Passive House Training Curriculum
Become Passive House-certified with climate-specific building science training curriculum for commercial, residential, and retrofit projects.
Comprehensive Passive House Building Science Curriculum
Emu’s Passive House training curriculum reflects our extensive experience in Passive House design, consulting, and construction. As a result, this building science curriculum is informed by:
- A decade spent practicing architecture (as Emu Architetti), where we designed Passive House and high‑performance projects—new builds as well as retrofits.
- Hundreds of consulting jobs we executed—from Passive building consulting and certification all over the United States, to R&D and product development for high‑performance product manufacturers.
- Thousands of hours of on‑site experience inspecting, directing, and firsthand executing high‑performance construction, window installs, testing, and commissioning.
Passive House Training Formats
Emu’s Passive House training curriculum is offered in a few different formats. This allows to tailor your team’s building science training according to different needs and goals.
Core Curriculum – The Most Advanced Building Science Training
Emu’s Core Curriculum is the basis of all the training formats that we offer, including online, in‑person, and hybrid Passive House courses. This content covers all climate zones of the United States and American construction techniques, using Emu’s real‑life consulting projects.ining for construction professionals.
The Core Curriculum prepares participants to pass the Passive House certification exam.
Unit 1 - Why We Build Buildings
- Understand the relationship between people and the built environment in terms of health, safety, and longevity.
- Evaluate the importance of buildings in the context of climate change in the economy of electrification.
- Assess typical points of failure in buildings.
- Familiarize yourself with the 5 Pillars of Passive House and how they contribute to successful building projects.
Unit 2 - The Science of Why
- Review different health metrics within buildings, including, mold, condensation and comfort.
- Break down the different rules around energy dynamics.
- Investigate the properties of air and moisture (psychrometrics).
- Identify moisture driven risks associated with thermodynamics.
Unit 3 - Applied Performance
- Comprehend the math of heat flow
- Familiarize Temperature factures in reducing mold and condensation
- Evaluate how form effects performance and airtightness
- Review software and tools
Unit 4 - Certification Landscape
- Recognize the importance of the PH certification process.
- Evaluate different certification programs offered by PHI and compare them to other building standards.
- Review the typical certification process for Passive buildings.
- Explore the steps necessary to get started on your first Passive House project.
Unit 5 - Insulation + Thermal Bridging
- Define strategies for insulating buildings
- Identify dependable, durable, and suitable insulation materials
- Review typical PH assemblies and construction details
- Evaluate the effects of typical thermal bridges on health and comfort and how to mitigate them
Unit 6 - Air + Moisture
- Define strategies for air-sealing conditioned spaces
- Identify dependable, durable, and suitable materials for air-sealing
- Review typical PH assemblies and construction details
- Compare different metrics and testing methods to evaluate the airtightness of a building
Unit 7 - Windows, Ext. Doors, Curtain Walls, Etc.
- Learn how to coordinate different priorities for windows and doors. Including design, performance, and cost.
- Familiarize yourself with different window types and components
- Investigate the impact of window components on thermal performance, comfort, and daylight
- Review high performance window install details and analyze their effects on performance.
Unit 8 - Details, Assemblies, Junctions
- Review control layers and their importance throughout the building envelope
- Evaluate priorities and risks associated with integrating control layers in real life projects
- Investigate best practices for sequencing and detailing strategy in different residential and commercial construction techniques.
- Analyze construction examples across different building typologies
Unit 9 - Fresh Air Ventilation
- Recognize why fresh air is important for buildings and people.
- Review strategies for providing occupants with fresh air.
- Familiarize yourself with different components of fresh air systems.
- Learn how to integrate the fresh air system within the building.
Unit 10 - Heating, Cooling, DHW, Appliances
- Identify reasons for why and how we condition buildings.
- Review conventional and innovative heating, cooling, and dehumidification systems in the context of high-performance buildings.
- Recognize the importance of properly designed and installed distribution networks.
- Evaluate different DHW + Appliances strategies in PH buildings.
Unit 11 - Retrofits
- Recognize the importance of retrofitting the existing building stock.
- Analyze how existing buildings fail to create comfortable, healthy, and efficient environments.
- Identify typical risks and solutions associated with retrofits.
- Review the certification landscape for PH building retrofit projects.
Unit 12 - Commissioning + Quality Assurance
- Familiarize yourself the basic stages of the quality assurance process.
- Distinguish how the PH methodology is implemented at different design stages.
- Investigate what quality assurance and documentation steps are required during construction of a passive house building.
- Review the final commissioning and testing protocols required for PH certification.
