Manufacturers of passive and high-efficiency houses (Passivhaus)

It sells the part of a passive house that is hardest to get right on site: the external wall, which arrives insulated from the factory. Roof insulation is not in the package, nor is heat-recovery ventilation or the heat pump, so much of the efficiency is down to your builder. As a structure-only package it is cheap per metre, and the difference is paid when you finish it. The “A++++” it advertises is the brand's own scale, not the letter on the energy performance certificate issued in Spain. It suits someone with a builder they trust who wants to start from a very well insulated envelope.

It includes as standard all the equipment needed to spend little: continuous external insulation over its steel structure, an air-source heat pump with underfloor heating and heat-recovery ventilation, without charging for them as upgrades. It is expensive per metre for a turnkey house (2,850 €/m²), and what you pay for is the finished house, with design, planning permission and site management. The A rating is its design target, with no published certificate for each model. For someone who wants to move in without choosing equipment; not for someone who needs to trim the budget.

The steel of a container lets cold and heat through, and it solves this by wrapping it from the outside with continuous insulation and adding mineral wool on the inside. As standard it has mechanical ventilation and an air-source heat pump for hot water; the A rating is only reached by choosing its heating and ventilation upgrades, and it is not certified as standard. Its price per metre sits in the middle range of turnkey houses (1,639 €/m²), with the fitted kitchen and bathrooms included. It suits someone who wants a house made from containers and accepts paying for the upgrades to reach an A.

It includes as standard an air-source heat pump with underfloor heating that also cools in summer, with a thermostat in the living room and in each bedroom, behind a façade with a double layer of insulation. Heat-recovery ventilation is an upgrade paid separately, like the solar panels, and in a very well insulated house it is what renews the air without opening windows. It says it designs its houses for an A rating and hands over the energy performance certificate, but it does not publish each one's rating. For someone who wants the house finished and climate-controlled and accepts adding heat recovery.

It commits in writing to delivering an A rating in all its houses, and it offers the Passivhaus standard as a possibility for the project, not as something already achieved. As standard it installs an air-source heat pump with underfloor heating, ducted air conditioning with a thermostat in each room and dual-flow ventilation, behind concrete walls with a double layer of insulation. Its price per metre is above the usual for a turnkey house (2,025 €/m²), and what you pay for is climate control already solved in a concrete house. For someone who wants concrete and does not want to choose equipment.

It presents itself as a specialist in passive and nearly zero-energy houses, and backs this with the envelope: continuous external insulation over an insulated double wall. It builds on the plot with laminated timber and steel framing, not with modules that travel finished. It publishes a house price, with the preliminary structural design and the specification included, but it does not break down which items it covers and does not always make VAT clear. For someone who wants a bespoke passive house and will ask for the details in writing.

It manufactures the timber-frame structure in panels and sells it at several levels, from the bare structure to one it says meets the Passivhaus standard; it assembles it with its own team, also outside Portugal. Ventilation and heating and cooling are not included in the base price, and in a passive house heat-recovery ventilation is an item you need to add. It prices per metre and excluding VAT. It suits builders and architects who already have the rest of the work covered.

It says it builds its modular homes to the Passivhaus standard, combining timber and concrete under continuous external insulation, and it promises an A rating. For heating and cooling it uses ducts, and an air-source heat pump for hot water. Its price is for a finished house and fixed, with design, kitchen, bathrooms and floors included, and its square metre comes to a median of 1,791 €/m², against 1,639 €/m² for turnkey houses as a whole. For someone who wants to move in with the price fixed from the start.

It heats the house with the ventilation air itself: a dual-flow unit that recovers the heat from the outgoing air and backs it up with a heat pump, as standard. Its envelope meets the German high-efficiency level and can go up one step, with triple-glazed windows. It builds bespoke timber-frame houses, from the bungalow to the large family home. Its prices are a German price list, with the VAT there and without foundations, so they are not compared with Spanish ones.