Passive House = 90% Home Energy Reduction!

[@exploranator]

Her looks, demeanor and voice are just so peaceful.

[@DougGrinbergs]

2:20 1. Highly insulated building envelope. 5:20 2. Continuous air-sealed layer. 7:00 3. Eliminate thermal bridges. 8:04 4. Heat recovery ventilation. 9:27 5. High performance glazing.

[@ConcreteLand]

Thank you. 🎉

[@eazymoney_93]

Took me days to watch this video because the womans voice was so soothing and kept putting me to sleep

[@grahamborgdorff3335]

Above Board Carpentry in Minden, Ontario has adopted this as our target market. What is great is that we can build these homes for nearly the exact same as a conventional home.

[@eustache_dauger]

How about passive house design in the equatorial area where the aim is to reduce energy depency on cooling (instead of heating) when the climate is hot & humid?

[@carlpatrickragas2159]

Windows and building orientation will do. Insulations will lessen the heat as well.

[@samgerlitz]

Could look into geothermal ground loop cooling.

[@exploranator]

Cover every available surface with solar panels and then install super-duper high efficiency air conditioning. If you want to see that on steroids, go to Maui.

[@zucchinilaboratory]

I believe insulation not only keeps your house warm during the cold days, but also keeps your house cool during the hot days. As long as heat gain is prevented and proper ventilation is installed it should be ok.

[@whyldthing86]

The concept of building orientation will only work if there is no space limitation. Given sa small land area, it might not be doable all the time.

[@silasjohannesen3373]

Fun to see... Here in Denmark, carpenters and other craftsmen are trained in energy saving construction. 😀

[@silasdkdkdkdk]

yup. what she is talking about have been the building standard since the 90s here

[@CUBETechie]

Crosslaminated timber wood is amazing. The Austrian movie archive was made from wood. First the chemical from celuloid Films doesn't affect the walls (concrete can be damaged by the chemicals) The Inspiration of the thermal management was inspired by anthouses in the woods

[@vickiwhite6374]

I am so excited about this concept! I am a Realtor in Dallas, Texas. I have the First Certified Passive House in Texas listed. Where the requirement for certification is 0.6 ACH, my listing has 0.392 ACH. It is awesome. I hope it catches on here! It would make the world a better place if this became the standard.

[@maghouinbeg5011]

Fascinating. I'd love to take an on-line course on this so I can really get to grips with the ideas.

[@tjam4229]

Nice presentation! One thing I notice is that they keep mentioning where they are trying to keep heat IN the building. This is true in a colder climate. I live in the desert (Phoenix Arizona) where the opposite is true most of the year. This same passive house building techniques would apply here too. They should mention that as well ;-)

[@Rainaman-]

T Jam heat or rather the optimal living room temerature. Same rules apply only windows should be on the opposite side

[@Ilove3SGTE]

I would like to add that the heat differential is typical much greater in cold climates.

[@Conservator.]

T Jam Yes, and add reflection and passive wall ventilation.

[@timogronroos4642]

@@Conservator. "passive wall ventilation" ...noup, you don't use passive ventilation in a "passive house". All air circulation is handled by controlled in/out system with heat exchanger (like in the video). In winter incoming air is heated with outgoing air and in sommer the opposite. It's possible to add underground piping for incoming air, so the air is preheated/precooled before coming into heat exchanger. I built my passive house in 2004 in Nordic Countries (Finland) and basically all new houses there have been like presented here, for a decade or two. So welcome to this century for others too

[@Conservator.]

Timo Grönroos Hi, Thanks for your comment. Heat recovery by heat exchangers are very important especially in cold but also in milder climates like here in the Netherlands. And yes that requires an active system. I was referring to hot climates where sometimes hot air can be ventilated passively by letting it escape at a high point and having an inlet of cool(er) air at a low point. It’s a bit like a chimney. During colder nights the airflow could be reversed. I like the concept of having underground pipes for heating and/or cooling air in the winter and summer. Could you give me an idea of the size, length and depts of the air tubes used for such a system? I plan to build a small workshop in my garden and I would like to make it as energy efficient as I can. That is, without braking the bank. Any hint would be welcome. Tia.

[@motherdaughtersister]

Fascinating. She provided great explanations, even I could understand! :) Thank you for sharing.

[@ExploringAlternatives]

You're very welcome, I'm happy you found the video interesting and easy to understand. Thanks for watching!

