Home By Milestone | The Passivhaus Centre of Excellence.

What it is, why it matters, and how Home by Milestone is helping people build better.

Over the last decade, the way we think about homes has begun to change. Rising energy costs, climate responsibility, and a growing awareness of comfort and health have all pushed the construction industry to question long-established approaches to building.

At the centre of this shift sits Passivhaus.

Passivhaus is often described as the gold standard for energy-efficient building. It focuses on creating homes that are comfortable, healthy, and extremely low-energy, achieved through excellent fabric performance, airtightness, thoughtful design, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

However, while Passivhaus sets a clear benchmark for quality and performance, it can also feel inaccessible or misunderstood. That is where Home by Milestone comes in.

What is the Home by Milestone | The Passivhaus Centre of Excellence?

Home by Milestone is an evolving Passivhaus Centre of Excellence and collaboration hub, created to support better building outcomes through early, informed collaboration.

Set within the historic Masson Mills in Matlock Bath and powered by hydroelectric energy, the centre is designed around a simple idea: better homes are created when the right people come together early.

Rather than acting as a traditional showroom, the centre provides a space where architects, consultants, suppliers, builders, and self-builders can engage with the full journey of building a home. From early design thinking and structural decisions through to services, technology, and finishes.

The environment encourages conversation, exploration, and understanding, helping people make confident decisions before those decisions become costly or difficult to change on site.

Why Passivhaus is the benchmark, not the barrier

Passivhaus principles underpin the thinking behind Home by Milestone. The Passivhaus Centre of Excellence provides a clear framework for what high-quality, high-performance homes should achieve in terms of comfort, energy efficiency, and long-term value.

However, the centre is intentionally inclusive.

Not every project can achieve full Passivhaus certification. Site constraints, budgets, planning considerations, and retrofit scenarios all play a role. What matters is not perfection, but progress.

Home by Milestone exists to help anyone who wants to build better, smarter, and more sustainably, whether that means full Passivhaus certification or simply moving closer to best practice.

Passivhaus is the reference point. Sustainability is the direction of travel.

A collaborative approach to building better homes

One of the most common causes of issues in construction is late decision-making. Products are chosen too late. Systems clash. Performance is compromised. Costs rise.

The Passivhaus Centre of Excellence is designed to address this by encouraging early collaboration.

Within the centre, visitors can:

• Review drawings in detail using digital plan tables

• Compare materials and build-ups side by side

• Explore building services and smart home technologies in context

• Speak directly with knowledgeable suppliers and industry professionals

• Understand how different elements of a home work together as a system

This approach reduces risk, improves clarity, and leads to better-performing homes.

Supporting the future of building in the UK

The centre is not about promoting a single product, system, or way of working. It is about supporting a shift in mindset.

One that values:

• Performance over appearance alone

• Long-term comfort over short-term savings

• Collaboration over silos

• Education over sales

By bringing sustainable and forward-thinking suppliers under one roof, Home by Milestone helps create a joined-up ecosystem where innovation can be tested, refined, and understood.

A place for learning, progress, and better outcomes

Whether you are an architect exploring Passivhaus principles, a supplier developing sustainable products, a builder looking to improve performance, or a self-builder trying to make sense of complex decisions, the Passivhaus Centre of Excellence exists to support you.

It is not about excluding those who are not “there yet”. It is about helping more people move in the right direction.

Better homes start with better understanding.

And better understanding starts with collaboration.

Home By Milestone | The Passivhaus Centre of Excellence.