Thursday, January 21, 2010

Life's too short for a cold,drafty.....and ugly house.......

 We've been running this ad in some of the local papers lately....the rest of the ad continues with:

  The Passive Power House-the "not as big" cozy cottage that can reduce heating energy use by (up to) 90%- the smart house that creates more energy than it consumes- and....it looks absolutely fabulous!

   Designed-Fabricated & Built by Longfellow Builders&Co.....

   Hm-m-m-m...Passive Power House?  Yeah-okay...but, what is it?
 The Passive House- Its primary components:
       1-Thick insulation
       2-Few or no thermal bridges
       3-An airtight envelope
       4-Insulated glazing
       5-A balanced energy recovery ventilation system
   So what's the big deal? We've seen so-called air-tight,superinsulated,double envelope and passive solar houses before- some are still performing well and with good indoor air quality-and,some.....not so good. Like some of the passive solar houses-nice and toasty warm on a cold,sunny winters' day....until sunset and b-r-r-r-r-r out come the roller /heat trapping shades and screens..and all that wonderful 'free' heat is whisked away.
   Why then is the 'new' Passive House better? The concept was created by a Swede-professor Bo Adamson- and German physicist Wolfgang Feist in 1988. Sweden had just created rigorous energy standards for all new construction that same year. This brainchild of Adamson/Feist initially met, then exceeded the tough new regulations.
   This is not a 'new' system per se-it is the consolodation of years of research, construction and prototypes built here in North America and Europe-and developed with strict performance standards by the Passivhaus Institut,Austria (and in the U.S. by PHIUS- www.passivehouse.us). The years of research have led to the best possible construction packages. These are based on energy efficiency,installation expense and sustainability and, add to that, good looks.
   The Power House-its primary components:
        1-Within the platform of the Passive House, you add in solar water panels,photovoltaic systems,wind turbines..and because of the stingy energy demands of the house, you sell the surplus back to the utility company.
   Here is an excerpt from  ODE MAGAZINE-June/July 2009-from an article entitled"Power House..":
        Rolf Disch-architect and environmentalist in Freiburg, Germany-
        "What if each house became a power plant,if it created even more energy that it used internally?...He built on the ideas of the 'Passive House' movement that started in Europe in the early 90's. Instead of relying on the electricity grid for power, a Passive house taps available energy sources-sunlight,the body heat of occupants,even the thermal gains created by ordinary domestic activities such as cooking,bathing and using electrical appliances. The building is well insulated and air tight so it retains most of this energy and, through highly efficient heat-exchange ventilation technology,uses it to cool itself in summer and heat itself in winter."
   The Passive House/Passive Power House is a working,living,breathing home. Thousands have been built or renovated to Passive House standards across Northern Europe since the early 90's. An increasing number have and are being designed and built here in the U.S.........Isn't it time to start building scores of these cozy,comfortable,clean homes right here in Vermont...and the entire Northeast......

 -Additional notes from HOMES FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE-PASSIVE HOUSES IN THE U.S.-available from http://www.passivehouse.us/