Early housing had no technology, while 20th century housing saw evolving technology and 21st century housing has organized technology. The document defines passive house standards for ultra-low energy buildings requiring little heating/cooling energy. Key benchmarks are space heating/cooling energy under 15 kWh/m2 per year, total primary energy under 120 kWh/m2 per year, and an air tightness of 0.6 air changes per hour. The passive house principles are an air tight building envelope, high efficiency windows and doors, super insulation, controlled ventilation with heat recovery, and thermal bridge free construction. The example passive house built met an air tightness of 0.37 air changes per hour, with a final HERS score

2. • Early Housing = no technology
• 20th Century Housing = technology evolves
• 21st Century = organized technology
A Brief History

3. What is Passive House
The term passive house refers to a rigorous, voluntary standard for
energy efficiency in a building
Resulting in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy
for space heating or cooling
Thusly reducing its ecological footprint

4. Benchmarks in a Nutshell
Space Heating/Cooling Energy Demand
15 kilowatt hours per square meter of Treated Floor Area per year or 10 Watts per
square meter peak demand or in Imperial units 4.75 kBTU/sf*yr and 3.2 BTU/hr*sf
respectively.
Primary Energy Demand
Total energy to be used in the building operations (heating + cooling + lighting +
equipment + hot water + plug loads, etc…) is limited to 120 kilowatt hours per square
meter of Treated Floor Area per year or in Imperial units 38.0 BTU/sf*yr.)
Airtight Enclosure
Allowable limit of 0.6 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals pressure (ACH50) that is
verified with an onsite blower door test (pressurized and depressurized)

5. Passive House as Teacher
We know what We know
We know what We don’t know
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
Architect
Engineer
Builder
Surgeon
Astronaut
Actor

6. What We Built
• 3500 SF 4 bedroom Passive House W/ an Unconditioned Conservatory
• R 45 Walls = 12.5” double stud wall filled with dense pack cellulose
• R 49 Roof = 12” rafter filled with open cell foam
• R 51 Floor = 12” floor joist filled with dense pack and capped with 1.5” polyiso
• R 7.14 Klearwall Triple glazed tilt and turn windows
• 2 ton Waterfurnace geothermal heat pump
• 80 gallon Steibel Eltron heat pump hot water heater
• Zenhder ERV

7. Passive House 5
1. Air tight building envelope
2. High efficiency windows and doors
3. Super insulation
4. Controlled ventilation with heat recovery
5. Thermal bridge free construction

8. Air Tight Construction
• Consistent Indoor Comfort
• Enhanced Insulation Performance
• Proper Fresh Air Ventilation

9. Triple Pane Windows & Doors
• Plays A Vital Role In Air Tight Construction
• Increased Thermal efficiency - R-Value
• Key Element for comfort factor

10. Super Insulation
• Low investment with a high return
• Keeps on giving tirelessly
• Zero maintenance

11. Fresh Air System
• Stale air is replaced with pre-conditioned fresh air
• Prevents spikes in CO2 levels
• Heat recovery operates at a minimum of 75% efficiency
• Filters pollen, mold, dust, bacteria – MERV 13

13. Thermal Bridge Free Construction
• Thermal Isolation between the inside and outside
• Helps minimize losses and maximize retention

15. What Thermal Imaging Tells Us
• Passive House vs. Traditional Construction
A Stark Contrast

16. How Did We Do
We were very pleased and the we hope the client lives
healthily and happily ever after
We performed a blower door test with only studs,
plywood, windows and doors …… and
We hit an ACH of 0.34 @ 50 pascals
We performed our final blower door test …… and
We hit an ACH of 0.37 @ 50 pascals
With a final HERS score of 3

17. The Prime Directive
In the fictitious universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive is the guiding
principle of the United Federation of Planets. The Prime Directive
prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the internal
development of alien civilizations.
Our Prime Directive
To endeavor in the design and construction of buildings that have zero or
positive effects on the entire ecosystem of our planet

22. Thank you