Posted by Sloan Ritchie on January 30, 2012
Currently in the design phase on a passive house project to be built in Seattle. If you are not familiar with the concept, here’s the basics, excerpted from our passive house consultant’s website, and also edited by our architectural firm NK Architects:
Goal: Passivhaus! (also known as passive house) offers a well-proven, predictable, cost-effective way to reduce the heating demand of buildings by up to ninety per cent (90%!) and overall energy use by up to seventy per cent (70%).
How does it work? A Passive House building is a very well-insulated, virtually air-tight building that is primarily heated by passive solar gain and by internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc. Energy losses are minimized. Any remaining heat demand is provided by an extremely small source. Avoidance of heat gain through shading and window orientation also helps to limit any cooling load, which is similarly minimized. An energy/heat recovery ventilator provides a constant, balanced fresh air supply. The result is an impressive system that not only saves up to 90% of space heating costs, but also provides uniquely terrific indoor air quality.
Passive house is now required by code in several countries in northern Europe.
Proposed Design in Madison Park: For this house to meet the strict energy standards, we need an additional 12” of insulation on the outside of the structural walls and a minimum of 26” insulation in the roof. The opportunity to eliminate the furnace in this home has significant community and occupant benefits to be sure.
Stay tuned as details emerge…
Posted by Sloan Ritchie on January 30, 2012
Whether you’re remodeling, building new or just replacing an older toilet, there are many factors to consider which I won’t go into but for one: Buy one that is a good flusher. How do you know before its too late? Fortunately, there’s an independent group that has gone to the trouble to test flush thousands of toilets and measure performance. 300 is the minimum score equivalent to federal requirements, but don’t stop there. Go at least 600+. Many models can be purchased at reasonable prices that score 800 or 1000 and more. The score represents ability to flush, so higher is better. You can also use this resource to find Water Sense and High Efficiency Toilets HET, dual flush, go low flow people! Also remember that ability to flush and water efficiency are not correlated, so you can score high on ability to flush and also be water efficient. Check it out: MaP Testing
Niagara has a 0.8 GPF model! How does it score, you ask? 800!
Posted by Sloan Ritchie on January 30, 2012
Mid-Winter Update
Currently 4 homes are under construction at Clearwater Commons, a duplex and 2 single family homes. Recently, the Mini-B Passive House modular home was also delivered to the site, to serve as a guest house.
Last week, blown-in dense pack fiberglass insulation was installed.
On Friday, sheetrock was delivered to the duplex.
This construction milestone marks the end of systems and beginning of finish work.
The siding on the duplex is complete also as of now.
Some of the features installed to date include:
- 2″ poly iso rigid roof deck insulation, installed under the metal standing seam metal roof
- Blown-in dense pack fiberglass insulation
- 1″ rigid foam insulation on all exterior walls, taped seams for air-tightness
- HRV – Heat recovery ventilation systems
- 24″ OC advanced framing
The week of snow caused some delays for us, as there was a foot of snow at the Commons!
We are in the midst of getting the 2 single family homes ready for insulation and sheet rock. The larger single family unit (pictured above) is almost ready for Framing inspection in order to move to the finish phase.
