This first certified Passive House in Japan is an international award winning project of 2010. The Kamakura Passive House is the successful result of a design challenge with the Japanese semi-tropical climate and traditional building standards. The local architect responsible for this development previously collaborated with the Irish architectural firm MosArt and then transferred the knowledge acquired about passive houses to her native environment.
While strict earthquake norms need to be observed, in Japan no energy efficiency requirements are in place. Even though traditional timber dwellings already incorporate some of the basic passive house principles, they are badly lacking in airtightness and insulation criteria. The Kamakura design served as a pilot project, testing the application of the Passive House Standard in a country with adverse climatic conditions, a conservative architectural background and specific building requirements.
