requirement can roughly match the heat demand requirement along with an allowance for dehumidification.
  • Airtightness should not exceed 0.6 air changes for every hour at 50 Pascals pressure.
  • Primary Energy Demand should not exceed 60 kWh per square meter for every treated floor every year.
  • Thermal comfort should be met for all of the living spaces all year round.

Aside from these criteria, we also follow these five basic principles in our Passive House certified design:

  • Building airtightness – your property should not leak air more than 0.6 times your property’s volume per hour at 50 Pascals.
  • Absence of thermal bridges – thermal bridges should be avoided by properly planning all corners, edges, and connections in your building. Any thermal bridge which can’t be avoided should be minimized as much as possible.
  • Thermal insulation – all opaque components of the property should be properly insulated.
  • Ventilation heat recovery – efficient heat recovery ventilation should be maintained to ensure good indoor air quality and energy efficiency.
  • Passive House windows – window frames should be well-insulated to prevent heat transfer.

Why Design a Passive House?

Passive heating house

As mentioned earlier, a Passive House is not a compulsory standard. However, there are several advantages to building a Passive House than just energy efficiency. In case you’re wondering, here are the benefits you can get from our Passive House certified design:

  • You can enjoy high indoor air quality. Due to the airtightness of conventional buildings, you won’t be able to exert too much control over the ventilation. This tends to result in the accumulation and recirculation of toxins and other outdoor particles into your house. In a passive house, however, the air is methodically exchanged for fresh and filtered air 24/7. This means you can enjoy fresher and cleaner air day and night.
  • You can save a lot on utility costs. A Passive House certified design will no longer need those traditional heating systems regardless of the climate. This means that you can get rid of natural gas or heating oil for insulation. With our quality designs at , you can further reduce your building’s ecological footprint.
  • You can have more flexibility in choosing your building materials. With a passive home, you are no longer restricted to certain building materials. This means that it will be entirely up to you how you can meet the performance criteria. Of course, our engineers will also make sure to provide you with suggestions regarding the materials that would work best for your passive home construction.
  • You can have a well-built and durable building. In order to meet the Passive House certification criteria, your building should be constructed to the best modern standards there are. This ensures a well-built and highly durable building. Since each aspect of your passive house is planned carefully, especially during our designing process, there will be no room for errors during construction.
  • You can expect peace and quiet. This is a benefit brought about by airtightness. Since doors and windows are heavily insulated, they can greatly reduce exposure to outdoor noise, causing your indoors to be completely quiet and serene.
  • You can increase your building’s value. While constructing a passive house entails a huge upfront cost, it can be easily offset by the massive savings you can get on maintenance and utility bills.

Our Passive House Design Process

Constructing a passive house entails a lot of work, and since such process incurs a lot of costs, you have to make sure that everything is done carefully right from the planning and designing process down to construction.

Therefore, we at make sure that we can provide you with an error-free design to make sure you can avoid any errors during the construction phase. Here’s how we do our designing process:

Step 1: Contact us and provide us with your design brief

Before we start with the designing process, we should first obtain your design brief, so we can know everything there is to know about your project. In this phase, we will talk about the scope of your project, the materials you want, how you want it designed, your current budget, and several other details. If possible, we would like to talk with you personally, so we can have a more accurate view of your project.

Step 2: We’ll conduct a site inspection

To make sure we can get accurate measurements of your proposed passive house, we will send a team to perform a site inspection. They will also inquire about the measurement of your building, the exact dimensions of your lot, and more. During this stage, we would like to request that you provide details as accurately as possible.

Step 3: The design phase commences

After we have gathered all the information we need including the design brief and building specifics, we then proceed to the designing phase. Our designing team is made up of expert designers who are well-versed in using various tools for MEP and BIM (building information modeling) such as AutoCAD, Revit, and more.

Step 4: We’ll ask for initial feedback and make appropriate revisions or add updates

Once we have come up with an initial output, we will first ask for your initial feedback. We won’t call the design final yet, as there are still various aspects that need revisions and/or improvements. During this stage, your feedback will prove to be crucial. After you have provided us with your feedback, we will then make sure to apply the details you specified.

Step 5: Finalize the design

After we have made the appropriate revisions and improvements on the design, we will then send you the final design. Additionally, we can also create a 3D visualization, so you can have a preview of how your passive house design will look like once the construction is finished.

Why Choose NY Engineers?

We at are among the leading companies when it comes to MEP designs. Here are the reasons why you should choose us for your design needs:

Experienced Professionals

We are a team of competent and experienced professionals who have been in the MEP industry for several years. With this, we were able to accumulate years of experience which have greatly helped us become more proficient in the trade. However, since the industry introduces new technologies and updates periodically, we always make sure to keep up with the improvements and learn them to keep our services updated.

Quick Turnaround

At , we understand that time constraints can be quite a hassle, especially if you have set a completion date for your project. With that, we always strive to deliver high-quality output as quickly as possible. Of course, we make sure that we won’t compromise the quality of our project while doing so.

Use of the Latest Tools

With the latest technology and innovations in the MEP industry, some BIM tools can get quickly outdated. Using an outdated tool might mess up your entire project, especially since there are standards and requirements you have to comply with for your passive house. For that, we only use the latest tools and software to bring you the most efficient and high-quality designs you deserve.

Customer-Friendly Staff

Our team of professionals is customer-friendly, which is why you will surely enjoy working with us, particularly during the collaboration part. After all, we consider collaboration to be an integral part of our design process, and we can’t achieve this without establishing a good rapport with you. Without proper collaboration with you, fixes and improvements might not happen seamlessly.

Excellent Customer Support

If you have questions or clarifications regarding your project, you can always give us a call. Our friendly customer support representatives will always be there to answer any of your concerns.

Affordable and Custom Rates

One of the reasons why our clients are satisfied with our design services is because we offer them at very affordable rates. We also offer custom rates depending on the specifications of your project. Despite the very low rates, we make sure that the quality of the design is never compromised.


Work with Us Now!

If you’re looking for a reliable team in Chicago, New Jersey, and New York to create detailed and quality design for your passive house project, then give us a call right away. Here at , you can always get the best bang for the buck.

We’re not just limited to passive house certified designs. In fact, we also offer a number of other design services within the MEP sector. As long as you have any construction project which needs a design, we at NYE will always be here to help you.

Have an MEP Engineering Project? Talk To Us.