The mechanical system for the Fairfax house differs from our earlier houses in several ways. We have zoned the house differently; we have taken a different approach to the heating and cooling equipment; and we have changed the ERV equipment. This… read more →
I was recently asked by a high-performance product sales rep whether I can forecast the near future for acceptance and adoption of the Passive House (PH) standard in our state and local jurisdictions for the affordable housing sector of development. … read more →
Our last post for this project was back in June, and we have come a long way. I want to focus in this post on our decisions about the building envelope. The exterior wall framing of the house is 2×6… read more →
The Prince George’s County Department of Housing and Community Development has just announced The Housing Initiatives Partnership (HIP) the winner in a competition to develop eight abandoned home sites. Seven of those sites are in the town of Fairmount Heights;… read more →
By far the most exciting development in building construction today has little to do with building construction; it has everything to do with how we power our buildings. Passive House techniques have perfected how we assemble the building envelope and… read more →
We just got back from the PHIUS national conference in Philadelphia. It was quite well attended, with a broad array of topics covered. These conferences are no longer focused simply upon how to do build one, but have become much… read more →
Matt and David have been asked to give a half day seminar on the special issues related to construction of Passive Houses in our climate zone. We will be talking about building envelope strategies we have used and the evolution… read more →
A WUFI Passive energy simulation of the Washington Square Town Homes project. Such models strip away the articulation of a building’s skin and focus on the basic thermal and airtight boundary which directly affect its energy balance. The design, consultation… read more →
There are big changes to see since my last report. The rains finally ended, and O’Neill Development wasted no time in getting underway on the framing. This is an exciting time for both the owner and the architect, finally seeing… read more →
Weather has been a killer, but we are finally out of the ground, and framing lumber is onsite and ready to go up. This spring has had the longest stretch of rainy days since the 1880’s, which has been great… read more →