We integrate real-world examples covering a broad spectrum of projects, and industry expertise, to provide you with a comprehensive learning experience. With a total commitment of around 100 hours, this part-time learning course blends live teaching and self-study to fit around your professional schedule.

By the end of the course, you will:

1. Understand the Passivhaus standard and how it is crucial for achieving high building performance.
2. Recognise the impact of design choices and how decisions on form factor, airtightness, thermal bridging, insulation, and glazing affect performance.
3. Assess the impact of construction choices, considering multiple construction methods and how to detail common elements.
4. Define design strategies to prevent summer overheating.
5. Explore the principles of effective ventilation in Passivhaus buildings.
6. Understand heating & hot water systems for Passivhaus and considerations for designing efficient heating and hot water distribution systems.
7. Complete energy modelling using PHPP (Passivhaus Planning Package) software and gain proficiency in using it for design and analysis.
8. Understand the role of a Passivhaus Designer/Consultant, what your responsibilities are and how to collaborate effectively on Passivhaus projects.
9. Prepare thoroughly for the Certified Passivhaus Designer/Consultant exam with essential techniques and revision.

Course Modules:

Bitesize Low Energy Design: (20 hours)

Foundation learning to bring you up to speed with low energy design principles and essential concepts. There are 15 hours of self-study to complete in your own time over two weeks, plus additional live online workshops to check and deepen learning. NOTE: If you have already completed the Bitesize Low Energy Design Course separately please get in touch with the team to discuss.

Building Physics Basics (3 hours)

You may be feeling rusty on your maths skills, so this mini-module will give you a recap to build your confidence for the rest of the course. This is a short self-study introduction to building physics, working through the essential equations you will encounter on this course.

Fabric (30 hours)

Explore building physics concepts including heat transfer, the energy balance of buildings and what is necessary to ensure thermal comfort and avoid summer overheating, learning how each of the required values can be calculated and what this means in practice for building design. At each stage, practical construction examples and guidance provide context to the science. We discuss how Passivhaus construction differs to standard practice, with a focus on achieving airtightness and thermal bridge free construction, and understand how successful design follows through to what happens on site.

Building Services for Passivhaus (15 hours)

You'll cover concepts, calculations and commissioning for ventilation design, heating systems and hot water distribution and a review of Primary Energy Renewable. We explore different elements of building services used in Passivhaus, and what's different to business as usual, essential learning regardless of whether you are a services engineer or not - we want you to be able to interrogate services design at a high level and understand how services requirements can influence the building design.

PHPP - Introduction to Passivhaus Planning Package software (18 hours)

Bringing together learning from the previous modules, we guide you through completing a whole PHPP spreadsheet through a mix of live teaching and self-study, allowing you to develop your understanding of the inputs, parameters and implications for building design.

Economics for Passivhaus measures (4 hours)

A short self-study module looking at simple payback (cost of measure/annual saving), return or loss on investment and what is the true cost.

Exam Preparation (12 hours)

We support you to prepare fully for the exam. During a live revision session we recap on the core concepts and guide you through what to expect during the exam itself and exam technique and tips. We provide plenty of support, practice questions and a mock exam. Small-group tutorials at the end will cover any specific areas of concern.

Final exam (3 hour online exam, open book )

Scroll down for fees and course dates.

• Membership Price: £2,100 excl. VAT EARLY BIRD* / £2,500 excl. VAT. Available to Passivhaus Trust or AECB members. Check their websites for membership details.
• Standard Price: £2,800 excl. VAT

*Early Bird Price: Available to PHT or AECB members only who book and pay more than 4 weeks before the course starts

Additional Costs: PHPP Software is required for the PHPP module and exam. Costs start at £180.00 excl. VAT. Purchase from the AECB website (discounts available for multi-buyers and members).

Group Discount: 10% off for booking 3 or more places on the same course.

Free Access: Our Bitesize Low Energy Design Course is included in the Designer course. Contact us for a discount if you have already completed this course previously.

Social Impact: As a Community Interest Company, any profits are reinvested to enhance our courses and support the upskilling of built environment professionals in the UK.