Exploring Passive House Design - 90% Energy Savings!
Exploring Passive House Design - 90% Energy Savings! Help The Cooper Foundation to provide children with special needs the help they need - Donate at bit.ly/CooperFoundation. What if I told you that it’s possible to build a house that uses up to 90% less energy than your current house? And combining that with solar panels you could heat, cool, and even charge an EV for just a few hundred dollars a year? Let’s take a closer look and explore Passive Houses.
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#passivehouse #netzero #undecidedwithmattferrell
I don't know about you, but I'd love to build a Passive House or Net Zero home. What do you think? Also, be sure to check out the very related video I did a while back: Exploring Green Building and the Future of Construction - kzhead.info/sun/qtGoqZZvfIxurGg/bejne.html
How about taking your viewer's architectural project and make vlogs about how you would help people build their house efficiently using your deep knowledge of those topics ? I'd definitely be a taker. Thanks for all this huge work, your videos are extremely interesting everytime.
I just went through the freeze here in Houston, TX. I have two words for your question.....YES PLEASE!!!!!!!
Over the past year I have been thinking about saving up to build a net zero home that is also multi-generational so my parents can live close by as they age. It will take us a few years to save for it, but there is an architecture firm in my area that is experienced in net zero design and is open to helping us make this work.
I love this vlog!!! I live in Minnesota and these are the ideas I was trying to explain to my wife on why we should build our house from the ground up. This is one of my top 5 vlog from you. Thank you
Check out Matt Risinger and the Build Show, he loves passive house and is always building something neat!
Ok my 2 cents as an architect that has actually made passive houses. All of the things said here are true with a couple of caveats. First and most importantly the 5-13% cost increase is very optimistic. That is probably made by comparing expensive construction in an area with very high labor costs and high insulation standards allready. Still if you run the 30year money back callculation its worth it and it provides a higher level of comfort so I still recommend it. Secondly people underestimate how important a good solar gain is, you absolutely need a very sunny plot of land for an European climate so a lot of spots are not good for it. Also the walls are insanely thick to the point of sometimes creating a space issue. 2 foot thick walls are not uncommon. And lastly if you are doing a retrofit to anything resembling a passive house get ready to get your wallet gutted. I have had cases where demolishing the building and building a new passive one is cheaper. Despite all that I have said here I recommend them to all my clients. They are not only green and slightly cheaper in the long run but they are the next level in living comfort so anyone who can afford them should get them.
the thing is how many people do you know planning on staying in a house 30 years? most just want a cheap house for a year or 2 and hope to sell it for a better price when they move to their next job.
@@dominicm2175 I'll take the efficient house, please! These days, it's all about keeping up with the Joneses and trying to look like you've got money. There's literally massive sticker things you can buy and put on your counter to make it look like you have freaking marble. It's so depressing! It's all about looks and how Instagram worthy your space is. I honestly can't stand it. This is a major factor in why I have very little hope in society, especially American society, doing anything productive and causing major changes in climate change. American society is simply too screwed up. Big trucks and SUVs everywhere.... Just for show. It's like excuse me sir, you have a white collar job in the city or wealthy, live in an expensive condo, and have never hauled anything in your life..... Please tell me again why you need a brand new Ford f250??? Or even f150! It's all just maddening. Consumerism is the absolute worst in America and it's so damn depressing.
