Project Certification Overview

The Phius Standard targets the sweet spot where aggressive energy and carbon reduction overlap with cost effectiveness, taking into account a full range of variables including climate zone, building size, building density, source energy and costs. The Phius Technical Committee and Building Science Corporation developed the standard over three years under a U.S. DOE Building America Grant.

Passive buildings in North American climates present unique design challenges; even small missteps can lead to big problems. The Phius Certification Team is made up of some of the most experienced passive house professionals in North America. They thoroughly review projects at the design stage, identify problems, and work with project designers to help projects achieve performance targets.

Project testing and inspections are conducted by experienced HERS Raters, trained by Phius to work on Phius projects. The on-site inspections and testing help to assure Phius and the project teams that the buildings will perform as designed.

In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Phius has incorporated the DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) protocol into the Phius Certification program. The benefit for a builder is the ability to offer the buyer a Phius certified building that performs far above the industry standard for energy efficiency while also ensuring industry leading performance for comfort, health and durability.

Phius Certification incorporates U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Indoor airPLUS protocol. EPA’s Indoor airPLUS qualification builds on the foundation of EPA's ENERGY STAR requirements for new homes and includes additional construction specifications to provide comprehensive indoor air quality protections in new homes. The benefit for a builder is the ability to offer the buyer not only a home that performs above the industry standard for energy efficiency, but also a safer, healthier, more durable home and additional peace-of-mind. Learn more about how to join Indoor airPLUS.

As a result of the ZERH protocol for Phius projects, all Phius homes/units follow U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR and Indoor airPLUS requirements for new homes. In combination with Phius’ certification requirements, this leads to high-performance homes being able to offset all or most of their annual energy consumption with renewable energy.

Most Phius projects will automatically receive a RESNET HERS Index score as part of certification. The RESNET HERS Index is the leading industry standard by which a home’s energy efficiency is measured. Many local, state and federal financial incentive programs require a HERS Index to demonstrate compliance with these programs.

As more scenarios, project types and solutions pass through the certification process, Phius pays it forward to future project teams through direct feedback, building the Phius Certified Projects Database and ongoing updates to the standard.