PassivHaus: Good for the Planet

Dear Tree-Huggers,

We're still in the demo phase, and it's coming along.  The permit has been granted to take the house apart, but we are still awaiting final approval on the construction permit.  Until we start actually building, I will post about our design process, which took all of last year.  After hours of meetings, hundreds of emails and phone calls, and conversations that went from fun and easy to tense and angry, we have this plan:

Thar she blows.

We chose Park City Design Build because of their experience with super-insulated, energy efficient homes.  We are fans of green building, and we love our earth, so we want something that not only looks good, but feels comfortable and doesn't have a huge carbon footprint.

PassivHaus began in Europe, and grew out of the philosophy that our houses should not waste energy to heat or to cool.  Because the typical American home is not only too big, it's also constructed inefficiently, this means reforming the way we build.  Passive houses tend to be smaller, but they also have to be oriented to take advantage of the sun as a cheap and plentiful heat source, they have better windows, and they have to be super-insulated.  Of course, a total seal on a house means that no air can get in or out.  Which means they also have to have an energy recovery ventilator, or "ERV," which works to exchange the stale, dead air from inside the house with fresh air from outside.  In doing so, it also recaptures the heat so we don't waste excess energy.

Getting a home PassivHaus certification is difficult and expensive, so we won't be pursuing certification.  However, we have been researching green building practices for a long time, and are adopting many of the PassivHaus methods for our build.  Many of these practices have become mainstream in the last 20 years, like in-floor radiant heating.  Others, however, are still fairly new to home builders.  There are many, many ways to make a home more efficient, but at the end of the day, the budget constrains us.  We can only do so much, and we have to pick and choose the features that we'll include.  At the moment they are these:

• concrete floors with in-floor radiant heat
• triple paned windows with super efficient seals (they're called "tilt/turn")
• energy recovery ventilator (ERV)
• exterior solar shading

In addition to the requirement that we build green, we also gave Andrew one big constraint:  We are NOT going to totally knock down the house.  We are going to use the foundation and the first floor, and all of the major structural wooden beams that currently exist.  This means using the existing footprint of the house.  There are some downsides to this plan - mainly that the southern exposure, which is the best one for passive solar gain, faces the neighbor.  However, being budget constrained we are saving a lot of money by doing it this way.

It's cute, right?  I am anxious papa at the moment, as this has been an extra long gestation (think elephantine) and now it's finally about to come true!

A shot from the road.  UEA Break!

Greenly Yours,

Parker

Demo Shots

Dear Tree-Huggers,

I feel like making a mostly pic-oriented post.  Which is great, because I just so happen to have LOTS of pics to share with you.  And they are ... (drumroll please) ... the house DURING demo!  Please to enjoy.

from the street

from the northeast

from the northwest

from the west (check out the awesome backyard!)

back of the garage

front of garage

front entrance

wow, right?

just, wow.

why can't we just burn this place down and save some money on the demo budget?

an example of the fabulous Santa Fe inspired decor

the fun and funky kitchen

the fabulous swim spa

... aaand there you have it.  I hope you had a nice time.

Greenly Yours,

Parker

The Beginning

Dear Tree-Huggers,

Welcome to Parker Place.  Here, I'm going to be blogging about the renovation of my new house.  We have worked with Park City Design Build for the past year to create a design.

We acquired this property last year, and rented it to skiers whilst the design was gestating.  It was originally built as a retreat house for a corporation called CDR.  The best way to describe it is that it ... was a party house. Downstairs was the standard kitchen, living and dining, but it also came equipped with a giant custom fireplace, a heated swim spa, and a pool table. Upstairs was divided into four separate hotel suites, each with their own kitchenette and bath.  The good news is that it has VIEWS all around that are TO DIE FOR.

The clients.

Yeah.  It's gonna be a project.

I plan to blog as often as I can about how the construction process is coming.  Check here for updates and photos.  And if you're lucky, I may invite you to the housewarming party. (Will it happen in June?  Who's to know!?)

Greenly Yours,

Parker