Floreat Passive House Sustainability Tour. Architecture by Ben Caine, Leanhaus

[@WindermereAnacortes]

House looks amazing, but get a mic so people can hear what you’re saying.

[@chrisbardsley6797]

Hey Ben, great first video super informative. Look forward to many more. How I wish I could sleep at night breathing in constant filtered fresh air, without outside noises being a nuisance. Comfort and health and durability in design makes a home for today and tomorrow. Well done

[@theleanarchitect]

Thanks Chris and for the encouragement to get off my bum and finally do a video. More to come soon.

[@markharris8617]

Great info. Beautiful home. In Germany, in the early 1990s, we had those roller shades (called 'rolladen' in German) and we loved them. In the US, they don't appear to be available.

[@theleanarchitect]

Thanks for sharing! Roller shutters are common here on project homes but rarely seen on architectural homes. They make a lot of sense if they can be incorporated neatly.

[@Koston44]

So good to see and thanks for sharing. Very well done I will be researching the air exchange system as had not even crossed my mind for our projects! That roof is beautiful too with the single pitch

[@theleanarchitect]

Glad it was helpful!

[@LJLancaster]

Great to see a tour of the house mate! Love the acoustically rated plasterboard ceiling and casement entry door sidelight!

[@theleanarchitect]

Glad you enjoyed it. Its a amazing how many designers forget about acoustic comfort. High ceilings and hard surfaces are a nightmare to live in.

[@Ben-ij6zv]

Thanks for sharing this - really appreciate your perspective on needing an AC in a passive house (it's hard to find material addressing this online). Interestingly, our energy consultant told us that if we didn't install an AC, they would assume that a future home owner would install a least efficient version.

[@theleanarchitect]

Yes. We have done the maths and find that in our climate, it is more cost effective and practical to include air conditioning and have it powered by the solar PV , than create a building that is somewhat impervious to summer heat gain. Here is our blog post on the topic: www.leanhaus.com.au/leanarchitect/air-conditioning-strategies-in-a-passive-house

[@Ben-ij6zv]

@@theleanarchitect thanks for that. I am in the same climate zone (Busselton).

[@waynedufty5053]

Well done, looks great

[@theleanarchitect]

Thanks Wayne! You need to drop by for a beer one friday.

[@barrybr1]

Well done Ben, lots of brilliant ideas and design

[@theleanarchitect]

Glad you like them!

[@daleglenny8253]

Love all the energy saving inclusions, but where are the fly/mosquito screens. You are in Perth so you’d definitely need these.

[@theleanarchitect]

We left the flyscreen off the front door for aesthetic reasons. All other windows have screens.

[@emmaslow]

Interesting design and explanations. Now you have been living there for a while, have you found that the acoustic ceilings gather dust like a fan grill tends to do? This may seem a daft question but as a builder who has also lived in two of my own builds this aspect of dust-gathering (& accessibility to clean grills etc) actually became quite a bugbear for me in my first build and is something I designed out on the second build.

[@theleanarchitect]

We have not had any issues with dust in the ceiling. Dust levels are definitely lower than on a normal house being that the house spends more time sealed up and the HRV filters out airborne particles.

[@APCDTBSYLDOMN8]

Brilliant design! How far north of the average home build price does this much emphasis on passive design go?

[@theleanarchitect]

Thankyou. Its hard to compare with "average'' because the average standard is so much lower in specification in a thousand different ways. If this exact same house was built, but without the features that make this a Passive House it would save maybe $50k. We believe our homes are exceptional value for money when you compare the functionality, performance, comfort and specification against a typical custom or architect designed home.

[@RickSlaughter1]

Are you able to do any work in the US? Is that allowed due to the differences in building codes and permits, or are they about the same? I think your approach and the design of the Floreat passive house is awesome!

[@theleanarchitect]

By all means, get in touch via our website leanhaus.com.au to see if it is viable for us to help you.

[@spencerhaskins4108]

Great job! I am in the middle of remodeling my house to passive home standards and was curious the company you got the doggy door from?

[@theleanarchitect]

Freedom Pass from USA

[@serpserpserp]

Great house, when you are out the front it sounds like you fronting into Parramatta Road lol

[@theleanarchitect]

Thankyou, its a pleasure to live in it everyday. The building does a great job of blocking external noise.

[@lucasthijssen9844]

Hello Mr. Ben, i like the design of the home and I agree on part of the adopted solutions. May i know what is the time shift of the roof? I mean how many hours of delay between the peak of the heat outside and the peak of the heat inside. Do you also have a figure about how much energy per square meter does your house consume in a year? Thanks for the reply and wish you a good day.

[@theleanarchitect]

Hello, Great Questions: The roof has a phase shift of 6.9hrs. In terms of energy use for heating and cooling: There is 0kw/h/m2/a for winter as we have never needed heating. (well below the Passive House standard of 15kwh. In Summer we have some cooling but this almost negligible (0-5kwh/m2/a) It is completely offset by Solar PV. For reference there is a single 6kw split system for 200sqm treated floor area. This operates for less than 100hrs a year at less than 50% capacity.