Hands‑on Curriculum – Practical Workshop for High‑Performance Passive Construction
The hands-on Passive Pod Workshop is a proprietary building science hands‑on experience developed by Emu to train builders, architects, and construction professionals. This workshop takes participants to the next level of Passive building expertise.
The Hands‑on Curriculum builds off of the building science of the Core Curriculum and translates that theoretical education into real‑life, practical exercises and product applications.
Step 1 - Pencil Rule
- Review plan sets for commercial and residential projects
- Identify potential risk areas for Passive House construction goals
- Plan appropriate solutions for sequencing, thermal breaks, and insulation install
Step 2 - Pod Base
- Install thermal insulation
- Review best practices for thermal bridge avoidance, including Resnet guidelines
Step 3 - Residential Assemblies
- Review different residential wall assemblies
- Plan on proper air sealing and insulation sequencing for the wall assembly that the team chooses
Step 4 - Commercial Assemblies
- Review different commercial wall assemblies
- Plan on proper air sealing and insulation sequencing for the wall assembly that the team chooses
Step 5 - Window Install
- Plan and detail the install of a tilt-turn window in the middle of the wall
- Install window and commission its operation
- Flash and air seal the window, and connect it to the appropriate control layers
Step 6 - Continuous Exterior Insulation
- Install continuous insulation over the Pod assemblies that are designed to receive CI.
- Review challenges of said install, and typical best practices.
Supervisor's Role
- Empower individuals to plan exercise sequences
- Foster leadership and communication skills
- Build the habit to document the project at different stages
Building Science Games
- Build team spirit around building science exercises
- Develop a science-based approach to develop team strategies
Product Samples Reviews
- Review a greater range of high performance products than what are actually used in the assembly of the Pods
Test 1 - Smoke Test
- Inspect the Pods while they are being pressurized (once the Pods have been filled with smoke)
- Visually detect any air leaks
- Review the possible causes of air leakage, and the details and/or products that may be more sensitive to such leaks.
Test 2 - Infrared Camera Test
- Inspect the Pods with an infrared camera (once the Pods are heated)
- Detect any areas of greater or lower heat loss
- Review the building science behind those temperature differences
Test 3 - Resiliency Test
- Compare the heat loss of the Pods to one another, once they have been left to cool off overnight with no additional heating
- Compare these results to the results of the Smoke Test, the Infrared Test, and the products used by individual teams.
An International Building Science Curriculum to Advance the American Construction Industry
Emu Passive’s international education, work experience, and professional connections provide this building science curriculum with a level of depth and detail that is unequaled in the United States.
Enrico Bonilauri’s two master’s degrees—architecture and sustainable design—and construction experience allow for a practical, cross‑disciplinary approach to building science implementation. His ability to speak Italian and German in addition to English also provides the Emu team with access to the most advanced Passive House and high‑performance building research from Europe—most of which is not translated into English and is not otherwise available in the U.S.
Ben Leer’s extensive firsthand construction experience bridges the gap between the theory of the building science curriculum and the real world of everyday construction.
Passive House Value Proposition
While it is not the primary purpose of the curriculum to teach how to “sell” Passive House, considerable effort is put into training participants to develop their communication skills around high‑performance building science. This allows them to better communicate the “why” behind Passive building techniques, high‑performance products, and advanced construction details.
Participants can then use these newly acquired Passive House communication skills to bring onboard team members as well as clients. After all, most successful construction projects are won by teams with great communication skills.
The Value of High‑Performance Construction – Practice the Talk While Learning the Walk
To become Passive House certified also means becoming the champion for a greater quality of design and construction.
- Clients need value propositions (e.g., “With the higher‑performance windows, your comfort level is going to increase by X.”)
- Team members need integrated solutions (e.g., “We need both those structural steel posts and continuity in the insulation—let’s use these structurally rated thermal breaks.”)
- Trades need actionable items (e.g., “Use this product and air‑seal this.”)
- These strategies are included in Emu’s Passive building curriculum so that participants can learn the language of high‑performance construction at the same time they are learning advanced building science.
Learn to Communicate How to Passive House—in ‘English’
If your team, your clients, and your network don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve, it’s going to be nearly impossible for your projects to meet their high‑performance goals.
We intentionally enroll a diverse audience of builders, architects, and other professionals in our courses. Consequently, participants are able to break away from the traditional silos of the construction industry and benefit from “coed” professional training.
Among other things, Emu’s building science curriculum is designed to develop participants’ communication skills with the use of examples, analogies, and other techniques that help bridge the communication gaps.
