| Here at MaGrann Associates we have found that building to Passive House (Passivehaus) standard is catching on fast. Passive House focuses solely on design instead of systems and boasts 90% reduction in energy consumption. Passive homes not only use less energy overall, but they are consistently more comfortable year-round because of design strategies like eliminating thermal bridges, super insulating and aggressive air sealing.
A recent article "What Does it Really Mean to Buy Green?" posted on The Motley Fool by Suchi Rudra discusses the benefits of Passive House:
Passivhaus
It'd be an enormous understatement to say that Passivhaus (also written as Passive House) design also narrows in on energy efficiency. What's so cool about Passivhaus? How about a drop in energy consumption of up to 90 percent? You just can't do any better than this, unless you lived on a deserted island. Aside from superior indoor air quality, lack of noise pollution and overall increased indoor comfort, your energy bill would be equivalent to the cost of running a hair dryer, as the Passivhaus experts like to say.
But how in the world is that possible? These incredibly high performance buildings are different from net zero energy buildings because they focus solely on design, instead of renewable systems or high performance mechanical systems. If you have a super tight, well-insulated building shell, you won't actually need an HVAC system! And that means your doors and windows don't leak air (inefficient windows can cost you $700 a year in energy costs), and you have highest R values possible in the roof and walls. Also important is the orientation of the house according to the direction of the sun.
Passivhaus is probably the least well-known eco-standard - in the United States, that is. In Europe, this ultra energy-efficient approach has been popular for several decades, where you'll find more than 30,000 certified buildings, versus 100 certified buildings in the U.S. -- although that doesn't take into account uncertified Passivhaus buildings, many of which are homes.
The reason Passivhaus hasn't taken over the U.S. construction industry is partly due to lack of awareness and due to the cost of the needed high performance materials, some of which aren't yet manufactured in the U.S. But that's quickly changing as awareness of this uber-strict design grows, and more savvy architects across the country have been able to demonstrate that Passivhaus is definitely within reach for the average homeowner.
View the full article here.
MaGrann Associates is leading the charge with Passive House, including the first certified project in Philadelphia, Belfield Flats. MaGrann did the multi-point blower door testing for these units and they were the tightest homes tested in the history of our company with an average leakage of .405 air changes per hour (ACH). Typical ACH would be between 3 and 7!
A tight home means the house is extremely well air sealed, so no leaky, drafty, cold spots and no loss of energy through the walls or air leakage.
Let us show you how Passive House can increase the value of your next project!
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