page_title: Passive survivability
section_title: Passive House Certification
hierarchical_section_title: Passive survivability / Passive Survivability in Rating Systems / Passive House Certification
context_page_description: Passive survivability refers to a building's ability to maintain critical life-support conditions in the event of extended loss of power, heating fuel, or water. This idea proposes that designers should incorporate ways for a building to continue sheltering inhabitants for an extended period of time during and after a disaster situation, whether it be a storm that causes a power outage, a drought which limits water supply, or any other possible event.
  The term was coined by BuildingGreen President and EBN Executive editor Alex Wilson in 2005 after the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Passive Survivability is suggested to become a standard in the design criteria for houses, apartment buildings, and especially buildings used as emergency shelters. While many of the strategies considered to achieve the goals of passive survivability are not new concepts and have been widely used in green building over the decades, the distinction comes from the motivation for moving towards resilient and safe buildings.
context_section_description: While passive survivability is not mentioned by name in the two major passive house standards, Passive House Institute and Passive House Institute US (PHIUS), the passive strategies that make these buildings so energy efficient are the same strategies outlined for passive survivability. Buildings that achieve passive house certification are hitting some of the main criteria for passive survivability, including airtight construction and superinsulation. Many buildings will also have on-site photovoltaics to offset energy consumption. These buildings that rely very little on energy will be more resilient in power outages and extreme weather.
caption: Passive House Design Standards