Good to know thanks
@Jessica C All my life I've been tech guy all about efficiencies and logic and completely disregarded the beauty and style aspect of things. I was a guy who would get the most ugly PC case, but it was large and cheap and and easy to work in so that's why I would get it. I was the guy who would get 5-year old used Prius over a nice Lexus because "it's much cheaper per mile" But as I learned later thanks to my wife and artist hobby, beauty is an important part of us as human beings. I too share with you disgusts for people who drive raised up f250s for no reason whatsoever. I share with you disgusts for unhinged consumerism wanting to get more and more for hardly any reason. But driving a small SUV? Why not? It's typically cheaper in insurance and significantly safer, therefore saving lives which is tremendously underappreciated. Traffic accident deaths and injuries is one of the biggest threats to human life! Sure SUV is 10-15% less fuel efficient, sometimes 20% less efficient, but has 2-3 times more space available, so you don't have to hire people or rent trucks when you need anything bulky. And if you consider cost per mile, sometimes it might surprise you, because fuel costs are just 1/8 of cost per mile for modern vehicles. In many cases it's almost identical or within just 5-10% difference. Granted we shouldn't really be talking about gas vehicles right now when we can get Tesla Model Y which we can realistically charge with solar panels from home. Finally American society has it's flaws, but it's dwarfed by flaws of dictatorship societies such as Russia or China or even relatively benign hybrid regimes like India or Brazil. Trust me - you would be disgusted far more with those if you truly knew them.
Interested in the view of an architect.... people have been building energy-efficient housing for ever.. e.g. cooling towers in Tabriz, Iran, ducted houses in old Sana'a, Yemen, the deep-verandahs and rooms around static water in southern India. All thick-walled, no need for high technology or air-conditioning in any of them. The costs may be higher, but distributed over the centuries these buildings have served with virtually no adaptation, it's nothing. And (form following function,) they are beautiful. What moves would have to be made to re-establish proper architectural practices? How could we get to building for future hundreds, rather than tens, of years? In the UK, when talking about our housing crisis, it's always 'number of units'. Architecture is never even mentioned. It's exasperating.
Before last winter I air sealed my attic, I have not add more insulation in the attic yet, just air sealing. This winter my gas usage has been 15%-20% less. Years ago I upgraded my gas furnace from an 80% unit to a 98% efficient unit, I didn't see any difference to my usage. Air sealing my attic cost me about 10 large cans of spray foam (cheap), the furnace cost me $7,000.
next is insulating outside walls, gives the biggest saving after insulating the roof
100% Well done.
Yep. Air sealing is very important.
@@TheMaevian I would like to try that but I think that opens other issues. If I add 2 or perhaps 4 inches of foam boards on the outside and then reinstall the siding (that probably will not fit back on) now my roof overhang is 4" shorter which might mean my HOA would not like that.
@@DaveDugdaleColorado I strongly suggest is you go that way and you have to redo roof overhangs then consider 6" of EPS! Of course I say this without the knowledge of your winter temperatures, but stating you saved 15-20% with air sealing suggest it IS cold. The more the better.
I’m a contractor in the PNW and i find most people don’t want to spend the extra money to build Passive Homes. Ive been pushing ICF(insulated concrete form) construction for years and very few people want to build because of the extra cost involved. They would rather have a larger budget for granite or flooring. Please keep producing videos like this to help make people aware and educate them. Thank you, JC
Is ICF better to use? How is it better?
What I tend to notice is people building much larger than they actually need, especially in the US. They'll build a 4k sq-ft home and spend 90+% of their time using less than half of it. The land of excess.
I feel like this will change dramatically if energy prices stay high or keep increasing. When it starts to make economic sense people will start getting on board.
@@zaknefain100 There is a paper on The Path of Truth website called "Back to Basics." Here's a quote to address people's excess: "Wasn’t it Henry Thoreau who determined to find out how much we really need to live comfortably and discovered it to be very little?"
I lived in a 1955 house that had a passive solar remodel in the late 70s. It was amazingly pleasant in the winter, not to mention, inexpensive to heat. Whoever did that upgrade way back then made that house better to live in than any other house on the block, no question.
Same here in Melbourne. 1.2m northern eave lets winter sun fully through the windows in the northern facing bedrooms, rapidly warm up. Summer sun completely shaded from the windows by early/mid morning. Remodel of the weatherboard house included a brick outer course so three walls (two cavities) while the hot summer evening bricks (even though shaded through the day by the eave) do not create lingering heat.
