Documentary filmmaker Charlie Hoxie has made an excellent new 21-minute documentary film on the Passivhaus movement. Fortunately, the entire film has be posted for viewing on the Four Seven Five website.

The English-language movie includes interviews with European and American designers and builders. Regular GBA readers will probably recognize a few of Hoxie’s interview subjects, including Wolfgang Feist, Henry Gifford, Sam McAfee, and David White.

Energy projections versus energy use

The filmmaker notes, “The points awarded for energy efficiency [for LEED-certified buildings] are based on predictions of how much energy the buildings will use. Unlike Passivhaus, LEED buildings are not required to meet a defined benchmark of actual energy performance.” This stretches the truth somewhat, since Passivhaus buildings (like LEED buildings) are certified based on energy-modeling projections, not actual energy-use data. (To read about a Passivhaus-certified home that used far more energy than projected, see Occupant Behavior Makes a Difference.)

Here’s the link to see the movie: Passive Passion by Charlie Hoxie.