One of the most urgent challenges in buildings today is how to affordably retrofit existing ones. Too much of our current building stock wastes energy and is unhealthy or uncomfortable to occupy, especially in low-income communities and communities of color. In order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the International Energy Agency's Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap urges a step jump in "zero-carbon-ready" retrofits to a rate of 30 million dwellings per year through 2030. Passive House retrofits provide a proven pathway to dramatically reduce the energy use and operation carbon emissions of existing buildings of all types. Both PHI and PHIUS offer retrofit certification pathways, and project teams around the world are tackling retrofits of everything from single-family brownstones to apartment towers.
Read, view, and listen to Passive House retrofit examples and insights in the articles, videos, and podcast interviews below.
Articles
1/23/26
The Relevance of Embodied Carbon in the Passive House World - 475 HQ Retrofit Case Study
Article, Embodied Carbon, Retrofit
1/16/26
Retrofit Labs Insight Briefs Now Available
Article, Retrofit
12/19/25
Retrofit Highlights of 2025
Article, Retrofit
12/12/25
Scaling Deep Energy Retrofits in Boston
Article, Retrofit, Affordable Housing, Phius
Videos
12/3/25
101: Single Family Passive House | PHA Live!
PHA Live, Video
12/3/25
101: So You Want to Be a Developer? Notes to My Past Self | PHA Live!
PHA Live, Video
11/19/25
Project of the Month: Passive House Renovation of a One Million+ SF Commercial Building | PHA Live!
PHA Live, Video
11/13/25
ROCKWOOL COMPONENT SPOTLIGHT: Wildland-Urban Interface Fires and Applicable Solutions
PHA Live, Video, PH Component Spotlight
Projects
4/18/24
Colombini Residence
Project Case Study, Mixed Use, New Construction, Single Family, Mass Timber
4/18/24
Bird's Wing Passivhaus + Duplex
Project Case Study, Mixed Use, New Construction, Multifamily, Single Family, Duplex/Multiplex, Mass Timber, PHI
4/18/24
Leichhardt enerPHit
Project Case Study, Mixed Use, Retrofit, Single Family, PHI
4/18/24
Bellwether on Main
Project Case Study, New Construction, Phius, Single Family