Construction quality – the lessons from Passivhaus
Today, a paper has been published exploring practical approaches for delivering quality on large and/or complex high-performance Passivhaus and low energy projects.
The paper, Delivering Quality, stems from a joint collaboration between Passivhaus Trust (PHT) and BE-ST and has been developed by Tier 1 contractors (T1C) and key stakeholders.
Morrison Construction acted as lead author, supported by other Tier 1 contractors and supply chain partners, ensuring the work is both technically robust and informed by industry.
It builds on a previous project between T1C collaborators Morrison Construction, Kier Construction, Balfour Beatty, Robertsons and Morgan Sindall, their supply chains and BE-ST, which saw a test bay, known as the Tardis, being built in the BE-ST Factory. The Tardis allowed the consortia to learn more about thermal principles and airtightness in practice, to test new processes, products, and methods so that the T1C collaborators, other members of the industry and their supply chain could improve their builds and knowledge-base.
Stakeholders noted that achieving the high levels of quality required for Passivhaus and low energy projects relies on evolving how existing tools and processes are applied, particularly through construction and handover. This paper collates and analyses the collective experience of these contractors to document the common challenges and provide practical recommendations to overcome these and achieve desired quality standards. This paper does not aim to provide a full guide to construction planning. Rather, it focuses on the principles that most influence quality outcomes.
Delivering Quality finds that, ultimately, achieving quality outputs and outcomes in Passivhaus and low energy projects depends on leadership and culture, not only systems and standards. It reports that strong leadership can create a culture for success by setting expectations, driving best practice, and giving teams the confidence to take ownership of solutions. Embedding this culture means creating an environment where people care about outcomes, take pride in their work, feel valued, and understand the ‘why’ behind every requirement.
The paper also explains the impact of embedding a culture of quality in every area of delivery from programme management, and how it influences planning time to consistently deliver a quality product, to training and how it fosters competence and embeds continuous learning on site.
BE-ST and Passivhaus Trust are planning to disseminate the findings of the paper to the wider UK construction industry through webinars, training and working with professional bodies.
Caitriona Jordan, Associate Director of Retrofit and Energy Efficiency at BE-ST said:
“The Delivering Quality report builds on our previous collaborations between BE-ST, PHT and T1Cs in supporting the construction industry to achieve high performing buildings, an example of this is the Tardis test bay. While this project focused on the technical design pre-contract, to achieve quality, the newly published report focuses on the workplace and sector culture we need to get it right first time, every time on site.”
Sarah Lewis, Co-Director at the UK Passivhaus Trust, said:
“The Passivhaus Trust has been blown away by the way Tier 1 contractors have embraced the Passivhaus methodology and worked collaboratively to share their learnings. The Delivering Quality Paper is a distillation of best practice approaches drawn from their experiences and includes a vast resource of practical tips, which will be invaluable for contractors working on Passivhaus projects both large and small. It offers important lessons for all contractors wanting to deliver construction quality.”
Allan Smith, Low Carbon Manager at Morrison Construction, said:
“It has been a pleasure to be involved in the collaboration and collation of the Delivering Quality Paper.
Delivering quality is the responsibility of all project stakeholders and ensuring that all parties understand their ‘why’ is critical to establishing a culture of quality throughout.
We hope by sharing lessons learned and established quality processes will contribute to better-performing buildings.”
James Robertson, Preconstruction Design Lead at Balfour Beatty, said:
“As the construction sector raises its ambition on building performance, the defining challenge is no longer setting standards, but reliably delivering the quality needed to meet them at scale.
The Delivering Quality Paper brings together real‑world experience to show that leadership, culture and informed decision‑making are what ultimately determine whether Passivhaus and low energy projects succeed in practice.