Do passive houses consume less energy than normal houses?

Passive House buildings are built to consume up to 90 percent less heating and cooling energy than traditional buildings. Passive House is the only internationally recognized high-performance building standard. Its principles can be applied to most building types or designs. It's a proven energy standard in construction backed by science.

What is a passive house door?

Passive House doors do not exist as the Passive House standard is performance based on the building itself. Instead, doors meet the rigorous Passive House standards by offering superior insulation and air-tightness.

Are Passive House doors thicker than normal doors?

Yes, doors that meet the Passive House standard are often thicker because they have more insulation.

Do Passive House doors make noise when the door locks?

Yes, many Passive House doors have multiple magnetic and compression seals to ensure the door is airtight. You can hear these components when the door closes.

Can Passive House doors have glass?

Yes, it is common for Passive House doors to have glass. The glass if often triple glazed with a low-e coating. To prevent the transfer of heat, the panes of glass are filled with argon or krypton.

How thick are passive house doors?

Doors that meet passive house standard are typically 4 inches thick.

Learn about Passive House Door

A Passive House door is an exterior door that is built to help homes meet the rigorous Passive House standard. Passive House doors mildly resemblance a vault door. They're about four inches thick, has multiple gaskets and latches, and even makes an audible sealing sound when it closes.

Passive House doors are primarily built to tackle energy efficiency. So they're much thicker, more insulated (higher R-values), minimize or eliminate thermal bridging, and more considerable attention is paid to air sealing.

Passive House exterior doors aren't a thing - that is, there is no certification associated with specific doors. Instead, these are doors that meet the insulation and airtightness necessary for a home to be a Passive House.

Specifically, a Passive House door typically includes:

Three or more locking points are placed along the edge of the door frame.
Three seals between the door and the frame and two seals along the bottom.
Highly insulated body. At least R-10 insulation, twice as good as a standard exterior door.

Passive House doors can have a glass insert, and they are typically triple glazed and filled with argon or krypton while using thermal spacers.

Just like windows, the level of efficiency required as Passive House doors largely depends on your local climate. Requirements won't be the same for California as they are in Alaska.

Its U-factor usually describes the insulating value of doors. The lower the U-factor value, the better. Passive House certified doors (including window inserts) typically have a U-factor of 0.14 Btu/hr-sq ft °F or less.

Another consideration of a Passive House door is the hardware. These doors typically utilize a locking lever mechanism similar to Passive House windows and usually have multiple latches and locks. These features not only help with compressing the multiple gaskets and seals to ensure airtightness but also offer added security for the home.

These doors are built to meet the Passive House criteria by increasing insulation thickness, reducing thermal bridging and increasing airtightness with features such as magnetic and compression seals and three locking points. Passive house door with window inserts will require low U-factor windows with triple glazing.

As of 2016, approximately 60,000 Passive House buildings have been built (or retrofitted) to service residential and non-residential needs.