[@maromaro1909]

​@@ExploringAlternatives nZEB (near Zero Energy Buildings) is the standard in EU FOR ALL NEW HOUSES from 31.12.2019. !

[@bobbg9041]

ya?

[@siriosstar4789]

There are variations of passivhaus in europe . For example , i have a blockhaus that has 13.5 cm blocks/logs and 14 cm holz insulation panels with 3 cm thick lattung / furring strips over the insulation panels with 2.5 thick wood panels mounted on the furring strips. Windows are triple pane tilt and turn. People also use CLT panels in place of logs . All building materials are non off gassing as well as furniture , bedding ,drapes rugs etc which are from natural fibers . We did this because we don't have a heat recovery system. We just open windows in the morning in the bedroom for a few minutes and while cooking. The loss of heat is not an issue because we have a two ton speckstein offen / soapstone masonry oven and have tons of available wood to burn. The oven/ stove is heated once a day in very cold weather for about two hours and then holds and gives off that heat for about 24 hours. It heats the entire house of over 3 thousand square feet to a comfortable seventy degrees or more.

[@TheMack0007]

Passive hauses came from europe.

[@ek9772]

Sandra Rohler is amazing in her ability to convey the meaning of Passive houses.

[@PaulLadendorf]

Thanks for this vid. At 1:30 she says upfront labor is 3 to 10% more than conventional construction. I think most people would also like to know the extra material cost as well.

[@MegaZedlav]

This was needed hopefully it becomes a world standard!

[@alexanderj1316]

You can go way further with modern construction methods! But agreed, such techniques should become mainstream, but enforcement is often badly managed, putting arbitrary rules over objectives.

[@fiendeng]

Only in the advanced countries lol

[@cjeam9199]

Alexander J You don’t need to go further, at some point you lose cost effectiveness.

[@eDriver]

passive house is great!

[@Gamerad360]

@Furious you can just build a monolithic dome, and it's more efficient for much less money>

[@raymulvey5245]

I don’t recall the name of the woman engineer doing most of the presentation/demonstration, but she’s incredible! He approach to explaining things was fantastic and made the building techniques very understandable. Just amazing!

[@cindyhollings2079]

Excellent educational video, thankyou, you have made this complex topic very accessible! Much appreciated

[@tonycarter145]

Super informative video. Plus i could listen to that lady explain this stuff all day.

[@fiendeng]

That was Siiiick glad to see how true professionals chasing excellence is alive and the passion for excellence

[@wilwad]

Excellently said

[@christinaelliott5582]

I absolutely love this video. A look into the inner workings of various surfaces for insulation purposes and the mechanization/electronic support to maintain it is very helpful and long awaited. Thank you!

[@stormthrush37]

So cool and amazing! I had no idea you could make a building so energy efficient. Thanks for sharing.

[@movax20h]

7:55, even if you offset your studs in two different layers, it is still a thermal bridge. Just less bad. Usually it is good enough. Depends on the properties of what is the middle layer that studs on both sides connect to. Other option is uniform insulation on external walls, with no seams or penetrations. This is commonly done in Europe.

[@sashadacua7046]

Thank you for sharing this video. I was wondering if something similar is being developed for tropical countries where cooling is more important than heating--- the sun shines 95% of the time.

[@wikingagresor]

The concept of the house is mainly similar, you have to just add an underground heat exchanger or if you have access an underground body of water ( aluminum tank or even some underground well ).

[@h4ppy3nd]

This will be the mandatory standard for new buildings in the EU in a couple of years actually. I do believe that you can take it a step further by adding solar pannels which could potentially provide all the energy you need to heat and ventilate your house too. I love the video, btw, very informative, thanks!

[@cliffp.8396]

Great tutorial and a lovely teacher, I'd sit contentedly in her class every day.

[@markhathaway9456]

I've been reading about energy and rather than passive house technologies it's all about various sources of energy and how we can convert it to electricity, store it, transport it, and use it in the home. In my reading/KZbin-viewing I recall that a huge percentage of electricity is lost as heat to the air at the generation plant or transporting it or in the home. Though she said heating the passive house can be done much more cheaply than usual, she didn't discuss water heating (approximately 2/3rds of the electricity we use is for water heating and to heat or cool a home). A book-end video on the more complete home which is passive AND includes electricity saving techniques or appliances could be really useful.

