“My house is a refuge on a hot day—eight to twelve degrees cooler on a ninety degree day, twenty degrees cooler if it hits one hundred. I open it up at night and bring it back down to seventy. It carries me through the heat like a submarine.”

- Don F.

Cool Home Through These Hot Days

Obvious alert - it has been hot!  And smoky.  What a combo.  

Wouldn’t it be nice to walk into your cool home, set everything down, and breathe fresh air?   

Near record heat around the Pacific Northwest mixed with a stagnant wildfire haze we’ve all been breathing means...it’s a great time to check-in on some Passive Houses we designed and built.  

There’s nothing like a real world stress test to see how performance compares with hypothesis.

What We Expect

Frankly, we expect an Artisans Group Passive House to be an oasis of comfort through fair and foul weather alike.  

This isn’t an experiment; we know the outcome.  Throughout the Pacific Northwest we’ve designed and built more than a dozen homes following the rigorous Passive House energy efficiency and quality standard. 

Our meticulously planned and constructed Pacific Northwest Passive Houses avoid thermal bridges while harvesting sunlight for views and warmth without overheating your home.  And don’t forget the filtered fresh air gently circulating throughout your rooms.  

We craft the home to be a well rehearsed symphony with every part working together to maintain an indoor temperature around 72°F, even when the thermometer outside reads 102°, or 2°.  This happens without an Air Conditioner or large heating system.     

Rooms with a lot of windows?  We expect these areas to get closer to 75° during a heat wave, particularly when they have minimal shade.  These same well-lit rooms should also drink in the low levels of sunlight on a winter day and help warm the house to about 70°.   

We expect the balanced filtered ventilation system to keep the air inside fresh, and free from humidity and pollutants.  Outside it may be hazy with smog or pollen; inside the Passive House ventilation system actively circulates refreshing and healthy air.

Bottom line:  we expect to design and build so that you can walk out of some 90° lung straining nastiness and into your beautiful, thoughtfully designed, well lit, cool, calm, and quiet home. 

So...What’s Actually Happening

Good news has been making its way back to us.  

We’ve heard back from about four Passive House projects thus far.

One client with an expansive and shadeless window system reports temperatures never exceeded 75° during the hottest of days.  While another home with an extensive soffit spent the weekend right around 73°.

Word from the Vogel Haus, with its expansive and shadeless windows (many of which face South & West), is that their thermostat never rose above 76° during the day, and opening the windows at night brings their temperature down to about 68° (night flushing).  And the “air quality during the day was very good when the HRV is running, and all windows are sealed.”

The Jewel Box, perched above the reflective water, hasn’t seen a room over 78° and the smoke hasn’t been an issue at all.

*We’ll keep updating this as more information comes in*

It’s Building Science - Not Mystery

It’s not magic going on here, it’s established building science, and it’s changing the way we’re building all around the world.

Whether you call it Green Architecture, Sustainable Architecture, or you simply want to free yourself from large energy bills, a Passive House may be the answer to your search query.

Passive House building science means extreme energy efficiency, comfort, and healthy indoor air.

An Artisans Group Passive House means your beautiful custom built home works for you and your lifestyle.

Come home to comfort and peace of mind.

We look forward to hearing from you.