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Building Your Passive House Dream Home

Designing & Building Your Passive House Dream Home

At the Artisans Group, working with you to design and build your beautiful custom home is our passion.  One of our firm’s specialties is the design and construction of buildings to the ultra energy efficient standard known as Passive House.

If you are new to the Passive House concept, it’s a proven building standard that results in a maintained and comfortable interior temperature without the need for traditional (and often noisy) mechanical heating or air conditioning systems.  A Passive House building employs a super quiet air exchange system that keeps your indoor air quality at the freshest levels.  It makes full use of a property's sun exposure, and the way we design with windows is poetry with your views.  All of this while using extremely little energy in day-to-day life. 

For those who have experienced living in our Passive House homes, it is a revolution in quality indoor comfort and enjoyment.

Is meeting the Passive House standard difficult?

Yes.  While the Passive House building standard is entirely voluntary, it is a building science that requires designers and builders obtain a level of knowledge and ability far exceeding industry norms.  

As a leader in the Pacific Northwest Passive House movement, we dedicate substantial resources to ensure our designers and builders maintain and add expertise.  We are intent upon building you your best Passive House dream home while employing the most up to date building science.  

It’s just like Grandma and Grandpa said, making high-quality things isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

How is Passive House expertise achieved and maintained?

With experience and training.  As the most experienced firm in the Pacific Northwest at designing and building Passive House homes, Artisans Group is uniquely qualified to ensure our team gets real world experience.  In addition, we constantly look for awesome opportunities to keep abreast of updates in this building science.  

This past week one of our architectural designers, Roussa Cassel, and our lead drafter, Owen Martin, traveled to Vermont to take part in Yestermorrow’s PHIUS Passive House Builder program.  They spent a week living with other experts in the field to fully discuss concepts and share practical building experiences.  And they returned full of excitement to keep Artisans Group at the forefront of innovation in this evolving landscape.  

Ongoing training gives us a chance to update our knowledge of Passive House building theory and technique, and sometimes even surprises us.  On this most recent trip to New England, Owen and Roussa were also able to increase their exposure to New England Passive House architecture, which mixes modern with more traditional New England aesthetics.

There are different Passive House architectural styles?

Yes!  In the Pacific NW people often associate Passive Houses with contemporary modernist buildings.  Part of this is due to coincidence.  We see a regional rise in awareness of the incredible advantages of Passive Houses while at the same time a Pacific NW flavor of modernism is ascendant.  

One thing we know from experience, with careful attention to detail and skilled craftspeople at each step, we are not limited.  Your dreams + our knowledge and experience = many and great possibilities.  

If you schedule a consultation with us to share your ideas for your Passive House dream home, our experts will listen to you.  Your dream home should be built, beautifully.  What is your favorite architecture?  What kind of home do you want to live in?

How can we help you?  

Send us a message.  As a Design+Build firm, we have designed and built custom Passive House homes throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Listening specialists, from your program of needs and wants in a home, we craft award-winning solutions.  We are your highly trained team, here to respect and communicate your desires throughout the process.  

Whether your property is in a bustling urban center or you don't have neighbors for miles, our experienced artisans help you take full advantage of everything your property has to offer.  Together, we work to champion your dream home from start to finish, on budget and on time.    

Your life and experiences are unique, and it is with great joy that we help turn your unique dreams into your beautiful, custom home.