LEED vs. Passive House: What's the difference?

Authored by: Monique Lee Hawthorne

As published in The Daily Journal of Commerce

As a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional, I readily defend LEED’s standard and certification to critics who question its alleged greenness and whether it lives up to its hype. “You get points for including bike parking spaces?” they protest. “C’mon!” Nonetheless, I stand by the usefulness of LEED certification and believe it serves a useful purpose even if it only increases dialogue and awareness about sustainable building.

With that said, recent conversations have led me to explore other types of sustainable building standards and methods. I have been very impressed with Passive House (aka Passivhaus), a building standard from Germany that is an exciting option for builders, homeowners and developers. (read full DJC article)