Comments on: Passive House (Passivhaus) Standard for Energy Efficient Design

By: Tatiana Moller

Tatiana Moller — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:03:54 +0000

I live in one of the few Passivehaus’s in the NW. Portland to be exact, I own The Corehaus. Many people are confused by the term Passive House, which evokes the passive solar of the 70′s. In having to explain criterion over and over, I have developed an acronym / mantra if you will….(whheat)

W Ultra-high-performance Windows
H Heat Recovery Ventalator
H Using passive Heat sources (solar of course, but also equipment, lighting, and occupants).
E Super-insulated Envelope
A Airtight construction (0.6 air changes /hr at 50 Pascals)
T Thermal bridging(Eliminating or reducing)

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 08:52:34 +0000

Hi Avon
I haven’t heard of a hybrid house but my experience in building Passive houses and traditional houses make me favour masonry houses instead of timber frame.
The fundamental thing is to construct the house with excellent U values and with exceptional air tightness.
The positioning of the house to maximize solar gain is essential.
It is always advisable to have massive elements such as concrete walls in the house to absorb the solar gains for use in the evening.
The windows are a key factor in passive houses and the whole frame U value that is the glass and frame should be about 0.8w/(m2K).

If you build to passive standards then the house construction will last for many years maintenance free

By: What To Know When Building A Strawbale Home

What To Know When Building A Strawbale Home — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:02:06 +0000

[...] the New Mexico Chapter of the US Green Building Council. There were 14 homes on that tour – passivhaus, off-grid, passive solar and one of recycled [...]

By: behindcurrentevents.com » Passive House Design Reduces Heating 90 Percent

behindcurrentevents.com » Passive House Design Reduces Heating 90 Percent — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:57:03 +0000

[...] makes a passive house so energy efficient? A passive house has airtight construction, and is well-insulated. It has mechanical ventilation with a heat [...]

By: Passive House Ventilation Design | 100K House Blog

Passive House Ventilation Design | 100K House Blog — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:20:45 +0000

[...] Passive House standard requires that you install a ventilation system with > 75% efficiency and a low electric [...]

By: Miri

Miri — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:46:46 +0000

Hi everyone,

I am in China right now and try to find out how the handling and the standards of producing passive house elements are. Concerning passive windows I was wondering if you could give me the names of some Chinese suppliers, so I can contact the manufacturer directly.
Thanks a lot in advance,

miriam (shanghai).

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:12:47 +0000

I really enjoy this blog and your projects.

I had two questions about your use of SIPs in your passive project. (1) What did you do to address the thermal bridges that remain with SIPs? (at the seams and where the walls and ceilings meet)
(2) How did you handle your electrical? Did you use a second interior 2×4 wall? Or did you come up with another way to avoid penetrations in the outer envelope?

Where I live we have over 7700 annual heat degree days and I’ve been told that to meet the passive standard I would need R-74 walls for a single family house, with roughly 1500 sq. ft. of livable space. If I used blown cellulose that works out to 23″ walls! I’m considering using Murus polyurethane SIPs. They have a 6.5″ panel (R-40) and a 5.5″ panel (R-33) that would get me close, but I’m not sure what I’d do with my electrical.

Have you guys ever considered using autoclaved aerated concrete instead of SIPs?

By: Avon Xzavia

Avon Xzavia — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:45:14 +0000

Hello Chad / Everyone,

I am planing to build a hybrid house: ZEH/+EH With pasiv & Massive aspects: thermal storage heavy concrete inner floors walls. & full energy creation and reclamation. With well water and rain water collection grey water re-cyc. as many positive aspects as possible. next year, (2010)

have any info thoughts on the following:

1/ Sipcrete construction method.

2/ Lots of focus on window efficiancy, but what about longevity durability ? No producer I have seen state figure for life of their product ? Fiber glass seems the most durable as far as I can make out ?? Timber lasts very well (if maintained) chemicals paint etc??

My aim is to construct a house that requires no maintenance and will last not many decades but perhaps many hundreds of years.

Avon (Germany).

By: Passive House- The New Standard of Energy Efficient Building « Casa Diseno Blog

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:09:00 +0000

[...] House is to reduce the energy usage of a home by 90% over traditional code built homes.” (100K House) In an interview with Dwell magazine, architect Milos Jovanovic points out [in theory], “you [...]

By: Building Gaskets and Air Sealing Tape | 100K House Blog

Building Gaskets and Air Sealing Tape | 100K House Blog — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:09:56 +0000

[...] obtain the very difficult building air tightness goal of 0.6 ACH @ 50Pa that is required by the Passive House standard. Let’s take a more detailed look at the technology and economics of these two construction [...]