Our Approach to Passive Home Construction
Passive Home Construction uses the sun and superb insulation to create a comfortable and highly efficient home. An international building standard developed in Germany by the Passive House Institute (PHI), it uses several strict performance requirements for new building construction. The goal is an approximately 90% reduction in heating and cooling energy usage and as much as 75% reduction in primary energy usage compared to conventional new construction. Energy Efficient Homes uses Passive House expertise to combine design, insulation, triple-paned windows, and air sealing measures to construct these extraordinary homes.
Passive House FAQs
What is a Passive House?
Passive House is an international building standard that takes full advantage of passive solar heating, highly effective insulation, site orientation, and triple-paned windows to reduce the cost of heating and cooling by 85% or more. Passive House design provides a platform for homeowners to develop their own vision of high quality, efficient construction that requires very little added energy for a comfortable home. These homes often feature heat-storing floors of concrete or stone, south facing windows, and highly efficient heat exchangers and heat pumps for heating and cooling.
Can My Home Be a Passive House?
Early construction of Passive House designs have attracted many local families looking for long-term energy savings; but the cost for construction included many high-end imported windows and doors to achieve the Passive House goals. Like many energy efficiency advocates, Energy Efficient Homes strives to provide stellar home performance to families with more moderate budgets and more relaxed lifestyles.
Where Can I Tour a Passive House?
Energy Efficient Homes constructed a Passive House using cutting edge technology of heat pumps and heat pump air exchanger coupled with superior air sealing and high performance insulation. For this project, we selected a contemporary 2000 sqft Ranch built on a frost wall and slab with 6" of spray foam beneath. This design features a three bedroom, two bath, open concept floor plan with a first floor master suite and optional cathedral ceilings in kitchen and master bedroom. We oriented the home to take advantage of southern solar exposure and incorporated top-notch insulation, ventilation, windows & doors to complete this comfortable and beautiful home. View this project here.