Finding a contractor that can build a passive house is the hard part. Houses, at least in my area, are going down in quality and up in price. The work is shockingly shoddy.
Too true. I've seen a lot million-dollar homes with abysmal quality and materials.
Buy a book. Look for tji joint!
And the developer just wants to pack in as many has possible in the space, so no concern of best placement. Only a customer builder of a home with a higher than normal price, so another great idea for only the rich.
In Brussels every single new building has to meet passive standards (below 15kWh/m^2 per year). The way they prepared architects, contractors, etc. for this was that the government offered cash incentives for passive projects, offsetting the additional cost due to a lot of people having to figure out how to construct buildings in the most thermally efficient way. The programme started in 2007 and ended in 2015, when legislation was passed making passive the new standard. Moreover, they announced that this legislation was coming years in advance, meaning that contractors had an incentive to jump into the incentivised 'experimental' projects. Now, most contractors in Brussels can build a passive house to a relatively high standards. It's even trickling down to the rest of the country, especially Flanders. So, a good strategy to build up the knowhow in contractors and designers is to start with a dense area with relatively high land values, and use both the carrot of subsidies for early adopters, and the stick of coming legislation to push everyone in the desired direction. As an individual in an area where passive construction isn't the norm, you'll likely pay a hefty premium for the work to be done right. And that's if you work with an architect and/or engineer who has practical experience with passive construction. It is possible, if you look at the new Belgian Embassy in Kinshasa, to build a passive building using mostly unskilled local labour, but you need the right people to supervise the project.
I inspect modern tract developments and the quality of construction is embarrassing.
Fire would not be my first concern living in a house made of straw. A big bad wolf on the other hand...
Modern wolf use wall breachers and drive black armored trucks with word "SWAT" on the side. I wouldn't worry about straw.
Those straw panels are certified for 2 hour fire resistance. That should be enough time to escape
Straw with Clay is actually really good against fire if you do it right, if you want I can link you a Video from Germany how it's done correctly and how fireproof it is:)
@@dieabsolutegluckskuche5174 All sort of critters, mice, bugs love straw...
@@dzhiurgis if it's lose I absolutely agree, but if it is compressed and sealed with clay, you won't have a problem with mice and bugs.
Technically speaking, here in Germany Passive Houses are already a little bit outdated. There aren't many of them yet because it takes time to build new stuff and the building industry is always slow to adapt to change, but we already had a few projects to build the first "Negativenergiehäuser", so Negative Energy Houses, which consistently produce more energy per year than they themselves use, through even better insulation, required solar panels on roofs and things like Eisspeicherheizungen (ice storage heating? I don't know the english word for that) which is basicay a giant uninsulated water tank in the garden that you pull heat from in the Winter to make use of the energy that water emits during freezing (the same energy as going from 80°C or 4/5 to the boiling point to 0°C (freezing point) without actually freezing) and then you just let it sit there until the summer, where you can pump all the heat from your home (which isn't much to begin with) into the ice block to melt it again and cool the house in the process. Or drawing heat from the air in the winter months, etc. There are some pretty wild concepts, but they show effect.
Replying to this so I look this stuff up later,!
*Passive-houses are really awesome!* 👍👍👍 Governments should support such energy efficient buildings.
Matt Risinger's build channel does a great job showcasing these types of high efficiency houses.
I subscribe to Matt but my only criticism would be that he seems to be more of a advocate for efficiency products, only showcasing the decisions made by his clients And not really exploring The reasons why they made the decision. Sure he goes into building science for some products but he doesn't necessarily tie it back to an overarching passive house movement or philosophies. Matt also doesn't seem to go into the breakdown of different systems and the climates that they are in. Like if I want to know what to buy I'll watch Matt. I would want some better overarching content from Matt before I recommend his channel for people wanting to learn more about passive house rather than products.
Yes he does!
