For those of you that want a snap shot of what it means when someone says “Passive House Design“, this is the article to read.
Authored by Jefferson Kolle, in the March edition, Fine Homebuilding did a great job featuring two new Passive House projects, one in Massachusetts and one in Minnesota. The Minnesota project employed the use of other renewable resources, such as a photovoltaic system, to get the Passive House in a net-zero mode. Both of these projects are aesthetically beautiful homes.
The article is really a superb summary of the Passive House standard. It begins with a brief description of Passive House and covers a bit of the history. The author went on to cover the salient parts of the building envelop and air handling system. He effectively covers the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) modeling software used to remove the guesswork of performance results once the project is complete. Finally, he talks about getting accredited as a Certified Passive House Consultant.
This is an excellent piece, and concisely written. This article very effectively puts the Passive House concept into a nutshell. Complete with project photos and a labeled cutaway wall section.
The article (.pdf) can be downloaded from the (PHIUS) website. The article is called: “The Passive House, Green without Gizmos”
Posted on May 20, 2010
