Every Bauen home is a high-performance home.
The question is how far you want to take it. At Bauen Build, every project starts with the same foundation: airtight construction, continuous insulation, whole-house fresh air supply, thoughtful detailing, and a commitment to long-term performance. From there, we calibrate the level of performance to match your goals, your priorities, and how you want your home to live.
Every Bauen home is a high-performance home.
At Bauen Build, every project starts with the same foundation: airtight construction, continuous insulation, whole-house fresh air supply, thoughtful detailing, and a commitment to long-term performance. From there, we calibrate the level of performance to match your goals, your priorities, and how you want your home to live.
At Bauen Build, every project starts with the same foundation: airtight construction, continuous insulation, whole-house fresh air supply, thoughtful detailing, and a commitment to long-term performance. From there, we calibrate the level of performance to match your goals, your priorities, and how you want your home to live.
What changes is where you set the performance target.
Bauen Base is built around what we consider the most essential components of a high-performance home: a genuinely airtight envelope, active ventilation to control interior air quality, high quality windows, and the same meticulous level of execution we bring to every project.
It does not pursue Passive House certification thresholds, but it produces a home that dramatically outperforms anything built to code minimums. For clients whose site, program, or budget makes Passive+ a reach, Base is a great choice.
You still get a home that is quiet, comfortable, and built to last. You’re simply choosing where to draw the line on performance relative to cost, complexity, and goals.
Bauen Base
What Defines Base
Continuous exterior insulation, eliminating thermal bridging
Extremely airtight construction with verified performance targets
Modeled energy performance before construction begins
Benefits to Occupants
Building Principles
Consistent temperatures in every room, year-round
No drafts, no cold walls, no energy escaping
No surprises (performance is predicted, then verified)
24/7 ventilation
High-performance windows and doors, optimized for orientation
Fresh, filtered air without opening a window
Comfortable next to glass, even in winter
Uses a fraction of the energy of a conventionally built structure
Lower utility bills for the life of the home
Bauen Passive+ is our most advanced level of construction, designed to exceed Passive House certification standards. It’s where building science, comfort, and long-term performance fully align. Projects built to this level can pursue PHI or PHIUS Passive House certification, or simply perform to that standard without the formal credential.
The result is a home that maintains even temperatures throughout, and stays quiet, fresh, and comfortable regardless of what's happening outside.
At the same time, this is still a house. We’re not reinventing anything, we’re just making a few key decisions that dramatically improve comfort, efficiency, and durability.
Bauen Passive+
Learn more about Passive House
What Defines Passive+
PHI or PHIUS certification
Continuous exterior insulation, eliminating thermal bridging
Extremely airtight construction with verified performance targets
Modeled energy performance before construction begins
Benefits to Occupants
Building Principles
Third-party proof your home performs as promised, increased resale value
Consistent temperatures in every room, year-round
No drafts, no cold walls, no energy escaping
No surprises (performance is predicted, then verified)
24/7 ventilation
High-performance windows and doors, optimized for orientation
Fresh, filtered air without opening a window
Comfortable next to glass, even in winter
Uses a fraction of the energy of a conventionally built structure
Lower utility bills for the life of the home
What's Different
This is what the difference actually looks like across the four dimensions that determine how a home performs. Code minimum is included for reference, not because we build there, but because it's where most of the industry still operates.
Regardless of which level you build to, you get:
- The same team, from design collaboration through construction
- The same process, focused on early decisions and clear communication
- The same attention to detail
- The same expectation: do it right the first time
What Stays the Same
A Note on Certifying Your Home
Passive House certification, from PHI (Passivhaus Institut) or PHIUS, is a third-party verification that a home meets specific, measurable performance thresholds for energy demand, airtightness, and thermal comfort.
It matters. But certification and performance aren't the same thing.
You can build to Passive House standards (continuous insulation, airtight envelope, mechanical ventilation) without pursuing the formal credential. Some clients want the certification for accountability, resale documentation, or the process itself. Others want the performance without the paperwork. Both are valid, and both are available within Bauen Passive+.
We'll help you decide which makes sense for your project.
We're Certified
Every person on our crew is a Certified Passive House Tradesperson. It’s a voluntary certification and not common in this industry.
It means that whether you're building to Bauen Base or Bauen Passive+ standards, the people doing the work understand, at a technical level, why every detail matters.
Forest Haus
0.31 ACH50 | Phi
Project Examples
Bauen Base in practice
Bauen Passive+ in practice
Arapahoe
0.44 ACH50 | energystar
Project Examples
Bauen Base in practice
Bauen Passive+ in practice
Forest Haus
0.31 ACH50 | Phi
Arapahoe
0.44 ACH50 | energystar
Not sure which build is right for you?
The answer usually comes down to three things: your site, your goals, and your timeline. We can walk through all three in an initial conversation.
