Passive House design is the best option architects have today for a net-zero future, and it is up to us and our clients to make this future a reality. The building industry accounts for nearly 40 percent of global carbon emissions, and almost half of that is from the energy required to light and climatize buildings.
It’s an open secret in our industry that LEED and EnergyStar are not enough. These methods of designing energy-efficient buildings often involve a set of general best practices or rules of thumb, which — while beneficial — can mean missed opportunities to optimize energy use.
As others have reported, like Daniel Brook in his 2007 article for Slate “It’s Way Too Easy Being Green,” the imprecise LEED Rating Checklist System, along with pressure to get buildings certified, can force architects to “design around the checklist rather than to build the greenest building possible.”