Three years later, the additional cost for Passive House on our Multigenerational Passivhaus was less than 3%. Ballpark prices on our first Passive House design (on the right) in 2009 put the premium at 3%, 5% and 7% from three different contractors. Here’s what’s cool: Owners can reduce or in some cases eliminate the premium by hiring architects and contractors familiar with the technique. ![]() The premium results from three factors: Higher prices on some components that aren’t yet widely available in the US (super-high-performance windows and heat recovery ventilators) higher prices from contractors unfamiliar with the technique (an “innovation tax”) and designs that aren’t optimized for Passive House as well as they could be. In the United States where Passive House is still in its infancy there can be a premium in initial capital cost for early adopters, but that premium is coming down all the time. In Europe, where the Passivhaus standard has been in place and widely implemented for over twenty years, Passivhaus projects are built for the same cost as conventional construction. You can of course open all those windows whenever you like! Cost-Effective The high-performance windows and tuned-to-the-climate design mean that those windows can be large and let in plenty of natural daylight. By virtue of their triple-pane windows and thicker walls (in our climate) Passive Houses are quieter than most houses. Indoor air quality is demonstrably better than in standard construction, with more fresh air. ![]() You can sit right next to their high-performance windows and not feel the chill of the outside. You will find no hair shirts in the closets of Passive Houses! By virtue of their advanced and well-insulated design, the temperature within Passive Houses is remarkably consistent from room to room and between the inside and outside walls. Passive House (aka Passivhaus) is a consistently objectively verifiable, cost-effective, predictable way to make a building more comfortable, more durable and healthier, with the side benefit of a huge reduction in total energy use over conventional construction! (Or, if you prefer, it’s a way of massively reducing total energy use and mitigating climate change with the side benefits of more comfort, more durability and a healthier place to live!) Comfortable
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |