High Performance Buildings

PASSIVE building An introduction

Certified Passive House, GO Home, Belfast, ME

buildings

CHINA -18,100,000,000 SF PER YEAR June report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE),

75% electricity 50% carbon

World Energy Use U.S. share of world energy consumption: 26% U.S. share of world CO2 emissions: 24% U.S. share of world population: 4.6%

Ratio - per capita consumption of energy in developed vs. developing countries: 10 times Sources: The Energy Information Administration; The United Nations Energy Committee

US people

US energy/ CO2

www.globalchange.gov

Global Climate Change

1928

2004 © 2009 Robby Schwarz www.nrglogic.com Lance Wright

Source: Time magazine April, 2006

“Passive” A rigorous, voluntary building energy standard focusing on a high performance envelope with a resulting minimized mechanical system.

The Passive House Standard: The “magic numbers” of Passive House

Why these numbers?

Cost Effectiveness Trick

“Passive”

(roughly more efficient than what we build today)

The Passive House Standard:

CATEGORY:

AVERAGE U.S. NEW CONSTRUCTION (2007):

PASSIVE HOUSE:

36.6 kBTU/ft2yr

(4.75 kBTU/ft2yr) < 1.39 kWh/ft2yr (up to 90% better)

2- Total Primary Energy Use per year: (56.64 kBTU/ft2yr)

(38 kBTU/ft2yr) < 11.13 kWh/ft2yr (up to 70% better)

3- Airtightness:

n50 < 0.6 ACH (up to 90% better)

1- Space Specific Heating or Cooling Demand per year:

n50 = 3ACH to 5 ACH

A BTU is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

(about 5,000 BTU/hour to heat a 1500 square foot passive house on the coldest day of the year, vs a typical house is 100,000 BTU furnace

The Passive House Standard: Watt this means:

Heat your 1500 sf house with 1500w or the energy of (15) 100w light bulbs on the coldest hour of the year

Passive house heating system:

1500 watts $14.99 + tax

(no Photovoltaic .i.e. solar electric panels, roughly here (solar hot water potentially) (WITH Photovoltaic .i.e. solar electric panels, can be negative HERS score or PLUS ENERGY

Eugene LEGER HOUSE The Leger House looked like a conventional American home, heated only by its own water heater!

1979

William Shurcliff, 1979 Press Release: “1. Truly superb insulation. Not just thick, but clever and thorough. Excellent insulation is provided even at the most difficult places: sills, headers, foundation walls, windows, electric outlet boxes, etc. 2. Envelope of house is practically airtight. Even on the windiest days the rate of air change is very low. 3. No provision of extra-large thermal mass. (Down with Trombe walls! Down with water-filled drums and thick concrete floors!) 4. No provision of extra-large south windows. Use normal number and size of south windows — say 100 square feet.

5. No conventional furnace. Merely steal a little heat, when and if needed, from the domestic hot water system. Or use a minuscule amount of electrical heating.”

“6. No conventional distribution system for such auxiliary heat. Inject the heat at one spot and let it diffuse throughout the house. 7. No weird shape of house, no weird architecture.

8. No big added expense. The costs of the extra insulation and extra care in construction are largely offset by the savings realized from not having huge areas of expensive Thermopane [windows], not having huge well-sealed insulating shutters for huge south windows, and not having a furnace or a big heat distribution system. 9. The passive solar heating is very modest — almost incidental. 10. Room humidity remains near 50 percent all winter. No need for humidifiers. 11. In summer the house stays cool automatically. There is no tendency for the south side to become too hot — because the south window area is small and the windows are shaded by eaves”.

1980 with 14 superinsulated homes, and then with 140 Larger developments followed in Canada in

superinsulated homes in Minnesota in the US.

1982-83 Canada sponsors the R2000 program with free training for builders and small subsidies to offset cost and requirement for an airtightness test: a blower-door test. Over

1000 homes were built.

Conservative estimate of total superinsulated homes

1985 in the US and Canada is 10,000.

It doesn’t

have to cost more…….

$100k Community Rebuilds – passive project in the works? Moab, Utah

$100k Community Rebuilds – passive project in the works? Moab, Utah

$250k Empowerhouse Solar Decathlon - Habitat for Humanity Passive project Deanwood neighborhood of D.C.

$250k Empowerhouse Solar Decathlon - Habitat for Humanity Passive project Deanwood neighborhood of D.C.

$250k Empowerhouse Solar Decathlon - Habitat for Humanity Passive project Deanwood neighborhood of D.C.

Winner 2012 CRES award

$350k 2100 square foot near passive house project

Total energy $ per year: Heating: Slab: Walls: Roof: Windows: Ventilation: Hot water: Electric:

$300 100% Electric R-40 R-40 R-70 R-5 (.56 SHGC) 96% heat recovery Single 4x8 panel Solar thermal 3.3kW pv system(4600kWh / yr)

ALPINE PASSIVE HOUSE Boulder, Colorado

$400k 2500 square foot straw bale passive house project

TEAM: FUENTESDESIGN LOPEZ SMOLENS ASSOCIATES CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIGHTLY TREADING SLM CONSTRUCTION ARTESANO PLASTER ZOLA EUROPEAN WINDOWS ULTIMATE AIR LIGHTLY TREADING

PREFAB + STRAW BALE ALTITUDE: 7,105 HEATING DEGREE DAYS: 7,051 SSHD: 4.58 kBTU/(FT2YR) PENDING CERTIFICATION

• FIRE REBUILD • 6kW PV • LOW EMBODIED ENERGY STRAW BALE WALL SYSTEM • THERMAL MASS STORAGE • ELECTRIC IN-FLOOR RADIANT • HEAT PUMP HOT WATER HEATER • 90% LED LIGHTING

VENTILATION – 90% +/- RECOVERY OF HEAT

SOLAR PATHFINDER… SHADING...

FINDING AIR LEAKS….

STATUS: PASSED AIR TEST, CLIENT TO REMOVE BURNED TREES TO CERTIFY SHADING

lighting

Incandescent 20 l/w

20 l/w

T5 FLUORESCENT

100 l/w

Stanley elec.white LED

150 l/w

CREE lab record LED

276 l /w

refrigeration

Subzero Pro 48

Energy Star limit Sunfrost RF16

691 kWh/yr

481 kWh/yr

240 kWh/yr

windows ENERGY STAR

R-3 .3 SHGC

ALPEN 725H

R-5 .48 SHGC

THERM RESULTS in straw bale wall: (R-6.31 FRAME) .5 SHGC / .088 U / R-11.36 ψ INSTALL= -.006 (Btu/hr.ft2.F)

R-8 .48 SHGC

Window Interior Surface Temperature (+2 degrees F outside)

Wall Interior Surface Temperature (+2 degrees F outside)