Welcome from Passive House Institute (Austria)

Hello everyone and welcome to the Project Spotlight Passive House. In very hot climate. Many thanks to Norman Garcia for inviting me to say the welcome remarks. My name is Laszlo Lepp, and I'm Senior Scientist and Managing Director of the Passive House Institute (PHI) in Innsbruck in Austria. The headquarters is based in Germany, but we also have our second office in Austria, where I am located. My main activities include consultancy and certification of all kinds of Passive Houses worldwide, but mainly in Europe and Asia. And so, I had the honor of certifying the building in Bangkok, which is being presented today.

The question is, what can the Philippines learn from Thailand's first certified Passive House? Well, it's always a challenge to design and construct highly energy-efficient buildings in a region where there is no practical implementation or experience available so far. A new climate, a new project team; questions about available products and materials, a potential gap in experienced companies.

Being a pioneer is challenging. But these are exactly the challenges we have loved for over three decades at the Passive House Institute. Finding solutions for new situations. Wrecking our brain to figure out exactly how to make a building efficient, sustainable and future-proof. This is exactly what has been achieved successfully in today's example.

For the first time in Thailand. Fortunately, we had an extremely committed local partner, which made our work as certifier much easier. I would like to thank Jay once again for his excellent cooperation on this project, which he provided as a Passive House Designer. Thank you very much.

The first project always require individual solutions. But we want to scale up in the long run. This requires suitable regional products, cost-effective solutions, and qualified professionals. That is the crucial point. Once the learning curve flattens out, special concepts like a Passive House should become the norm.

So, I hope that many interested people will take advantage of the services offered by the PHI. To improve their knowledge and skills. And, that many companies will collaborate with us to optimize their products so that they can be offered them as a PHI-certified components in the region, and make the Passive House buildings affordable.

The implementation of real buildings is extremely important, so that as many people as possible can visit such properties and see the advantages for themselves. Calculations using the PHPP, the Passive House Planning Package, and quality assurance in the form of the Passive House certification both play a key part in achieving maximum comfort. The lowest energy demand and satisfaction for the occupants.

I hope to see many excellent Passive House designers, numerous certified Passive House components, and a lot of Passive House buildings realized in the Philippines in the near future. The foundation for this has been laid with Norman Garcia at the Passivhaus Philippines. And also, other stakeholders like Jay from Taiwan, and the PHI in Germany and Austria are ready to provide support.

Before I conclude, I would like to invite you all. To the next International Passive House Conference. We will be in Essen, in Germany at the end of April 2026 to discuss the globally applicable Passive House concept, showcase new developments, and establish new project collaborations. I will be delighted if we could all meet there in person.

And now, I hope you enjoyed today's presentation about his experiences with the first certified Passive House in Thailand. Thank you very much for listening, and I wish you all the best!

September 20, 2025

Laszlo Lepp

Senior Scientist & Joint Managing Director

Passive House Institute Austria