Description

Under Construction. Completion planned for November 2011.

Building a home for ourselves is always a great opportunity to try out new design and equipment before bringing it to other people. We bought this lot not quite 100% sure if we would move here, but after spending a lot of time walking the street, getting to know the neighbors and designing a home for children and pets, we decided this one will be for us.

Designed to meet the Passive House Standard, we anticipate having very low utility bills. The house is designed for the following:

• Airtight building shell ≤ 0.6 ACH @ 50 pascal pressure, measured by blower-door test
• Annual heat requirement ≤ 15 kWh/m2/year (4.75 kBtu/sf/yr)
• Primary Energy ≤ 120 kWh/m2/year (38.1 kBtu/sf/yr)

To better understand this in daily usage, our heating and cooling loads should be less than 10% of our total energy use in the house. So low in fact that in the winter the heat from cooking, electronics, and our our own bodies should provide enough heat to warm the house. We’ll see. But the remaining energy draws in the house will depend on the specific energy efficiency of each appliance or type of lighting that we purchase. Hot water heating apparently is the next biggest energy hog, so we are looking at options there now (look out for a blog post on that soon).

The lot had a house on it that the previous owner let fall into disrepair and it had to be torn down. This makes building on the site a bit easier in that there is already a driveway curb cut and utilities to the site. And we get to be part of a neighborhood that has been there for over 100 years. As you can see from our rendering, we are trying out a hybrid modern/traditional design. The final product will surely look different from this picture, but it gives you a sense of the site. Check out our blog for updates on construction.

Fifeville photos by Anna Haupt