[@lucasthijssen9844]

@@theleanarchitect thanks for your kind answer. Usually in Europe we tend to build with insulation in mind plus mass in order to fight both winter cold and summer heat. All insulation material work against cold, but not all work against the heat. I believe, with all due respect, that 6 hours phase shift for your climate is insufficient for a good passive house since it means that the roof will not be able to damp and delay the heat wave efficiently. Maybe you did it on purpose, since you have only a 300kWh yearly consumption, but in Italy, where I live, we normally aim for at least 14 hours phase shift, preferably 20-24 hours shift. Thanks again, and wish you a great day

[@theleanarchitect]

There are few local difference to account for: 1: We have good diurnal temp change day/night. Peak daytime heat at 2pm, but by 7pm there is typically a cool shift from the ocean breeze. 2: Local construction materials and norms would make it prohibitively expensive to build with 12 + hours of phase shift in roof and walls. Better to install a small AC for hot spells and power this with SolarPV. Also worth noting that a 6kw ac system only draws about 1.5kw at normal operating speeds. Our AC rarely operates above 50% so assume 500-750w of draw (same as our hot water unit). AC power draw is irrelevant anyway because we easily generate 4kw of power from solar.

[@maxelliott4034]

How do the costs compare between timber build and brick built?

[@theleanarchitect]

We don't build from brick so it it is hard to do a side by side comparison with a similar project. Construction to this standard does use more costly materials and it is more labour intensive to install membranes, insulation compared to just slapping up some brick and rendering it. At a guess I would say +20% more

[@free2tobeme]

great looking house, how much did it cost to build

[@theleanarchitect]

Much less than a typical Architect designed home, but more than the usual brick project homes that are prevalent in Perth, WA.

[@scottastell9415]

Good tour but your recording microphone volume is tto low. Maybe think where how you use a microphone plus type of pickup.

[@theleanarchitect]

Thanks for the tip. The next video will be better I promise!

[@benwrees1]

Very cool. Did you do a blower door test?

[@theleanarchitect]

Yes we do two blower door tests. Once at Lockup stage, and a second test juts before completion. Both tests achieved better than the Passive House Standard of 0.6 Air Changes / hour at 50 pascals.

[@timburnham1214]

Why didn't I discover you before having our house built! Our architect promised all these things and did not deliver!

[@theleanarchitect]

Sorry to hear you didn't have a great experience. Sad to say that most architects don't know or care about building science, health or economic construction. Read this for more info: www.leanhaus.com.au/leanarchitect/the-7-deadly-sins-of-award-winning-architectural-homes-that-you-wont-see-in-a-leanhaus

[@timburnham1214]

@@theleanarchitect Thank you kindly! If we can ever afford to buid again, we know who to call!

[@sbartdbarcelona44]

Brilliant

[@roropepe1848]

what type of insulation is in the walls and ceiling and how many inches? thank you!

[@theleanarchitect]

180mm of High Density Glass Wool - System U value 0.23W/(m2K)

[@roropepe1848]

@@theleanarchitect thank you!

[@zawam]

Amazing design. Was that polished concrete flooring? Did you achieve the 0.6ACH? What is the reason for not certifying?

[@theleanarchitect]

Ýes, the floor is polished concrete. . The ACH

[@simonpannett8810]

Love it! Do you suffer from termites or any other wood borers? IF yes, how do you stop them??

[@theleanarchitect]

Yes we have termites in Western Australia. The timber is treated, plus we use barriers at the base of the frame.

[@madlove2339]

mate. invest in wireless mic helps your vid by lots and attract more viewers. keep it prof

[@theleanarchitect]

Thats my next purchase for sure!

[@OrendaDesignStudio]

Beautiful 😍😍.

[@theleanarchitect]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@gavinroocke2936]

Can you tell me the brand name of your external roller shutters. Thanks

[@theleanarchitect]

We used Shutter Co here in Perth. These are a pretty standard product but we worked to integrate the roller pelmet into the cladding zone and the flashings for neater than usual finish.

[@gavinroocke2936]

@@theleanarchitect thanks for your response. I’m an old chippy who after years of building other peoples homes I have now started building my own passive house design in Walpole. Thanks again

[@MatthewBayard]

What's the total building cost?

[@theleanarchitect]

Hi Matthew, We were fortunate to sign a building contract in late 2020 before building price rises hit hard. The cost for the house alone was approximately $3000/sqm FECA. Replacement value today would be around $4000/sqm

[@MatthewBayard]

@@theleanarchitect thanks for that insight

[@drjimbarnes]

Love the content but you need a mic big time

[@theleanarchitect]

Its our first video so next time I will be mic'd up!

[@drjimbarnes]

@@theleanarchitect 👍 can’t wait for the next one!

[@Csakbetksszmok]

I don't understand, why is e.g. an *air condition* called _passive,_ an _overhang_ well measured on the sunny side *is passive,* shading the summer sunshine-but letting the whole winter sun in. An HVAC can be _net zero_ using solar energy-passive meant for us something else in high school. But nice house anyway

[@theleanarchitect]

Hello! Is your question whether or not Air Conditioning can be considered on an otherwise Passive Solar or Passive House?

[@leslielugosi]

@@theleanarchitect I guess he meant the term "passive house" should use more passive principles like shading and using the hot from the sun by orientations. AC usually not needed in Hungary where we live if the passive component are correct. A good passive house - in my mind - have a massive thermal mass inside so it can provide stable temperature. As this house is wood, walls can not preserve heat or cool. Do floors have this mass?

[@claraframi]

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