Design features have shifted towards more climatic responsive buildings, in respond to the
effect that the building industry has on the environment and the global climate. The Passivhaus standard
generates ultra-low energy building performance reducing the energy demand. The Vernacular
Architecture of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has evolved through the influence of Islamic architecture,
with concepts such as privacy and opening towards the inside rather than to the outside. Most houses
feature a central courtyard used for lighting and ventilation, while keeping the privacy of the occupants.
The aim of this paper was to investigate the implementation of vernacular architecture into domestic
building design to achieve Passivhaus in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The methodology used computer
simulation using Revit, SketchUp, DesignPH and Passive House Planning Packed (PHPP) to model a
domestic building design in the city of Sulaymaniyah with five different cases to assess the benefits of
vernacular architecture to achieve passivhaus. The results show the Iwan in case 1 reducing overheating
by almost 5%, while the courtyard in case 2 can reduce overheating by 15.6% with a ventilation rate of
0.33 acph.