[@amyrobert]

Living in Northern Ontario, this style of home build is a must! We currently live in a 100-year old+ house and heating is a nightmare. We have been working at implementing these same principles on the envelope renovation and we have noticed a massive difference! Is it possible to find out what brand of barrier tape the black tape is? It looks like fabric? Maybe I am wrong. Thanks!

[@michaelcsutton]

Great video. House construction in Australia is a joke. Passive house design is key to our sustainability.

[@Mote78]

michaelcsutton Exactly right. We waste so much of everything, not just energy. Hell every time a baby or dog poops it gets placed in a plastic bag and thrown in the trash. We need to develop sustainable practices.

[@MK-kp1us]

But at least there are good windows available on the market. Guys from Astellite in Melbourne replaced my aluminium rubbish windows with uPVC and it is amazing to experience the difference.

[@123Goldhunter11]

No - the key to sustainability is zero growth population.

[@fredrickaappletree3402]

Craig Wheeless... so true and so much plastic wrapping on our food too.

[@MK-kp1us]

TheEarthDoctor1 - Yup. Australia is about 20 years behind Africa when it comes to windows and generally most of the things. People here don’t know the quality. Pretty sad.

[@robertmontgomery7158]

Good video. Recent home built in Rochester, MN IS 0.7 ACH combined with solar gain and it rocks!

[@zagonielod]

Thanks! Great topic! More of this please! And congratulations to all of you! ;)

[@alexanderj1316]

_To everyone interested on the matter, here is a short global overview with parallels to the situation in France (not trying to sell it, I just think the history of one country makes a more understandable example for picturing the global situation, and France's history on the subject is the only one I really know about):_ *Passive housing and Passivhaus* * Some techniques for passive housing might be new, but it has been around for as long as traditional housing, which always had had techniques for keeping the cold or the heat outside. You can summarize the idea by thinking of it as a way to keep the inside temperature independent from the outside temperature, and taking advantage of the sun for heating and of the earth for regulating the inside temperature. * The _Passivhaus_ label is most probably what popularized the concept in its modern meaning. The research started in response to the oil crisis of 1973, the biggest advance upon traditional construction being the findings about the importance of air tightness (mostly thanks to swede researchers). The first project was constructed in 1990 in Darmstadt, Germany, and * The label and its techniques became quickly widespread in German-speaking and Scandinavian countries. It is interesting to note that the industrial standards in those countries also evolved to answer the demand (e.g. for windows). This means that passive construction technology is now quite mainstream and more affordable there than it is in country where the demand is more recent. Find a historical review here : passipedia.org/basics/the_passive_house_-_historical_review * _If you take the example of France, the RT1974 (thermal regulation of 1974) was also a response to the oil crisis_ *What's next?* 1) NZEBs (Nearly zero-energy buildings) * European Union is asking its member countries to to draw up national plans to increase the number of Nearly zero-energy buildings : the "Energy Performance of Buildings Directive" requires all new buildings to be NZEBs by the end of 2018 for public buildings and by the end of 2020 for all other buildings. * _If you take the example of France, the RT2012 (thermal regulation of 2012) is already trying to tackle this matter_ 2) ZEBs and Energy-plus housing * Zero-energy housing means that there is 0 energy input * In variable climate zones, this is very hard to achieve which is why the needed energy compensation is produced by (often local) renewable energy. For the house never to lack energy, these renewable energy sources often have a higher mean production than the building would actually need (e.g. solar panels will work every day even if you only need them in winter). This leeds to a new, localized energy management which can allow energy use for other uses, mostly transport (electric cars). This concept is called Energy-Plus housing. * _If you take the example of France, the RT2020 (thermal regulation of 2020) is supposed to make Energy-plus housing the new national standard._ If all of this stuff seems interesting to you, you might want to take a look at other widespread labels, such as : LEEDS, MINERGIE-P, 2000W Society _I guess the reason for me to write all of this is my frustration when I read most of the comments around here :_ -> _Yes, passive houses are great ; Yes they should become standards, but as a matter of fact they already became standards in some countries and are already being reviewed for better/stronger ones ; they are far from being a new revolutionary technology._ -> _Labels but mainly regulation are a very important part of these evolutions, and it is crucial for any country to make them intelligently. This means setting the right requirements and adapting to the climate, and still allowing room for further innovation and experimentation._ -> _If you don't have a problem with heating but with cooling, the same methods apply, but your building orientation (the way you use the sun as heating source) will change_ -> _Higher construction prices are in no way a counter argument when you can spend less energy over the full lifetime of a project ; only the overproduction of grey energy or new pollutants could be arguments against higher performance insulation_ Sorry for the long comment... Last but not least, I want to thank Exploring Alternatives for their awesome channel and the subjects of their videos. Keep it coming guys!

