Introducing the Passivhaus Playbook - A Pragmatic Guide for Passivhaus Success

Demand is rapidly growing for buildings that achieve climate goals, increase climate resilience, and support the health and quality of life of those living in our cities. To help that transformation, we’re launching the Passivhaus Playbook. 

The Passivhaus Playbook is a collaboration between Development Victoria, the Australian Passivhaus Association and Introba. A project that started with the ambition to develop a practical approach to designing a Passivhaus project evolved into a valuable industry resource that we all felt needed to be shared with the industry.

As we face overlapping crises in health, climate and affordability, it’s important to leverage evidence-based approaches to design and development. That’s where approaches like Passivhaus excel, and it’s fantastic to see the growth in its uptake, not just in single dwellings but at scale, too. We really hope this Playbook helps both Passivhaus newcomers and those looking to accelerate their adoption.

David Barker, Senior Principal, Sustainability - Introba Australia 

The Playbook—a nine-step pathway that covers everything from funding to design coordination and supply chain to storytelling—is intended to be seen as a cyclical process, beginning with the alignment of stakeholders via a clearly articulated investment case through to generously sharing project stories with the wider industry. It provides a process for a technically feasible, buildable, cost-effective Passivhaus approach to new buildings in Australia. 

The successful delivery of a Passivhaus project requires venturing from business as usual and an increased emphasis on supply chain collaboration. Drawing upon examples from the Australian and International marketplaces, this pragmatic guide provides the industry with the critical steps to success. This is exactly the guide that the market has been asking for, and I’m excited to see its impact.

Alexia Lidas, CEO - Australian Passivhaus Association  

Since a 'business as usual' approach wouldn't work, the Introba team embraced regenerative practice to catalyse a new approach. Regenerative thinking uses an appreciation for living systems to shift outcomes from the degenerative—which focuses on ‘how to minimise harm’—to the regenerative, which focuses on ‘what good looks like’. 

By recognising the development landscape as a series of nested systems, you can uncover potential that would otherwise remain obscured, allowing project teams to provoke positive change at the most effective intervention points. 

Those who have lived or worked in a Passivhaus building can attest—this is not just another standard. This is a standard that has been extensively tested and delivers delight to occupants while providing social, economic and environmental benefits in spades, with robust results. We hope it is a useful catalyst for Passivhaus in Australia.

Clare Parry, Director of Sustainability - Development Victoria