Passivhaus Philippines introduces the Passive House Standard at PHILCONSTRUCT 2025

by: Juven Marius C. Mirano

Passivhaus Philippines was invited to introduce the globally recognized Passive House standard as a solution for achieving energy-efficient and climate-resilient buildings in the Philippines. The session was led by Ar. Juven Marius Cruz Mirano, one of the founding board directors of Passivhaus Philippines, and was held during the PHILCONSTRUCT 2025 event at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City organized by the Philippine Green Building Initiative (PGBI).

The lecture began with defining the Passive House standard and explaining its principles and proven effectiveness as a building performance benchmark. Ar. Juven highlighted its role as a crucial component in the broader Climate Action formula, alongside clean energy adoption, low embodied carbon materials, and electrification. He emphasized that the Passive House approach provides a global, science-based solution to energy efficiency applicable across all building types and climates.

During the session, Ar. Juven presented the five core principles of Passive House: thermal insulation, efficient windows and glazing, adequate ventilation strategies, airtightness, and thermal bridge-free construction. He discussed how each principle contributes to superior comfort, durability, and energy performance - bridging both architectural and engineering perspectives for the audience, which consisted of professionals across the building industry.

To clarify common misconceptions, the presentation also compared Passive House with local design concepts such as Passive Cooling and Passive Design. Ar. Juven explained that Passive House builds upon passive design fundamentals and it advances beyond purist or climate-limited solutions by integrating modern technologies to achieve consistent performance.

The presentation concluded with an introduction to Passivhaus Philippines - its mission to promote education, research, and professional collaboration - and its vision of realizing the country’s first certified Passive House building, marking a milestone for sustainable development in the Philippines.

For more information, visit www.passivhausph.org

L-R: Freddy Bautista and Juven Mirano,

founding board of directors of Passivhaus Philippines