The term passive house refers to the rigorous, voluntary, Passive house standard for energy efficiency in buildings. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling. The standard is not confined only to residential properties; several office buildings, schools, kindergartens  and a supermarket have also been constructed to the standard. Passive design is not the attachment or supplement of architectural design, but an integrated design process with the architectural design.
Although it is mostly applied to new buildings, it has also been used for refurbishments.

Estimates on the number of passive houses around the world range from 15,000 to 20,000. The vast majority have been built in German-speaking countries or Scandinavia.
The first Passivhaus buildings were built in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1990.
 In September 1996 the Passivhaus-Institut was founded in Darmstadt to promote and control the standard.
After the concept had been validated at Darmstadt, with space heating 90% less than required for a standard new building of the time, the 'Economical Passive Houses Working Group' was created in 1996. This developed the planning package and initiated the production of the novel components that had been used, notably the windows and the high-efficiency ventilation systems.
The Passivhaus standard for central Europe requires that the building fulfills the following requirements:
    * The building must be designed to have an annual heating demand as calculated with the Passivhaus Planning Package of not more than 15 kWh/m² per year (4746 btu/ft² per year) in heating and 15 kWh/m² per year cooling energy OR to be designed with a peak heat load of 10W/m²
    * Total primary energy (source energy for electricity and etc.) consumption (primary energy for heating, hot water and electricity) must not be more than 120 kWh/m² per year (3.79 × 104 btu/ft² per year)
    * The building must not leak more air than 0.6 times the house volume per hour (n50 ≤ 0.6 / hour) at 50 Pa (N/m²) as tested by a blower door,
Recommended:
    * Further, the specific heat load for the heating source at design temperature is recommended, but not required, to be less than 10 W/m² (3.17 btu/ft² per hour).
These standards are much higher than houses built to most normal building codes.

The meaning of the term 'low-energy house' has changed over time, but it generally refers to a house that uses around half of the German & Swiss low-energy standards mentioned below for space heating, typically in the range from 30 kWh/m²a to 20 kWh/m²a (9,500 Btu/ft²/yr to 6,300 Btu/ft²/yr). Below this the term 'ultra-low energy building' is often used.

The term could also refer to any house whose energy use is below the standards demanded by current building codes. Because national standards vary considerably, 'low energy' developments in one country may not meet 'normal practice' in another.

Beyond ultra-low energy buildings are those that use, on average over the course of a year, no imported energy (zero energy buildings), or even those that generate a surplus (energy plus houses), both of which are being built.
This can be achieved by a mixture of energy conservation technologies and the use of renewable energy sources. However, in the absence of recognized standards, the mix between these - and consequently the energy-use profile and environmental impact of the building - can vary significantly.
At one end of the spectrum are buildings with an ultra-low space heating requirement that therefore require low levels of imported energy, even in winter, approaching the concept of an autonomous building.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are buildings where few attempts are made to reduce the space heating requirement and which therefore use high levels of imported energy in winter. While this can be balanced by high levels of renewable energy generation throughout the year, it imposes greater demands on the traditional national energy infrastructure during the peak winter season.

Low energy technology
Low-energy buildings typically use high levels of insulation, energy efficient windows, low levels of air infiltration and heat recovery ventilation to lower heating and cooling energy. They may also use passive solar building design techniques or active solar technologies. These homes may use hot water heat recycling technologies to recover heat from showers and dishwashers. Lighting and miscellaneous energy use is allieviated with fluorescent lighting and efficient appliances. Weatherization provides more information on increasing building energy efficiency.

Today we have developed a new concept of heating energy called as Piljon Positive +
This technology combines different energy- air, earth, wind and solar energy.
Each of our house is able to produce electricity for itself if it is the wish of our client.