@@crackedcoco I agree that he more often focuses on components, but he has some more in depth philosophy and design videos where he puts a lot of focus on reasonable efficiency and some callbacks to problems from past decisions.
Matt R's The Build show is doing great things in encouraging builders to lift their game. It is hard to get builders to consider many new practices and if they do they want to be paid a bucketload more. That's especially true in larger projects.
Having been in rough framing myself (building multi - million dollar homes in the Chicago suburbs) it's disheartening to reminisce the difference between what risinger builds and what we used to do - and we were better than most! It could be the 15 difference in overall construction philosophy but I regularly see poor new residential construction in the Charlotte suburbs. I have been slowly retrofitting my 1950s ranch towards passive house standards but it is a bear!
I have been following passive or net zero building for years and wish that I could have found one available. Big fan. Thanks Matt!
There's more coming every day! That's where I intend to specialise with my architectural technologies degree :)
Thanks, Frank! Glad you enjoyed the video.
@HoboGardenerBen The problem is, in a Passive House, you REALLY don't want to be lighting fires like that. Can you? Yes. But you're taxing your fresh air system and you're still introducing particulate pollution.
@@dillonvandergriff4124 As he said, with the science behind Passive House becoming better and more generally understood every year, it's becoming an easier and easier mark to hit. And you don't even have to go nuts with insulation! The air sealing and mechanical ventilation alone accounts for a HUGE reduction in HVAC cost, as your home is no longer a space heater for the neighborhood. Additionally, for those worried about having insulation flush to the roof deck? It's been found that roof COLOR actually is the single greatest factor in roofing lifespan. Color affects lifespan by up to 27%. Facing of the roof deck (North, west, South, East) by up to 14% (with southern facing (in the northern hemisphere) seeing the worst of it. Deck ventilation affects roofing lifespan by a WHOPPING 2.7%.
@HoboGardenerBen One of these super-tight, super-insulated homes? You can almost heat it off the plug loads. And your heating element is basically a re-boxed toaster. Also, Passive House standard is 0.6 air changes per hour. I've seen a home that actually blows 1/10th of that... Good preliminary air sealing, plus AeroBarrier.
Building a passive tiny house for a four person family was a goal of mine for eight years. Did not come to fruition, but would love to see more contractors and architects out there who could do this work. Also thought about combining passivehaus with a permanent, easy maintenance idea-- like building a passivehaus that would last 1000 years. I think that’s the level of design we need to get to if we want to be honest about real sustainability.
Been looking for any long term design ideas without any luck. Found a publicity stunt in GA, but that was it. Think it would be a great topic for an episode.
I built a passive solar tiny house. When I had it in a place that the house was faced south it was great. Now I am in a place where the south side is faced west, with little windows that get south sun in the winter, it isn't as good. So it's important to be able to have a house faced in the right direction for it to work. Deciduous trees are a must except on the north side. I agree it's worth it to build passive solar houses!
Shocked to see my home town (Brook Park, OH) being called out as a potential project for video sponsor The Cooper Foundation. Really proud to see the great work they are doing and the fact that they are supporting wonderful creators like Matt Ferrell. I've already donated for the ADA playground!
I must say your pacing is much better now. The short pauses lets the viewer take in the information and reflect for a moment. Keep up the good work! BTW passive houses is almost industry standard in Sweden.
Here I am watching this at x3 speed.
I remember visiting friends in Sweden going back 30 years and I was amazed at how well insulated their homes were back then! The UK is terrible by comparison.
Hey Matt, those of us in tropical regions would greatly benefit from another video focusing on the challenge of cooling in south Florida and the Caribbean Islands.
Agreed! The focus always seems to be in keeping homes warm, and not enough on keeping homes cool.
I've always wanted to build a mini house in my backyard and you've just inspired me to make it passive. Great content as usual, Matt. Btw, I know you hear this a lot but I can't stop praising your video quality, man! From the graphics to your narration to the content itself and the overall video production, you never fail to blow me away. Real professional grade stuff. I'm waiting for you to get the recognition you deserve.