[@Conservator.]

Alexander J Thank you for your comment! (I’m a bit surprised to be the first one say so but I’m sure many more will have thought the same. Merci!)

[@kman7381]

great site… I would like to share you should add a tightly fitting piece of Masonite siding into all the window sills under the membrane to create a pitched water shed for a rock solid water proofing

[@wilde1909]

They didn’t speak of cooling. Where I live during the summer we have consecutive weeks of 90 degrees F weather. And this can slop over into the spring and fall. Our concern is cooling.

[@alexanderj1316]

Mary Ann Lee same measures with a few different dispositions regarding orientation. What can keep the heat inside can also keep it outside :)

[@greengenie7063]

@@alexanderj1316 What system do you think is best to deal with this problem? A system that creates even more heat outside just makes the problem worse!

[@alexanderj1316]

@@greengenie7063 it does not create heat, it just keeps it outside. This is a basic principle of insulation. The building hull is optimized to minimize heat conduction, which means that the balancing of the temperatures between the colder and the warmer side will take more time. It can thus work both ways.

[@alexanderj1316]

@@greengenie7063 Did I get your question right?

[@greengenie7063]

@@alexanderj1316 Superinsulation, shading and air-movement are all fine. I'm glad you are not promoting air conditioning!

[@DIN_A8]

Was building one a week back in the 90s with the crew when i first started work after school over here in Germany.

[@dextersaintjocke]

This was really helpful and I'm curious how can we adapt some of these passive house ideas to our existing homes, maybe you folks can share links to other videos or sites, thank you.

[@Tomek_i]

Adapting an existing home that isn't already energy-efficient into a passive one would probably be prohibitively expensive. But it's still possible to make existing houses more efficient, improve their ventilation, and use a more environmentally friendly heat (or cooling) source. In Ireland there's a retrofit program called "SuperHomes", it's worth reading about if you're interested in that

[@drewbradford7608]

Exceptional, thank you to all involved

[@ExploringAlternatives]

Thanks Drew!

[@romeonieva4438]

do you have solution for tropical climate building?

[@igorccotoccev1972]

@@romeonieva4438 nice question. And even, two years since it's asked, no answer?

[@midnari]

This feels like one of those videos you see in orientation at a new job.

[@scdobserver835]

Succinct and totally clear. Very well done.

[@ExploringAlternatives]

Thanks so much, happy you found the video helpful :) :)

[@ecoevo]

Great video, very informative! Well produced video!

[@BlackSabbath1989]

learned about passive houses in my secondary education almost 15 years ago and the concept was not super new then, not really much that can change aside from reducing the production cost of the materials to make the early investment pay off sooner. Windows are a interresting part, early on they were a huge heat loss due to not beeing air tight, then they became air tight and led to condensate building and therefore mold creation and in the passive house you have the air tight windowframes and avoid the mold with the air ventilation system. I kind of miss the mass that stores energy here, like for example a thick brick wall in the center of the house, that gets light through the south windows in winter. but maybe storing all the energy in the air is enough if you have enough insulation, since simply people and animals beeing in the house create heat. in school we were joking to put a 20cm (~8") mirror around the walls on floor level, so the cats will get scared all day and run around to create heat^^. still i prefer building a earthship someday though the passive house can tackle the regulation jungle far better.

[@greengenie7063]

No use having thermal capacity if there is no sun to heat it. During overcast periods when cold your 'mass' will rob the heat from your body. And most materials traditionally used for thermal capacity are very slow, unresponsive and have poor energy storage capacity, as useful heat exchange only takes place in the exposed 50mm of the material. With global warming, we already have a situation where thermal capacity becomes saturated during periods with sustained high day and night temperatures, making indoor conditions unbearable for humans (better outside in the shade away from radiating materials). Night time cooling is impossible. Rock, brick and soil are quite poor, while Glass and Water are useful thermal storage materials with Water being really adaptable, movable and of course free...

