A Brewer housing complex received its final certification Wednesday under the Passive House Institute’s pilot program.

The Village Centre Apartments, which provides 48 units of workforce housing, is the largest Passive House building in New England, according to a media release from Wright-Ryan Construction, the contractor that built the complex.

The pilot program defines climate-specific Passive House standards for the institute. Passive House is a term that refers to ultra-low-energy, high-efficiency buildings.

Village Centre is estimated to be over 60 percent more energy-efficient than a typical apartment building built with conventional materials and energy systems.

“Village Centre represents an emerging trend in affordable housing,” said Alyssa Parker, director of Commercial Project Management at Wright-Ryan. “We’re proving that through smart design and well-executed construction management, radical energy efficiency such as with Passive House isn’t restricted to the realm of custom home building.”

The company said the complex was built at a fixed budget of roughly $139 per square foot and meets the project requirements as a publicly funded development under the Maine State Housing Authority.

Village Centre is owned by Community Housing of Maine and was designed by CWS Architects with sustainability consulting provided by Thornton Tomasetti.