One of the most clear and succinct passive house explanations on KZhead. Plus, you included footage from the fist passive house built in Sydney Australia, nice work Matt.
It’s like all my favorite KZhead channels are coming together. 👍🏻 I like construction and Matt Risinger (Build Network) has a pretty good channel that focuses a lot on the best and latest building science.
I love Matt's videos. Great channel.
Agreed. I'm getting ready to build a home and taking a lot of tips from the Build Network. Not sure I'll go all the way for a Passive Certification, but aiming to get pretty close.
@@siegeperry Why spend 90% of the money when you could spend a little more and have a certified PH? Seems like that's instant equity from day one.
@@PatrickKQ4HBD Because Passive House Certification isn't my goal. My property has a pretty incredible view on the North side and that whole side of the house will be windows. Frankly, to do all of those windows in Argon filled, triple glaze coated windows may break the budget. And even if we can afford it, North facing windows are a major source of heat loss during the snowy winters. I'm not willing to change the basic design in order to chase a certification especially as this is a long-term house for us so "equity" is a little less important. We've lived here for almost 30 years and don't have plans to leave. I want a well-built, comfortable home that is as close to net-zero (once we add solar) as possible. If we "happen" to meet Passive House Certification then awesome... we're implementing a lot of the building practices for that... but that's not our end goal.
I have his videos on alert. I learn so much from him. Although when he shows a specific product i notice they are the premium products...just do a little research and you can find the same product, just different company at a lower cost.
We live in a passive house for 20 years, it's very comfy and the energy use is ridiculously low. No cold or mold spots, not even steam on the windows. If we like, we open the windows and when not we still have fresh air 24/7.
Do you have to use any form of heating?
@@dwftube yes we use a very efficent mini-split heatpump, it needs about 900kWh a year
@@TexzorThanks - does the house ever get too hot in the summer?
@@dwftube without air con it whould get to hot
Hi Mr Ferrell . Mark here from Dublin Ireland ..... Your channel is the 1st and only one I have ever subscribed to .... I install PV's for a living , On average (10/12 )hrs a day ... The knowledge and honesty is truly refreshing . I genuinely look forward to the videos you produce , they are a joy after a long days work .... please keep up the good work & thank you
U made me go to net zero solar system in my house Matt, Thank you. Big fan.
Conservation of energy should always be the first option, when considering how to make your home and life greener.
It would still be more expensive tho and it would never pay for itself right?
@@syndicalistspeedsolver saving energy means you have to spend less on heating/cooling. it does pay for itself.
@@ThunderDraws that would still be way less that you save than you spend
@@syndicalistspeedsolver assuming the numbers in the video are correct, a (typical?) passive house saves ~450€/yr in costs, that makes roughly 10.000 every 20 years. With additional building costs of 5-10%, that would mean your house can cost 400.000 and the difference pays itself off in 40 years (at 5% extra cost) or 200.000 at 10%. Not quite 'never pays for itself' but obviously going towards climate/environmentally neutral building shouldn't be viewed as an investment strategy anyways
@@OOobstkuchenOO yeah 40 years is way too long imo. Think that money could be put to better use like solar pannels or a tesla or what-not
I bought an Earthship 17 months ago, and have only paid for a tank of propane and half a cord of wood since then (~$250), and haven't even burned all the wood. Pretty amazed.
When I built my shop/garage I wanted it to be totally passively/solar heated. After several years of using the shop, I haven’t needed to use any fossil fuel to heat it. It can be 20 deg. F. outside and will still be 60 to 65 inside. Plenty warm enough for a wood working shop. If you would like to know more, I’d love to share the details with you.
I would like to know more so can you give some details please.
Can you tell me more about passive heating
I’d like to know more, do you have a blog or video ?
