Passive House Training and Certification FAQ’s

For an introduction to passive house, you can take our self-paced “Basic Understanding of a Passive House Building” course, or our live online “Intro to Passive House High Performance Buildings“.

If you are a build­ing pro­fes­sion­al and want to learn how to design a Pass­ive House / En­erPHit build­ing, we re­com­mend you to take one of our ded­ic­ated Pass­ive House De­sign­er / Con­sult­ant courses.

To un­der­stand how to care­fully im­ple­ment and as­sess Pass­ive House de­tails on the build­ing site, trades­people can take our Pass­ive House Trades­per­son courses.

After tak­ing one of these main courses, you may con­sider tak­ing an ad­di­tion­al Master Classes to expand your ex­pert­ise in a spe­cif­ic area (e.g. ret­ro­fit, energy modelling, site supervisor).

If you are still unsure what course is right for you, please contact us at [email protected].

Yes. We offer two exam preparation courses, one for designers/consultants and one for tradespeople. Those courses can be purchased individually, or with one of our Pathway to Certification course bundles.

Digital slides and relevant resources are made available for all our online and in-person courses. For in-person classes, you may also want to bring a notebook and pen. As part of the 120P Pathway you’ll need a computer with a 2007 or later version of MS Excel/Open Office in order to run the PHPP design software. You will receive an email shortly before the start of each course outlining what you will need to bring.

There are two routes to achieving the International professional designation Certified Passive House Designer or Consultant, and our complete Pathway to Passive House Designer/Consultant Certification (120P) is a key stepping stone. Once you’ve completed all three courses that are part of the Pathway to Certification (120A-120B-120C), you must either pass the 3.5 hour formal exam set by the Passive House Institute (PHI) in Germany (and offered by Passive House Canada) OR act as the Passive House designer on a house or building that achieves the International Passive House requirements.

Passive House Canada does offer technical services consulting. We also encourage you to connect you with professionals in your area and get involved with Passive House socials and events for knowledge sharing.

Yes, Passive House Canada is accredited with several professional associations, including BC Housing, Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC), Architectural Association of Alberta (AAA), and Ontario Association of Architects (OAA). We also report to the Education Provider Program (EPP) which encompasses the Architects Licensing Board of Newfoundland and Labrador (ALBNL), the Architects’ Association of New Brunswick (AANB) and Nova Scotia Association of Architects (NSAA). AIBC and EPP require that attendees either attend live via zoom or sign an attendance form at each in-person course. We then submit attendance on the attendees’ behalf. Other associations typically allow their members to self-report their learning units directly. BC Housing offers an online portal where we list our courses. BC Housing members should report their attendance at a course through the portal. We try to advertise our courses through the above professional institutions where possible. We also are in the process of working with other professional associations to become accredited educational providers with them. If you are a member of a professional institution that is not listed above and wish to receive credits, please get in touch with us.

Visit this page for more information on education credits.

Both Certified Passive House Designer / Consultant and Certified Passive House Tradesperson exams are regularly offered online. Please check our calendar for upcoming dates. The exams tend to sell out quickly. Don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected] if you see the exam date you are interested in is sold-out.

You will receive notification of your exam results approximately 8 to 12 weeks after the date of writing. Please note, the Passive House Institute will contact you directly with your results; Passive House Canada do not receive exam results before participants. If you do have questions about your exam results, please contact [email protected].

The Preparation for the Certified Passive House Designer/ Consultant Exam (120C) is a live online, instructor-led review of the topics covered in the Passive House Design and Construction course. It will also provide guidance on how to prepare for the exam. The instructor will be available to answer any questions you may have. The courses are recorded and available for three months after they have ended.

We strive to make our education programs available to as many people as possible. We understand the uncertainty of these unprecedented times may result in you having to defer or cancel your course. As a not-for-profit organization, we need to cover our administrative costs resulting from cancelled or rescheduled courses.

 

Online Courses

Seven days or more prior to start of course

• 80% refund, or transfer of registration to alternate date.

Three to six days prior to start of course

• 50% refund, or transfer of registration to alternate date.

Two days prior, up to day of course

• No refund. Transfer of registration to alternate date (10% Late Transfer Fee will apply).

In-Person Courses

Fifteen (15) days or more prior to start of course

• 80% refund, or transfer of registration to alternate date.

Fourteen (14) to Seven (7) days prior to start of course

• 50% refund, or transfer of registration to alternate date.

Six (6) days up to the day of course

• No refund. Transfer of registration to alternate date (20% Late Transfer Fee will apply).

The health and safety of our participants is important to us. Participants are not permitted to attend in-person courses if they are exhibiting any symptoms of a cold, flu or COVID-19, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and difficulty swallowing, coughing or sneezing, or other symptoms as described by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Exams (Consultant/Designer & Trades)

15 days or more prior to the exam

• 90% refund, or transfer of registration to alternate date.

Ten days prior to start to the exam

• 50% refund, or transfer of registration to alternate date.

Seven days prior, up to day of the exam

• No refund. Transfer of registration to alternate date (10% Late Transfer Fee will apply).

The Passive House Institute (PHI) requires you to renew your Passive House Designer or Consultant certification every five years. There are two ways you can do this:

1. If you are designing and constructing Passive House buildings, including EnerPHit, you can submit project documentation for assessment. You can find details of the process here.
2. Via credit points attained through courses, events or teaching activities. For renewal, it is necessary to provide proof of 100 credit points, which must have been acquired within the validity period of the previous certificate i.e. 5 years. One learning unit (45 minutes) equates to 1 credit. You can find more information here.

Passive House Canada master classes, as well as our conferences and eligible events, are approved for PHI credits towards re-certification. You can consult PHI continuing education database here for more details. The credits associated with our courses can also be found on the individual course pages.

The Passive House Tradesperson certification will expire after five years. There are two ways you can do this:

1. You can re­new your Pass­ive House Trades­per­son cer­ti­fic­ate by doc­u­ment­ing your work on a highly en­ergy ef­fi­cient build­ing or a cer­ti­fied Pass­ive House pro­ject. You can find details of the process here.
2. Vis­it Pass­ive House rel­ev­ant courses and events, or en­gage in Pass­ive House teach­ing act­iv­it­ies to col­lect fur­ther train­ing cred­it points (CP). 30 CP must be achieved al­to­geth­er to re­new your trades­per­son cer­ti­fic­ate; 20 CPs at the most may be ob­tained in one of the pos­sible areas (teach­ing, events or ad­vanced train­ing courses). You can find more information here.

Passive House Canada master classes, as well as our conferences and eligible events, are approved for PHI credits towards re-certification. You can consult PHI continuing education database here for more details. The credits associated with our courses can also be found on the individual course pages.