PassivHaus

Passivhaus, also spelt Passive House, is an international standard for reducing the ecological footprint of a building by building them to be ultra-low in energy consumption.

Liquid Membranes & Passivhaus: Building a Better Future for the Next Generation

The Challenge We Face

Climate change, rising energy costs, and poor indoor air quality are shaping a global construction crisis. The buildings we construct today will define the world our children inherit tomorrow. Traditional building methods often result in energy-hungry homes, leaky structures, and wasted resources. That’s where liquid membranes and Passivhaus standards come together — providing a way forward that is both practical and planet-friendly.

What is a Liquid Membrane?

A liquid membrane is a high-performance coating applied directly to a building’s surfaces — walls, roofs, or floors — to create an airtight and weather-resistant seal. Unlike tapes, sheets, or grommets, liquid membranes:

• Seamlessly cover complex shapes and awkward details.

• Eliminate air leaks that waste energy.

• Can also be vapour-open, allowing the building to ‘breathe’ while staying airtight.

• Offer durability against moisture, wind, and even fire (in the case of Passive Purple External – Class B Fire Rated).

They are applied like a paint, but engineered to perform as part of the building fabric for decades.

The Passivhaus Standard

Passivhaus (or Passive House) is the world’s most rigorous building performance standard. It focuses on creating buildings that require minimal energy for heating or cooling while maintaining exceptional comfort and indoor air quality. The key pillars of Passivhaus are:

1. Airtightness – stopping unwanted drafts and energy loss.

2. Thermal Insulation – keeping heat where it’s needed.

3. High-Performance Windows & Doors – controlling solar gains and losses.

4. Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) – delivering fresh, filtered air while recycling heat.

5. Thermal Bridge-Free Construction – avoiding hidden cold spots that cause mould and heat loss.

Where Liquid Membranes & Passivhaus Meet

Liquid membranes like Passive Purple are game-changers for Passivhaus builds. Airtightness is one of the trickiest Passivhaus requirements to achieve, especially around junctions, penetrations, and irregular surfaces.

Liquid membranes solve that problem by:

• Creating continuous airtight layers without gaps.

• Reducing the time and cost of installation.

• Adapting to retrofits and new builds equally well.

• Maintaining airtightness over the lifetime of the building.

The result: easier Passivhaus certification, fewer call-backs for leaks, and buildings that perform exactly as designed.

Why This Matters for the Next Generation

By using liquid membranes within Passivhaus-standard builds, we are doing more than hitting energy targets — we’re creating legacy buildings that:

• Cut carbon emissions drastically, slowing the pace of climate change.

• Slash energy bills for families, reducing fuel poverty.

• Improve indoor health with cleaner air and stable temperatures.

• Protect against future regulations, ensuring homes remain compliant for decades.

• Inspire the industry to adopt smarter, more sustainable practices.

Every building built this way is a gift to the future — giving the next generation homes and schools that are healthier, more resilient, and kinder to the planet.

Our Commitment

At Intelligent Membranes, we believe that sustainability isn’t a marketing choice — it’s a moral one. Our liquid membranes are engineered for performance, durability, and environmental responsibility, helping architects, builders, and developers deliver the next wave of future-ready buildings.

We work with those who share our vision: to make airtight, sustainable construction the norm, not the exception.

Because the buildings we create today will be the air our children breathe tomorrow.

Passivhaus standards

This performance-based energy standard has been around for decades, although it’s been thrust into the zeitgeist more recently as a result of global commitments to the environment. It hosts a number of benefits such as improved air quality, thermal comfort, self-maintained moisture and humidity levels, increased space and increased daylight.

Although marketers of this concept often point to high-end projects to show off the efficiency of the Passivhaus strategy, the reality is that all builders can benefit from the Passivhaus standards. You don’t have to be “high-end” to be eco-conscious and build smarter buildings.