A passive house is based on some inseparable principles:

 

Reinforced insulation, so-called "hot" windows, excellent airtightness, ventilation with heat recovery, suppression of thermal bridging and optimization of free solar inputs.

The passive house -before becoming a label in 1988- was primarily a building concept developed in the 1970s in Germany, Switzerland and the Nordic countries where high energy performance is the required standard. France will not be aligned with this standard until January 1, 2021 until RT 2020 will replace the current RT 2012.

A passive house is primarily a low-energy habitat. The heating requirement must be less than 15 kWh/m²/year. At the price of kWh in 2017, this consumption is equivalent to 220 euros per year for a house of 100 m².