Does it Have to be Passive?

Posted by on
It takes a lot to meet the Passive House standard.  Is it really worth it?  Here's a great article from Building Science Corporation about what is really useful from the Passive House standard - specifically related to building a home in a cold climate.  It's pretty long - here's the short version.  

 Homes in cold climates (DOE Zones 5-7) should employ:

  • minimum R-5:10:20:40:60 enclosure,
  • 1.5 ACH@50 airtightness or better,
  • condensing (>95%) gas furnaces with ECM fan motors,
  • right-sized (ASHRAE 62.2) efficient (> 65%, >0.6 W/cfm) HRV’s
  • condensing (>92%) hotwater natural gas water heaters
  • appliances in the top 10% of Energy Star combined with CFL lighting