I'm interested in the details
I’m closing in on my retirement and I’d like to move from Minnesota to a warmer climate, but the prices on homes are stupidly ridiculous and Mortgage prices has been skyrocketing on a roll(currently over 7%) do I just invest my spare cash into stock and wait for a housing crash or should I go ahead to buy a home anyways
Most people are unable to handle a fall since they are accustomed to bull markets, but if you know where to look and how to get around, you can profit handsomely. It depends on your entry and exit strategy.
One of the primary reasons I utilise a portfolio coach to oversee my daily investing decisions is that their whole skill set is cantered on trading long and short at the same time, utilising profit-oriented techniques and minimising risk as a hedge against unforeseen events.
@@henryCliffordJames Yeah, I have total faith in a financial advisor who is certified by the US SEC. In fact, I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to disclose this, but I'd suggest checking up "Julie Anne Hoover" because she was a huge issue in 2020. She is my mentor in addition to managing my investments.
@@charlotteflair1043 She has excellent credentials and an outstanding occupation. Hence, I swiftly copied whole name and typed it into my browser. I'm curious to discover why she is so busy, and despite the fact that she has unquestionably good credentials, I nevertheless schedule a meeting with her.
Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia. Rent is $200 to $500 per month and it’s warm all year long.
✊ Right on Matt, saw my first passive house in the mid 60’s. I’ve been a big believe since. I’ve even done it with a balcony I had on a apartment I had in the 70’s, enclosing it with glass facing south, had a hot tube on the balcony. 👍 it was great during the Michigan winters.
That's pretty cool!
@@UndecidedMF Matt. What do you think about the High-Speed Rail in Amtraks NorthEast Corridor and Virgin Hyperloop replacing that? I like trains but they're so 20th Century. HyperLoop is so 21st Century.
I am a retired HERS and GreenPoint Rated Rater (California Residential BuildItGreen standards) and knew many colleagues who were involved in Passive House building - great design- wish there was more people doing them - Your explanation is a great primer for folks interested in the design or those who are not aware of it. Getting buy in from the building community is tough even in California but lets keep trying. Thanks for going this video
All I know about design is the more experience you get the better. School is great but actual installation and studying results.. A nice seasoned Veteran is worth his weight in Gold 👑
Devil is in the details, we’re currently in the middle of a massive renovation of a 130yo brick home. It’s probably the leakiest house I’ve ever seen, but the structure is in incredible shape, mainly because it can dry. Adding Triple pane windows would have had a 13 year break even point, and numerous other efficiency options were not feasible because of the style of construction used in the 1890s. In the end, we did a combination of solar and heat pumps that basically gives us free cooling and cut heating costs by about 1/3. Getting your builder to correctly install conventional products would go a long way towards having an efficient home without going all the way in on a new construction project with unproven longevity. I would definitely recommend picking up an inexpensive thermal camera and doing a little sleuthing around your current home, you may be able to find some low hanging fruit that can be remedied cheaply and give a great roi
Building my own passive house in central mass next year! Really excited this is becoming more popular! Boston Architect Steve Baczek has a bunch of passive houses in NE.
That's the fellas name. He's on Fine Homebuilding too. Matt could have him in his channel on this topic.
good luck
You had me a "passive house" Matt. As an architect and multi-discipline engineer, I have been interested in these technologies for decades. If all homes were passive homes the amount of annual power generation savings would be massive. If you add a geothermal heat pump system this gets even more efficient.
Glad you enjoyed the video, Bill. It doesn’t surprise me that you’re interested in this type of thing given your skill set. For the non-initiated, the more you look into these techniques the more you go, “well, duh.” If we built all of our homes and buildings like this (not even every single technique I described in the video), the collective savings would be substantial. I so want a passive home with geothermal.
