In the interest of improving building performance standards industry-wide, Phius (the group that developed the first Passive House international standards in 2015), has announced a new standard for retrofits called REVIVE 2024.

According to Phius, the four components of the new REVIVE 2024 standard are:

1. Resilience-focused planning: Emphasizes resilience as a critical safety feature, particularly in adapting to more extreme weather events.

2. Parametric analysis software: Introduces new tools for conducting parametric studies to identify optimal solution packages that meet resilience standards while minimizing life cycle costs.

3. Carbon emission goals: Aims for zero operational carbon emissions and considers embodied carbon, aligning with broader sustainability objectives.

4. Enhanced quality assurance: Implements a robust quality assurance process to ensure all retrofit measures are executed as designed.

The new guidance is designed to make large-scale retrofits of existing buildings both more feasible and accessible, aiming at allowing zero operational carbon emissions while minimizing the amount of embodied carbon. It builds upon a set of standards that includes Phius CORE, Phius ZERO, Phius CORE COMM, and ZERO COMM (for commercial buildings), and Phius CORE REVIVE and ZERO REVIVE. More information about the Passivhaus certifications standard can be learned by reading our recent editorial feature on green building labels.