This year's conference held from 9 to 11 October was moved out of Europe to the Chinese city of Gaobeidian for the very first time. The venue was chosen for an important reason as the city is about to complete the Railway City Gaobeidian consisting of 20 high-rise buildings and a number of apartment blocks to become the world's largest Passive House development.

The event traditionally organized by the Passive House Institute, a research institution with the headquarters in Dortmund (Germany), attracted leading scientists, architects, and equipment manufacturers from worldwide.

The conference agenda included numerous panels and discussions where world-renowned scientists presented their views on the state of sustainable development and ways to prevent irreversible climate change. For example, Professor Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, a politician and co-president of the Club of Rome, stressed that most of the existing standards including those applied to buildings, which were developed at the time when the world's population was under a billion people, may no longer provide solutions for the global economic and social crisis. This is why the Passive House standard may become a game changer in achieving an optimum balance in energy consumption.

Besides theories and concepts the conference participants were presented a range of practical solutions for energy-efficient buildings from a number of leading manufacturers. The Blauberg exposition was focused on heat recovery air handling units, which play a key part in achieving occupant comfort and energy savings in a passive house.

The KOMFORT EC SB 350 unit designed for houses and large apartments was the star of the company's presentation. The model is characterised with excellent energy efficiency as confirmed by the Passive House Institute certificate. We also presented the high-performance BlauAIR multi-functional air handling unit designed for large commercial, public, or industrial spaces. The equipment bears Eurovent Certita Certification mark provided by a leading independent European certification authority.

We would like to thank all the conference visitors and participants for the interests and hope to see you again!