Modern Construction Standards: What Are the NZEB and Passive House Concepts?

07/ 07/ 2026

Listen to online Stop   Construction standards, like any other field, are changing rapidly under the influence of modern trends and new requirements. Today, high-quality housing is no longer just a beautiful facade and a monolithic structure, but a complex system designed to operate intelligently: reducing maintenance costs while providing a comfortable living environment for occupants. This, in turn, makes the property more attractive to both investors and end buyers. That is why, in architecture and construction, increasing attention is being paid to buildings designed for minimal energy consumption and maximum energy efficiency. Among the best-known approaches today are the NZEB and Passive House concepts. Let’s take a closer look at what they entail. What Is NZEB? (Nearly Zero Energy Building) Recently, new requirements for the design, construction, and renovation of buildings have come into effect in Ukraine. In accordance with Order No. 168 of the Ministry of Development dated February 6, 2025, requirements for buildings with near-zero energy consumption have been introduced. Simply put, under the NZEB standard, a building consumes only a small percentage of its energy thanks to modern engineering solutions, while obtaining a significant portion of its energy needs from alternative renewable sources. These may include solar power plants, heat pumps, or other technologies that reduce dependence on traditional energy sources. To meet the NZEB concept, a building must satisfy a number of requirements, including having a high energy efficiency rating. In summary, the NZEB concept involves a comprehensive approach. It is not enough to simply insulate a house well or install solar panels—all engineering solutions must work together as a single system, ensuring maximum energy efficiency and comfort for residents. Ventilation also plays an important role in NZEB buildings. After all, even with high-quality facade insulation and the use of renewable energy sources, a building will not be able to meet modern energy efficiency requirements if a significant amount of heat or cool air is lost through open windows during ventilation. In such cases, the solution is to use ventilation systems with heat recovery. The PRANA heat recovery unit continuously supplies fresh air from outside while simultaneously removing stale air from the room, ensuring a complete air exchange cycle. Thanks to its copper heat exchanger, the system retains up to 98% of the coolness or warmth inside the room, reducing the need for air conditioning or heating, respectively. In fact, the heat recovery unit allows the building to “breathe” without energy loss, which aligns with the NZEB philosophy—minimizing consumption and making the most efficient use of existing resources. An additional advantage of the PRANA heat recovery unit is its energy consumption—the device uses a minimal amount of electricity during operation, so it can be easily integrated into systems using alternative power sources, such as solar panels or other solutions. As practice shows, heat recovery units can indeed be used effectively and become part of NZEB projects. For example, our official partner in Romania—Ecovent—completed a project in the village of Cotu, Copelu Commune, Botoșani County. This is an apartment building that fully complies with NZEB standards. At this site, our colleagues installed PRANA 200C heat recovery units to ensure high-quality ventilation and a comfortable indoor climate in every room. What is a Passive House? A Passive House is a certified energy-efficient building standard developed by the Passivhaus Institut, which aims to minimize a building’s need for active heating and cooling. In other words, the building must maintain a comfortable indoor climate primarily using its own energy—internal heat sources, passive solar energy, heat recovery, and so on. To achieve this, the building must be completely airtight, which is why such structures particularly require an effective ventilation system with heat recovery. The heat recovery unit in such a system ensures energy conservation during air exchange. As a result, high-quality air exchange is constantly maintained in the building without significant heat loss. This significantly reduces the load on the heating and cooling systems. For more information, visit the manufacturer’s official website: prana.ua

Construction standards, like any other field, are changing rapidly under the influence of modern trends and new requirements. Today, high-quality housing is no longer just a beautiful facade and a monolithic structure, but a complex system designed to operate intelligently: reducing maintenance costs while providing a comfortable living environment for occupants. This, in turn, makes the property more attractive to both investors and end buyers.

That is why, in architecture and construction, increasing attention is being paid to buildings designed for minimal energy consumption and maximum energy efficiency. Among the best-known approaches today are the NZEB and Passive House concepts. Let’s take a closer look at what they entail.

What Is NZEB? (Nearly Zero Energy Building)

Recently, new requirements for the design, construction, and renovation of buildings have come into effect in Ukraine. In accordance with Order No. 168 of the Ministry of Development dated February 6, 2025, requirements for buildings with near-zero energy consumption have been introduced.

Simply put, under the NZEB standard, a building consumes only a small percentage of its energy thanks to modern engineering solutions, while obtaining a significant portion of its energy needs from alternative renewable sources. These may include solar power plants, heat pumps, or other technologies that reduce dependence on traditional energy sources. To meet the NZEB concept, a building must satisfy a number of requirements, including having a high energy efficiency rating.

In summary, the NZEB concept involves a comprehensive approach. It is not enough to simply insulate a house well or install solar panels—all engineering solutions must work together as a single system, ensuring maximum energy efficiency and comfort for residents.

Ventilation also plays an important role in NZEB buildings. After all, even with high-quality facade insulation and the use of renewable energy sources, a building will not be able to meet modern energy efficiency requirements if a significant amount of heat or cool air is lost through open windows during ventilation. In such cases, the solution is to use ventilation systems with heat recovery.

The PRANA heat recovery unit continuously supplies fresh air from outside while simultaneously removing stale air from the room, ensuring a complete air exchange cycle. Thanks to its copper heat exchanger, the system retains up to 98% of the coolness or warmth inside the room, reducing the need for air conditioning or heating, respectively.

In fact, the heat recovery unit allows the building to “breathe” without energy loss, which aligns with the NZEB philosophy—minimizing consumption and making the most efficient use of existing resources.

An additional advantage of the PRANA heat recovery unit is its energy consumption—the device uses a minimal amount of electricity during operation, so it can be easily integrated into systems using alternative power sources, such as solar panels or other solutions.

As practice shows, heat recovery units can indeed be used effectively and become part of NZEB projects. For example, our official partner in Romania—Ecovent—completed a project in the village of Cotu, Copelu Commune, Botoșani County. This is an apartment building that fully complies with NZEB standards. At this site, our colleagues installed PRANA 200C heat recovery units to ensure high-quality ventilation and a comfortable indoor climate in every room.

What is a Passive House?

A Passive House is a certified energy-efficient building standard developed by the Passivhaus Institut, which aims to minimize a building’s need for active heating and cooling. In other words, the building must maintain a comfortable indoor climate primarily using its own energy—internal heat sources, passive solar energy, heat recovery, and so on. To achieve this, the building must be completely airtight, which is why such structures particularly require an effective ventilation system with heat recovery. The heat recovery unit in such a system ensures energy conservation during air exchange. As a result, high-quality air exchange is constantly maintained in the building without significant heat loss. This significantly reduces the load on the heating and cooling systems.

For more information, visit the manufacturer’s official website: prana.ua