I had always been fascinated by the solar homes popular in the 1970s, but i never felt there was a complete, practical solution. Every option had its issues, both practically and aesthetically. Big glass walls or windows to let in the free heat from the sun during the winter is great, but it led to over heating in summer. They required insulated shutters to be closed at night to keep the heat in, but that's ugly and cumbersome.
Then i heard about Passive House and I lost my mind. They had thought of everything. Dr.s Feist & Adamson looked at the issue of energy efficiency as a whole system scientifically. Each solution naturally will have a knock-on effect somewhere else in the system. For example, making a house air tight to eliminate air leaks, solves a heat loss problem, but causes serious issues with indoor air quality. High levels of VOCs, particulates and humidity make the house literally uninhabitable. After years of study, proven science and experimentation, considering each aspect and its benefits and consequences, they arrived at a comprehensive method, proven in the real world.