A building’s airtightness test result isn’t just an indicator of its energy efficiency – it’s an unambiguous indicator of build quality. With a little care in design and on site, airtightness targets that may seem impossibly tough are anything but, argues leading architect and certified passive house designer Simon McGuinness.

If you’ve ever wanted to take a passive house for a road test, one holiday letting on the coast of west Cork may be too good an opportunity to turn down. The aptly named Sea Spray – an as yet uncertified Enerphit upgraded bungalow – is a bona fide triumph in the face of adversity.

Hitting Enerphit – the passive house standard for retrofits – wasn’t challenging enough for one Yorkshire retrofit project. The team also had to stop the building falling down, and avoid wholesale changes to the building’s external appearance.

How can a house embrace passive solar principles when all the sun’s heat and light is to the south — but all the best views are to the north? This striking home on the Connemara coast employed some clever solutions.

A simple building form, few junctions and minimal surface area are some of the cornerstones of passive house design — but as this spectacular certified passive house in Co Meath proves, rules are made to be broken.

One third of the units at a new social housing development in the East Midlands have met the passive house standard— but the entire project was inspired by fabric first, low energy design.

Anyone who thinks the passive house standard isn’t relevant to non-domestic buildings is missing a trick. One certified passive office in Leicester reveals the significant benefits companies can yield in terms of saving energy, increasing productivity and improving the bottom line.

The latest in a string of passive house projects by social housing providers, Octavia’s Housing’s new mixed-use development at Sulgrave Gardens embraced fabric first design on an awkward London site to help protect occupants against rising fuel costs.

This issue’s Eurocentric selection is drawn from the International Isover Energy Efficiency Awards, including a German renovation that generates an energy surplus, a Danish nature reserve, a Romanian Solar Decathlon entry and a Polish church.