Empowering the construction industry to build for the future through education & standardized Passive systems. #RunWildBuildPassive
With U.S. building codes now starting to address airtightness with respect to energy efficiency, many builders find themselves struggling to meet the defined ACH50 values (air changes per hour at 50 Pascal) required by their local codes. This measurement is…
Read More Beartooth Passive House nails Blower Door Test at 0.16-0.19 ACH50 on first try.
With this article, we cover two very important aspects of glazings: light transmission and the solar heat gain coefficient.
These parameters are extremely important for performing buildings and passive houses, however they are often overlooked by both designers and window manufacturers.
To achieve thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings, a primary role is played by the thermal envelope: this is required to thermally decouple the indoor environment from the ever-changing external conditions, both in summer and in winter.
The structures of the thermal envelope need to be able to control the amount of heat migrating through them: the thermal resistance and the thermal transmittance are two ways to describe this phenomenon.
A couple of weeks ago, we took part to the 2016 edition of the Passive House Window Talks. This year, the location was Riga, Latvia.
The focus of the event is the importance of windows for comfort and energy efficiency of highly performing buidlings such as passive houses.
With more and more people talking about building energy efficiency and passive houses, it has become more and more common to hear about insulation. In this article, we explain what an insulation material is, to try and shed some light…
During Enrico’s recent visit to Colorado, we finally had the chance to visit Andrew Michler’s passive house.
At about 2.000 m (6.400 ft), in the mountains near Fort Collins, Colorado, this building is capable of remaining comfortable even in case of a power outage, with an interior temperature of about 18°C (64°F) with no heating.
The construction system certification is possibly the least known certification offered by the Passivhaus Institut, and yet it can help spreading passive buildings all over the world.
We worked on the first system certification for passive houses in a warm climate: we try and explain what it's all about.
With this article, we address one of the most important topics in the field of energy efficiency: the airtightness of the thermal envelope.
Whether the building is a new construction or a renovation, its airtightness plays an important role for comfort, energy efficiency and durability of the structure.
For new builds as well as energy retrofits, worldwide the construction industry is shifting more and more towards zero energy buildings and Passive Houses.
With the thermal envelope becoming more and more advanced, the correct evaluation of thermal bridges becomes critical: with this article, we explain the PSI value.
When addressing the energy efficiency of a building, one of the most important players in the game is the compactness of its thermal envelope.
Is there a way to measure the compactness of a building? Yes: it’s the compactness ratio.