[@okiiedokey]

I live in a passive house since 2006. And I really don’t understand why so many people still build houses with a chimney

[@skarletlightning]

$

[@jackdaniels2905]

How do you heat your home? And where do you live?

[@Tomek_i]

@@skarletlightning Actually, costs of building chimneys are one of the reasons that in new-build energy efficient houses, heat pumps are no more expensive upfront than gas boilers (and they're obviously cheaper to operate).

[@mjwmontgomery]

Because you need heating.

[@patnorton2407]

Very clear presentation. Thanks.

[@ExploringAlternatives]

Thanks Pat :)

[@Woobel]

Got there. Good. Here In Europe they use it quite a while now but also it was found recently that even tho the idea has many great features on a long therm base it is not sustainable. The problem with passive houses that u need to follow really and I mean REALLY strict principles as a GC and builder to achive the passive function. Also you need way way more air and heat related structure and automaton to controll the air tight system of the passive structure. The amount of money spent on it just simply does not worth to calc with it. If you would in general plan a Low energy house that would cost less than a passive and would not need any extra costy pipeing. Also on passive houses the economic payback can not be determined exactly while on low energy houses they are calcable.

[@lillyandimvu5112]

For the first time it makes sense how you save and recover energy

[@mikewhitaker2880]

love how they talked about how the structure would retain heat.. but mentioned nothing about cooling a structure.. thats where the real test of a green construction happens.. because after all.. if a building is cold in winter one can ALWAYS bundle up.. but in summer theres only so much layers we can remove in an attempt to stay cool... not to mention its always been cheaper to heat than to cool anyways...

[@ABlueDahlia]

Videos like these make me wish my brain was half as active and smart as these people.

[@MalaysiaBarista]

This depends on the country. In Malaysia, there is a serious termite issue, ensuring most wood based insulation or any wood at all in that manner will turn into food = bad for structure.

[@rayhunt7179]

Malaysia Barista u could try hempcrete

[@abundantearthglobalcdc4290]

What about compressed earth block?!

[@eustache_dauger]

And the issue in Malaysia would be cooling (instead of heating) and high humidity which renders evaporative cooling ineffective. So the focus would be the ways to let heat escapes instead of trapping it in.

[@abundantearthglobalcdc4290]

@Lucifer thats why i mentioned Earth Block. They can be made anywhere there is dirt and you dont need skilled labor to make them or build with them, if they are interlocking. Plus, 1 of there many benifits is their ability to regulate moisture, humidity and temp. And the termites, or any pest, will not eat it.

[@OU81TWO]

In climates where its relatively warm year round, energy consumption to maintain comfortable indoor living conditions is less of an issue.

[@nibblesd.biscuits4270]

So much more time could have been spent on installation techniques, since it's what they do. There are hundreds of videos that go over passive house principles, I'm pretty sure your audience is aware of passive house principles. Please go that extra distance to deliver us the real information we follow exploring alternatives for. Thanks for the great videos!

[@MhUser]

6. simple building shape; 7. building placement adjusted to sun and wind direction; 8. floor plan that includes glassing on S, no glassing on N, hot rooms like baths in the centre of the building, cold rooms like pantry in the N side of the building; 8. no thermal bridges mean no thermal bridges and not less thermal bridges, breaking the bridge with 'some' insulation is not equal to full width of insulation

[@reeflarkin1919]

I find it interesting that she is constantly talking about heat loss, as climate change gets worse the energy demands of cooling are going to triple. Even worse, in places were aircon is not common (Europe) people are literally dying from the heat. This house looks well insulated but I hope that it is also cool- a lot of houses in the Europe have no awning or overhang on windows and are designed to hold all the heat- I actually find them quite stuffy. People are dying in their homes in the middle of summer. I am curious to see how these hold up in the heat (especially long stretches of heat- like a month of over 30 degrees, which is normal in most places). Of course, insulation is a good thing but we need to start thinking about heat protection along with preservation.

[@utubeape]

no, we are in for a decade or 2 of global cooling due to sun cycles

[@hubrismaxim]

Keep in mind that BCIT is located in Vancouver, Canada. And they are mainly focused on the Canadian market. Vancouver rarely goes over 30 degrees in the summer.

[@OrangeJackson]

Would love to see a video with helpful information on the best ways to retrofit an old home with energy savings ideas.

