With a total commitment of around 80 study hours, this 3-week intense course (2.5 weeks study plus exam) consists of live webinars, self-study and tutorials, and integrates real-world examples with industry expertise to provide you with a comprehensive learning experience.

Webinars run between 9am and 5pm. There will typically be 3 x 2-hour sessions each day, plus an expectation to complete homework and self-study on top of this (see full schedule for a detailed breakdown). Recordings of all live sessions will be available along with full course materials on our learning platform, to help make this achievable and balance learning with your other commitments.

By the end of the course, you will:

1. Understand the Passivhaus standard and how it is achieves high building performance.
2. Recognise the impact of design choices and how decisions on building form, 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, understand the design choices and how occupants interact with them.
5. Explore the principles of effective ventilation in buildings, how to create efficient systems that provide great indoor environments.
6. Understand what makes efficient heating & hot water systems, from heat pump specification to 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 their 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:

Building Fabric (30 hours – 12 x 2-hour sessions + 2 x 3-hour tutorial/self-study)

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. Practical construction examples and guidance provide context to the science. You will learn how Passivhaus construction differs to standard practice, what’s required to achieve airtightness and thermal bridge free construction and understand how successful design follows through to what happens on site.

Building Services for Passivhaus (15 hours – 6 x 2-hour sessions 1 x 3-hour tutorial/self-study)

You'll cover concepts, calculations and commissioning for ventilation design, heating systems and hot water distribution and a review of Primary Energy Renewable. Explore different elements of building services used in Passivhaus, and what's different to business as usual, learning how 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 – 4 x 2-hour sessions + 2 x 3-hour /self-study)

Through a mix of live teaching and self-study we guide you through the PHPP software and how to complete a whole PHPP spreadsheet, developing your understanding of the inputs, parameters and implications for building design. A student PHPP licence is included in the fees.

Economics for Passivhaus measures (4 hours – self-study)

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 – self-study)

We support you to prepare fully for the exam, guide you through what to expect during the exam itself and provide exam technique and tips. We provide plenty of support, practice questions and a mock exam.

Tutorials

Three tutorial days (1 per week) throughout the course allow you to get support on any specific areas of concern. Post questions in the online forum about any of the topics covered so far and join a live drop-in session with the trainers.

Final exam

A 3-hour online exam, open book so you can use your own notes for support.

Student Package 1 - RIBA accredited* architecture students

• Discounted Student Certified Designer Course - £738.00 (price includes VAT)
• Design Performance Self Study Course - FREE (Contact Coaction for further information)

Student Package 2 - Non-RIBA accredited* architecture & other built environment students

• Discounted Student Certified Designer Course - £738.00 (price includes VAT)
• Design Performance Self Study Course - £180 (price includes VAT)

*Is your course RIBA accredited? Check here before booking.

Lecturers - Packages to be released shortly. Please contact Coaction for further information.

Not a student? Please visit the Certified Passivhaus Designer course page and our course funding page.

Please note: This course needs a minimum of 40 participants to run. If we don’t reach that number, you’ll receive a full refund. We’d love your support in helping make it happen—feel free to spread the word!