Green on Caffeine Passive homes: the future of Green building by Rachel Ruhl Sure, there are plenty of Green technologies building pros and mechanical systems experts can add to boost a home’s efficiency. Solar (PV), solar thermal, geothermal; the list goes on. However, one Green technology isn’t just Green. It’s, well, like Green on caffeine: passive home building. “Passive homes represent comfort, quality, efficiency, sustainability and affordability,” said Darren Macri, CEO of Bleu Nest Builders, a Ramsey, NJ-based building and consulting company for high performance homes. Macri is a thirtysomething, mostly restless evangelist for the cause. He isn’t dedicated to just building passive homes; he’s become a champion for everything the passive house concept represents. Today, he’s in the throes of building New Jersey’s first internationally certified Passive House—one that will consume 90% less energy than a traditional, code-built home. “The goal of Passive House is to reduce heating and cooling loads to such low levels the house can be operational through passive measures and minimal active measures,” Macri explained. “Considering how far-reaching this can be, and how substantial the energy reductions are, that’s something to get excited about!” Marci says there are six essential principles to achieve Passive House status: 1. Wrap it in a blanket. The building shell consists of New Jersey's first Passive House, built by Bleu Nest Builders. 100% continuous, highly insulated exterior walls, roof and floor slab. The continuous design keeps the desired thermal energy in the house and the unwanted, out. 2. Fresh air. These high performance homes complete seven air exchanges within a 24-hour period. That’s a lot of clean, fresh air. An energy recovery ventilator (ERV) will meet or exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Indoor Air Plus standards. Account Manager/Writer Common Ground 3. Keep it tight. With super tight construction, air infiltration/exfiltration can be no greater than 0.6 air changes per hour, at 50 pascals— making it virtually airtight. This means Passive House is draft-free, 24/7, 365. Polar vortex? Bring it on. 4. Triple paned windows. Highly efficient triple-pane windows with low-e glazing, argon gas and airtight frames have R-Values as high as R-12—better than the walls of some existing homes. On the coldest day of the year, the glass won’t feel even the slightest bit cold. 5. Smart, thermal bridgefree design. This means no parts of the structure can act as highways for heating energy in which warmth can travel and escape through the walls. 6. Orientation. The house should be positioned in a way so the sun can heat it in the winter and shade is provided in the summer. These six principles become the core of passive house design. Macri says the amount of power it takes to heat and cool a passive house is comparable to the power it takes to run a hair dryer. The romance of “Passivhaus” “Investments in enhanced building components required by the Passive House standard are alleviated by the elimination or reduction of costly heating and cooling systems,” Macri said. Darren’s wife, Kim, is a devotee too. “Renewables renewable fuel sources are great, but it’s best to get our energy consumption down to the lowest reasonable levels first,” she said. Macri, a LEED certified building professional, felt that “The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED training moved me in the right direction. Just not far enough.” He went to his 4 ICM/May/June 2016
ICM May-June 2016
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