{"id":7092,"date":"2018-03-05T15:40:33","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T22:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virtuance.com\/?p=7092"},"modified":"2018-03-06T13:47:43","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T20:47:43","slug":"passive-house-next-big-thing-eco-friendly-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.virtuance.com\/member\/blog\/passive-house-next-big-thing-eco-friendly-building\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Passive House? The Next Big Thing in Eco-Friendly Building"},"content":{"rendered":"
By\u00a0Celeste Perron<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Source: Realtor.com<\/a><\/h5>\n

What is a\u00a0passive house? It’s\u00a0a home designed to require\u00a0minimal\u00a0heating or cooling, making it an eco-friendly and economical\u00a0choice for home buyers.<\/p>\n

While passive houses might not sound all that exciting, they’re stirring up plenty of buzz\u00a0within real estate circles\u2014and that could mean you’ll see\u00a0a lot more of them in the near future.<\/p>\n

So here’s the lowdown on\u00a0how they’re built, how much they cost, and everything you need to know about whether a passive house\u00a0might be right for you.<\/p>\n

What is a passive house? How it’s built<\/h2>\n

To qualify officially as a passive house,\u00a0a\u00a0home must\u00a0meet minimum criteria\u00a0set by the International Passive House Association. Basically, it means a house must consume\u00a086% less energy for heating and 46% less for cooling compared\u00a0with other code-compliant buildings in the same climate.<\/p>\n

To reduce or even eliminate the need for heat in the winter and\u00a0air conditioning\u00a0in the summer, a passive house is built airtight, using strong exterior insulation, triple-pane windows, and construction methods that ensure no heat is transferred across\u00a0the exterior of the building. No outdoor air seeps in, and no indoor air escapes.<\/p>\n

Passive houses might also be situated to capture maximum sunlight in the winter and shade in the summer.<\/p>\n

“If you have large southern exposure, you might\u00a0plant a tree there that will drop its leaves in the winter\u00a0so the sun will come in,” says\u00a0Douglas McDonald<\/strong>, whose company Purehouse designs and builds passive homes. “But in the summer, the tree grows leaves and\u00a0provides shade.”<\/p>\n

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Where to find passive houses<\/h2>\n

Passive\u00a0homes are popular\u00a0in Europe, especially Germany, where energy is expensive. And while\u00a0passive houses are still rare in the U.S., rising energy costs could change that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first passive houses were built in North America in the ’70s, when energy\u00a0prices were extremely high, but then oil prices dropped and some people lost interest,\u201d says\u00a0Michael Knezovich<\/strong>, spokesperson for the Passive House Institute U.S. “It’s only been over the past decade or so that passive houses have taken off here.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are only 250 certified passive buildings in the U.S., but the number of projects seeking certification has been growing\u00a0for many reasons: People crave a smaller\u00a0carbon footprint, protection from unpredictable\u00a0energy costs,\u00a0and the independence of living \u201coff the grid<\/a>” (many passive houses achieve off-the-grid status with solar panels).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be that passive buildings were mostly\u00a0in the Pacific Northwest, because of the eco-conscious culture there,\u201d says Knezovich, \u201cbut we\u2019re now\u00a0seeing them built in more extreme climates, such as New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n

The below-freezing winters and scorching\u00a0summers in Boise,\u00a0ID, are what led\u00a0Ann Vonde<\/strong>\u00a0and her husband to build a passive house there in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were attracted to the energy conservation, both for environmental reasons and to ensure lower energy bills in the future,\u201d says Vonde.<\/p>\n

How much does it cost to build a passive house?<\/h2>\n

Building a passive house will typically set you back 10% to 15% more in upfront costs. But you\u2019ll quickly recoup that initial outlay in lower utility bills since these homes use up to 90% less energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast winter was a cold one, and my aunt who lives nearby said her energy bills were around $600, while our highest one was $112,\u201d says Vonde.<\/p>\n

But there\u00a0are also\u00a0benefits you\u2019ll notice even before your electric bill arrives\u2014Vonde felt the difference right away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no drafts or hot spots, and it\u2019s extremely comfortable to have the temperature so constant,” she says. “Plus\u00a0it\u2019s very quiet. We don\u2019t hear any outside noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Passive house benefits beyond energy conservation<\/h2>\n

Typically in a passive house, fresh air is brought in, and stale air removed, by a ventilation system, which passes through a filter to remove allergens and pollution. Some passive-house owners find\u00a0that this reduces smells, and even that they sleep better because the ventilation system prevents\u00a0carbon dioxide buildup at night.<\/p>\n

Passive houses can be\u00a0especially beneficial to people with allergies or sensitivities to mold and mildew, because their tight envelopes seal out irritants.<\/p>\n

“When you have hot and cold air mixing in the walls, you get condensation. Water creates mold and environments for bugs,\u201d says McDonald.<\/p>\n

Passive house styles<\/h2>\n

Passive houses tend to have a modern, minimalist look, all clean lines and expansive windows\u2014but they don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible to build a very traditional-looking passive house,\u201d says Knezovich. \u201cYou’re not limited\u00a0to saltbox designs.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there’s one\u00a0feature of a traditional home that you probably won\u2019t find in a passive house: a fireplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cFireplaces, stove vents, vented dryers, anything that requires puncturing a hole in the envelope of the house can lead to heat transfer,\u201d points out Vonde. For that reason, she and her husband chose a ventless dryer. \u201cBecause it creates heat and humidity in the house, I don\u2019t use it in the summer and line-dry\u00a0laundry\u00a0in the sun,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Although the passive house standard doesn’t require the use of eco-friendly building practices beyond minimizing\u00a0the energy use of the finished house, most architects and builders who work on passive houses also incorporate\u00a0nontoxic and sustainably sourced materials.<\/p>\n

“While we’re building this very healthy, high-performance envelope, why would you bring in your water through plastic pipes?” McDonald asked. “We try to build without harmful ingredients.”<\/p>\n

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