[@BrianKrahmer]

1. new windows (and adding overhangs or awnings if you need to prevent passive solar heat gain) 2. attic insulation 3. seal all the cracks 4. add a layer of exterior wall insulation. 5. enjoy massive savings :)

[@josephfigliuolo7286]

While power companies still make profits they will discourage energy efficiency. Retrofitting buildings will be popular when people make their own energy, eg. Solar. Great video.

[@OrangeJackson]

Really dense video with great information. Great job.

[@milintica02]

I'd love to build a passive house myself. Has there been any calculation to the impact of additional lumber used for those extra thick walls??? Economically and environmentally...

[@MrMaddogg2010]

Where are the SIPS home design? Get away from stick frame! Use sips walls on the exterior and roof! We didn't see any in this video??

[@magnumopus9058]

using wood is the best thing you can do for environment because its carbon capture

[@BrianKrahmer]

@@magnumopus9058 too much of a simplification. i had a neighbor in Idaho who had a log cabin that burned 10 cords of wood per winter! wood is not that good of an insulator

[@BrianKrahmer]

@@MrMaddogg2010 sips aren't necessarily cost-effective for roofs. blown fiberglass or cellulose can be much, much cheaper

[@magnumopus9058]

@@BrianKrahmer when i said using wood i didnt mean to say use it when building a cabin. Wooden furniture is good for carbon capture

[@erinshann3055]

How is the soundproofing between units? And fire safety? Thanks! 😊

[@AnimalFacts]

That was really neat and informative. Thank you.

[@siriosstar4789]

Oh, one thing that should be emphasized when describing a passivhaus is the " Comfort " factor . This is not something that can be measured but it can be experienced and when it is experienced it oddly becomes the biggest selling factor. We ask for peoples opinions that come to our house for the first time and invariably they all comment on how comfortable it is.

[@westeckwindows1325]

Some great info here! Here at Westeck we are happy to have joined the Passive House movement!

[@tereziatheobald5772]

High performance glazing! I wish we would have those in New Zealand. I have double glazed windows and doors but because the frames are not insulated you get all the condensation on the frame. So annoying have to clean them every week otherwise mould starts to grow there 🤨

[@exploranator]

Buy vinyl frame windows from North America.

[@RafieHaque]

I need opposite of what you have here. Temperature rises up to 40-45°C in my country. Is there anything for that?

[@Tomek_i]

Having an airtight envelope, a heat/energy recovery ventilation system (in this case, it works to recover "cold" from the inside) and eliminating thermal bridges would still be important. You'd probably still need some form of air conditioning, but thanks to the above steps, it'd need to be much less powerful. As such, you could probably power it from photovoltaic panels quite easily. Also, one interesting alternative to regular air conditioning is "ice water" air conditioning - basically, you have a heat pump that cools down water to 0'C, and passes it through special radiators with fans. But on small scale it tends to be more expensive upfront than regular air conditioning.

[@KJSvitko]

Saving energy saves money on utilities and makes a home more comfortable.

[@verazarth6366]

This is a great Idea, could they be build with less Wood? Trees do not grow as fast as we use them for building Houses. How about Air-Creat, Bamboo, or other sustainable products? Thank you for caring...

[@SteveInSunnyCA]

Thank you for creating that video. So useful an interesting!

[@RS-ei3yt]

Can you construct a passive house using light grade steel as opposed to wood frame. Please could you point me to the relevant information sheets for insulation etc. and how I would eliminate thermal bridging. Look forward to your comments. Thank you.

[@mohammedabdullah5686]

thanks for the explanation. I have a question regarding this video. what should I consider to build a passive house back home in Saudi Arabia and who to deal with heat gain regarding of that??

[@ianrobinson476]

Yes the only thing that changes is you want less passive solar gain. So focus on more windows north and little to no windows in the south. Heavily insulated will keep cool in just as well as heat.

[@jghall00]

How well does this work on the Gulf Coast? We have high cooling loads but also needs lots of humidity control.

[@W711-t7x]

I wish I could finish the half constructed house that my dad left me this way. For the lower part first two floors its mostly 15 year old aerated concrete and basically wood + rock wool for the top two floors and attic. Yes our house is humongous and I have what so ever 0 idea what my dad was thinking when he started building a house this large in his mid 50s... lol

[@greengenie7063]

Passiv-haus is very ACTIVE. I like true 1970's passive - more robust, low cost and simple.