Climate‑Specific Passive House Training Content
- As a company, Emu Passive has professionally operated in Italy, Australia, and all over the United States. This international experience allows us to develop our building science curriculum over the whole range of climate zones, from hot and humid climates to alpine and subarctic.
- From swampy Florida to hot and arid Arizona, alpine Colorado, and subarctic Alaska (and everything in between), Emu’s Passive House course curriculum extensively covers all climate zones of North America. Course participants are trained with specific, real‑life examples and climate‑specific construction details.
Cold Climate Passive House Course Curriculum
Passive House building science is historically better known for high‑performance construction in cold climate zones. Throughout the training curriculum, participants learn to use Passive House to improve the quality of buildings in cold climate zones on aspects such as:
- Higher indoor air quality
- Superior thermal comfort
- Avoidance of mold and condensation
- Greater building durability
- Higher energy efficiency and a streamlined path to Net Zero Energy goals
- Dramatic reduction of operational energy and carbon emissions for heating
Passive House Training Curriculum for Warm, Hot, and Humid Climates
A lesser‑known fact is that Passive House construction has been successfully implemented in warm, hot, and humid climate zones around the world, and that is also reflected in Emu’s training curriculum.
With regard to warm, hot, and humid climate zones, the curriculum illustrates the following advantages of Passive building construction:
- Reduction of cooling and dehumidification loads thanks to Passive House principles and techniques
- Higher passive survivability
- Higher energy efficiency for cooling and dehumidification
Commercial, Non‑Residential, and Residential Buildings: Passive House Building Science Curriculum
Our high‑performance training curriculum covers a broad range of both conventional and new, innovative construction techniques for residential, commercial, and institutional projects. The training materials combine results from building science analyses, real‑life examples, and field testing to illustrate pros and cons of different construction methods.
Multi‑Family, Commercial, and Non‑Residential Passive Building Construction Techniques
Among others, Emu’s Passive House curriculum covers in detail the following commercial, multi‑family, and non‑residential construction techniques:
- Light gauge steel framing construction
- CMU masonry construction
- Concrete sandwich construction
- CLT construction (cross‑laminated timber)
In the hands‑on workshop, participants practice Passive Building techniques on light gauge steel construction and CMU wall assemblies. The vast stock of real‑life product samples covered in the workshop provides an extensive overview of innovative products used in high‑performance commercial and multi‑family Passive House applications.
Residential High‑Performance and Passive House Construction Techniques
The curriculum extensively covers residential building techniques and methods, with the review of construction details including, among others:
- Stick‑frame construction, including exterior continuous insulation
- Double‑stud construction
- Straw bale construction
- SIP construction (structural insulated panels)
- ICF construction (insulated concrete forms)
In the Passive Pod Workshop, participants practice Passive House building stick‑frame and double‑stud wall construction, including exterior continuous insulation. The extensive library of product samples completes the residential Passive House training curriculum.
Retrofits, Remodels, and Step‑by‑Step Staged Passive House Renovations
Passive House principles can be applied to retrofit projects just as much as they are used in new builds. The Core Curriculum includes a specific unit that dives deep into retrofit applications. In addition to that, the rest of the building science curriculum is sprinkled with numerous examples of retrofit applications of specific construction details and high‑performance products.
Climate‑Specific Building Science Curriculum for Building Retrofits, Remodels, and Renovations
Retrofit projects are more challenging than new construction ones, especially in harsher climate zones (e.g., more humid or cold climates). The Passive building curriculum includes climate‑specific details and analyses for retrofit applications so that participants can avoid issues of mold, condensation, and overall underperformance in their remodeling projects.
Training for Step‑by‑Step, Staged, Passive House Retrofit Projects
A step‑by‑step approach to a retrofit project allows teams to prioritize parts of a building that need to be retrofitted at different times and stage the work process in a way that fits the project goals and budget.
The section of the Passive House curriculum dedicated to retrofits illustrates how to navigate these choices in a professional, informed manner and avoid issues including mold and condensation in the retrofitted building.
Independent and Unbiased Building Science Training
Unlike most building science training in America, Emu’s training curriculum is independent from third‑party sponsorships.
Emu does not accept sponsorships from product manufacturers, product representatives, or other parties. Our internal code of conduct guides our trainers and organization. Products used in the Passive Pod Workshop are donated by manufacturers, but these donors do not take part in the training.
Consequently, our trainers are free to teach and provide their professional opinions on construction details, high‑performance products, and applications without being afraid of stepping on a sponsor’s toes. This ensures that participants receive the most independent and unbiased training experience possible.