Become a certified Passive House Designer / Consultant

How to earn the certificate
How to renew the certificate
Check if you qualify for the Passive House Consultant or Designer title in the FAQ.
Pass the Passive House Designer / Consultant exam
The Passive House Institute fixes the examination dates and prepares the exam: It lasts 3,5 hours and must be taken at an accredited exam provider. The exam is conducted online as in-class or home-office exam by the course/exam provider, using the online exam platform of the Passive House Institute.
The host will send the examination documents to the Passive House Institute after the first correction. After a second marking, we will issue the certificate and sent it to successful participants in digital form via e-mail. Further information can be found in the examination regulations.
The exam is based on the following learning targets and includes multiple choice questions, construction details drawings, calculations, as well as a Passive House design exercise. Increase your chance of success by taking a dedicated course and checking our additional tips. Please note that a valid PHPP license is needed to register for the exam, as a PHPP is required to design Passive House buildings.
> Register for the exam!
Here you can register online for the exam! All you need is a user account for the Passive House database and to follow these steps:
Then please fill in your details on this page to register for the exam. We wish you every success with your exam!
Then you must first visit the following page.
After you have filled out this page, you will receive an email with a link. Please click on this link to activate your account.
You can then use this page to register for the exam, or alternatively select the Certificate tab in your user area and click on Register for next designer exam.
Good luck with your exam!

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> In-class Exam dates>
Many exam providers offer online exams which are available on other dates. For information on the dates of the online exams, please contact your course provider or exam provider.
Design and document a certified Passive House
Document a certified Passive House, EnerPHit retrofit or PHI Low Energy Building where you exercised full responsibility for the building design and the project planning with the PHPP. Submission of a project documentation can be used to earn or renew the certificate for one person per building (exceptions with complex buildings according to the exam regulations).

The documented building must fulfil these conditions:
- It has been completed and is being used.
- The building is a Certified: Passive House, EnerPHit retrofit, PHI Low Energy Building or pre-certified for staged retrofit.
It must have been certified by an accredited building certifier, according to the criteria developed by the Passive House Institute. - The building is listed in the Passive House database
The project documentation can be submitted to any Passive House Institute accredited assessing body for a certain fee. It can be sent in any language they are offering, but must include a summary in English. Successful project documentations will be published on this website.
The following information is required:
- Application through project documentation (Appendix IIa).
- A detailed building description (PDF & Word format). Please check appendix III and use one of these templates (pptx) or (docx). Please check with your assessing body which format is preferred for the project documentation.
- The PHPP calculation used for the certification, in digital form (unprotected Excel file).
- A copy of the building certificate, stating the accredited building certifier.
- The ID number under which the building is listed on the Passive House database
- If the applicant is not the designer of the building, a written explanation stating that they was responsible for the Passive House relevant planning parts should be sent by the designer.
- To get the Passive House Designer title, please send a copy of your educational qualifications
The renewal through project documentation is subject to a fee (34.8 KB) .
Earn further credit points to renew the certificate
You don't need to work in a planning office to help to disseminate and implement the Passive House Standard - researchers, instructors, or decision makers in government authorities also greatly contribute to improving the building industry. So if you can't renew your certificate through project documentation, you may renew it through further training credit points (CP).

Get credit points by participating in relevant Passive House continuing education events or teaching activities!
100 CPs should be acquired within the 5 years validity period of the previous certificate. 70 of the 100 CPs at the most may be acquired in one of three possible areas (teaching, events or advanced training), according to chapter 5.2.1 of the exam regulations.
You need to submit Appendix II b (Application - renewal through credit points) to the PH Institute:
- If you attended an event or advanced training: Please fill in the respective event ID number* which can be found on the list of approved courses/events. One learning unit (45 minutes) equates to 1 CP. Don't forget to attach the respective confirmations of participation.
- If you gave a course: Please first fill in this formular.
*Can’t find a specific course or event? Then please contact the hosts. They may submit their courses/events (also backdated) to the Passive House Institute to be recognized as suitable for certificate renewal.
The Passive House Institute will check these documents for a certain fee and after successful renewal of the certificate, send the certificate in digital form via e-mail. In addition, the contact data of the certified designer/consultant will remain on this website if desired.
The renewal through credit points is subject to a
fee (34.8 KB)
.