[@mhorgan1515]

green genie Passivehaus is not active. Apart from the HRV system, achieving Passivehaus standard doesn’t involve any active parts. Unlike the 1970’s Passive Solar homes, Passivehaus negates the possibility of overheating - which happens in many of those early passive solar homes. Passivehaus incorporates passive solar, of course, but methodically and cohesively with all the other aspects of the home.

[@greengenie7063]

NUTS. So you think fish and chips is vegetarian, apart from the fish!@@mhorgan1515

[@martinholas8652]

It depends on policy and regulations of each country, im Czech and passive houses re built here and getting popular, heat pumps, heat recovery systems, renewable energy generation ... its not new here.. Im familiar with situation in UK ( i live here now) which recently agreed zero carbon emissions by 2050 ( they must be joking).. Houses in UK re generally extremely energy inefficient, no new technologies re used. I ve seen single pane windows, new flats with electric wall mounted heaters. Havent seen heat pumps, heat recovery systems... When you see new houses built they re already obsolete and energy inefficient ( cavity walls+ gas central heating).. EPC ( energy performance certificate) is about C, D... They wont achieve any z,, zero,, carbon target this way, not even closer..... I like the video and attitude of all of you, mine is probably the same as yours... Good luck... former property energy assessor

[@ThisIsReMarkable]

This is fantastic! I really would like to know how much more expensive a passive house construction would be in comparison to an identical conventional construction with the same layout.

[@alexanderj1316]

This will depend a lot on your country / region's standards. Quite a few studies on the subject can be found out there.

[@keeponkeepinon2064]

Wow.... Very informative and inspiring, I'm reeling with ideas and questions. #1 In about a year or so I plan on converting a truck to live in full time (RV'ing, Tiny house on wheels...) Does it make sense to use passive house techniques on this type of build?

[@abundantearthglobalcdc4290]

Hey "KoKo", it's always a good idea to seal your envelope to better regulate the conditioned space. The problem is that with making the home air tight you also must account for airflow. You don't want stale, stagnate, toxic air to collect in any space let alone a small space like an RV. However, an RV has plenty of windows that can be used for this purpose. There are other PH techniques, like window shading and rainwater collection that have been used on RVs as well.

[@MuslimahInSolace]

My dream would be to build a passive and eco friendly home. 😍

[@azizbelkharmoudi2564]

May Allah bless you with what you desire for, and if He doesn’t, may He give you better.🙏🙏🙏

[@davealmeida9786]

How good are these homes for cooling? And what are your thoughts on concrete homes

[@bradbates2339]

Still makes me wonder why we haven't update building codes fast enough to take advantage of this knowledge.

[@greggieboy393]

Cost is higher to build them.

[@gustavosardina3795]

Cool concept. I wonder if these concepts can be adapted to Miami. I don't think our building codes would permit this as is. Houses here are concrete thanks to the need to withstand hurricanes.

[@Sanginius23]

This is Standard in Germany, Austria etc. since many many years. Now, they are building energy plus houses, this means the house produces more energy than it uses (thanks to PV, solar heating etc.)

[@revelations4396]

What are some some cost effective strategies for people in tropical areas( high temperatures and high humidity)?

[@KJSvitko]

All new homes and buildings need to be energy efficient. Saving energy lowers utility bills and make the building more comfortable. Every building code around the world needs to incorporate energy efficient techniques.

[@genkiferal7178]

tiny houses should be legal in more areas, too. I think 25% of Americans, for example, are single and live alone. Hard to find a 1 bedroom house.

[@alexanderj1316]

This is a good video, but it would be a step further to talk about positive energy houses (which produce more than they consume through sustainable energy, allowing energy surplus to be used for transports or anything else)

[@daibhiseaghdha153]

can be helpful, if we do not live in a huge home, and are attached to neigbours homes, and have the ground floor built partialy below the ground level, then the heat losses are reduced

[@drchamp1902]

Any recommendations for a Florida hot and humid, hurricane climate using concrete?

[@BrianKrahmer]

ICFs are very common and can hardly be beat for the application

[@cherryscarlett]

7:10 _circulates inner heat through walls.. so it stays inside, instead of escaping (especially during blizzard)_

[@rockskyred549]

great video as always, best quality videos 👌

[@weltschmertzz]

I live in a tropical country where its almost always hot. Can you show how a passive house can be designed to maximize passiveness to reflect heat or how to keep the temperature low inside?

[@igorccotoccev1972]

Nice question. Because of the climatechange, 60-75% of the population in Europe will live in tropical extreme heat and hot springs, summers/leaky autumn even worse than in England/freezing winters

[@Heavens-Humanaterian-Army]

Love it can't wait to build one.

[@BroMorris0341]

Next time you guys are in Seattle, my place is open (with parking).

[@Conservator.]

They might prefer public transport! (Just to tease you a bit;)

[@RokDAWG1]

Very cool information!

[@MrProfessionalk]

Thanks for sharing this video....very informational.

[@gowildamit1463]

Lime mortar houses are the best!

[@Idrissi_Mas]

Can you make a passive house out of stone and masonry in Norwood?

[@fathimapathuzz2767]

This video is very helpfull... tnxx

[@jncmedinas]

Need this kind of professionals in Portugal. We really need to improve portuguese quality constrution.

[@hannahchong4673]

So fascinating and informative!

[@18twilliams]

3-10% premium, more like 25-50%i would think! 2x10s compared to 2x6=80-90% more, plus everything else!! double sheeting, windows, insulation etc...

[@nimblybimbly4002]

She said that was the added labour cost. I'm not commenting on the accuracy of the number, only identifying what she said.

[@Rainaman-]

tom williams you are right with those numbers. But insulation and all membrane sheets/tapes are getting more cheaper as it becomes more mainstream

[@MegaZedlav]

Framing lumber prices multiply quickly when going to 2x10 and you are correct. But long term it9 worth the additional cost. With a good design you can leave room for additions. Because the expense of these homes means no space that is not needed which I think is great!

[@cjeam9199]

That was labour only. I think generally passive houses come out at about 30% premium in total.

[@ChristopherAHiggins]

I have worked with BC projects that have completed with a 7% labor and materials premium. Premium may vary depending on where you are in the globe.

[@BasedGhoul]

OK, the video seems to have heating covered. My question involves cooling though. Is it actually possible to keep a house cool in 40 plus Celsius summer? I ask because here in Manitoba we can get some real scorcher summers and traditional air conditioners can be power hogs as well as environmentally damaging. Is there such a thing as passive cooling where no air conditioner is needed?

[@Conservator.]

Also reflective and ventilated roofs and walls will help too. You could even use solar panels for that.

[@digray6732]

What would the opposite of a passive solar house be? I live in the Caribbean and I want to know how to build my house so that it is strong (to withstand hurricanes) but cool.. the level of heat in my country almost feels unbearable at times.

[@rubenb.molina6968]

Love this concept! I wonder how low of a temperature a passive house could realistically withstand and for how long? e.g.: A 10° F cold weather, for a 3 month duration.

[@exploranator]

You just have to insulate, insulate, insulate. Eventually, you will have a house that you have to cool in the middle of the winter, and heat in the middle of the summer, i.e. complete control of interior environment.

[@BrianKrahmer]

i'm planning on building a 750ft2 house at 9000' in CO next year (and most of it is underground). based on my calculations, i can't make the passive house standard because it's too stringent (IMO). however, i should be able to keep my heating bill below $20/month with one thermal solar collector. the average annual temperature in that location is about 38F and it is normally -10F to -15F at night during the winter.

[@BrianKrahmer]

@@exploranator no, not really. not without spending $500/ft2 for construction costs. in a very cold climate, you run into the problem of windows losing too much heat at night (which could be overcome by complicated mechanical systems which cover the windows at night), or needing a massive amount of solar panels to give you extra heat. adding R-10 of insulation (beyond the R-25 ICF construction) to my mostly underground house that i'm planning will give a 14-year payback, R-20 at 18 years, etc. and that trend accelerates upwards

[@igorccotoccev1972]

@@BrianKrahmer just wait in a few years when the climate changes will really going to be felt

[@cathylynnpietranton]

We really enjoyed your video thanks for sharing

[@Trevor_Lane]

It looks like the actual wall assembly is a inner 2×4 wall that is sheeted with a 2x10 wall on the outside? I'm not sure her numbers on material cost are accurate if this is the case.

[@boscoOnaTron]

What do you think of hay bale homes for their insulation ability?

[@stephanmacfarlane1151]

They are great

[@RMA4269]

How does these techniques compare to COB home construction?