Superb video, Matt! We built our house in 2005, using the most basic components of the passive house theory, and that was to purposely search for and buy a suitable south-facing lot. We then located the house in a north-south orientation. And finally, the design included features that enabled solar gain in winter, and shaded walls in summer. It could have been much better, of course, but according to our utility company, our house is consistently among the most energy efficient in our area compared to our neighbors.
Saving energy saves money on utilities year after year. Passive House buildings are a more comfortable and energy efficient home.
I was a carpenter back in the 1980's in Duluth, MN and the co-op I belonged to specialized in energy efficient houses. The Canadian government had spent a fair amount of money on researching best practices for cold climate houses. And one of the things they found was that it you use 2x6 studs with fiberglass insulation and 2" of closed cell foamboard on the outside of the wall it moves the condensation point into the foam so the fiberglass stays dry and remains its full effectiveness. Insulation is a big +.
Thanks for sharing!
This is why I love our 16th and 17th century homes in the uk. The walls are nearly two feet thick and thatched roofs also act as insulation. With modern construction and engineering knowledge we could make homes that are charming while still providing more energy efficient homes.
Fascinating subject. I was interested to learn when the passive house movement started. I tried to modify a new house construction, to use more insulation and sun exposure passive heating, in Massachusetts in 1999. The architect and builders were just not interested, even though I was buying a bigger house than they had planned on the site. In the end, we got 6 inch cavity walls and I put more insulation in the attic. They still shorted us on insulating a room over a garage, which was fcking freezing in MA winters! Solar was still way too expensive in those days. Fast forward 20 years and I have a 6kW solar array on the flat roof of a very old building in México, with 1meter thick walls, shaded passageways and smaller windows not exposed to high sun. I have a passive house that needs no heat or cooling. I'm using about 16kWh per day and generating about 30kWh, with all electric appliances [and no guests]. I am looking for battery storage as we do have brown/black-outs in the rainy season. They seem to be difficult to import right now!
How exciting!
How about a Tesla power wall?
Matt thank you for making this video about passive design, it is great that you are making people aware of passive house and the impact it can make on the world and people's lives. As an architect that has designed his own passive home, people need to be aware that designing a passive house can get very tricky and if not done correctly can be a big problem for the home and owner. If anyone is interested in having a passive home they should find an architect that is certified to design to passive standards.
I've dreamed passive/low energy since I was a kid... I would love to build a passive house from the ground up. Keep the content coming. :)
Passive solar envelope houses have been around before 1991 .Fine homebuilding had examples of them through the eighties.There’s one around the corner from me built in the mid eighties.I also have a friend who built one back then.Both are a system where the air circulates continuously through an insulated storage mass below the house.In the evening the air from the heated storage is vented into the living areas.Such a wonderful straight forward principle.
We visited a couple in Colorado, staying there with the Boondockers Welcome app. They built a passive house. It was so cool to see what was described here in “real life”. If I get to build a 3rd home, net zero will be a focus. Now heating is not the issue, but cooling is in TX. Well except for last February… enjoying your videos. Thank you for sharing.
When I bought my 2100 sqft home in Tucson, one of the first priorities was to insulate the interior of all of the exterior brick walls. I attached in 2x2 fur strips, added 2” expanded foam and foil insulation and redid the dry wall. It was well worth the effort. While I do not have exact data on the energy savings because I did this before moving in, based on how often I hear my neighbors’ AC units kick on and the fact that when I inquired about possibly getting PV solar panels I was told that I barely qualified for the program because my average monthly bill, $85, was almost too low, I believe it was well worth the cost and effort and I didn’t have to rely on my neighbor’s tax dollars. Next, rather than go the PV route, I plan to take advantage of the local utility’s off peak electricity program and maybe one day put in a home battery pack. Also looking into a dyi solar thermal system to offset gas usage for water and home heating. Again, no tax-payer subsidy needed! It annoys me to see so many of our tax dollars going to subsidize less-than-optimal PV installations, e.g., East and west facing and shaded rooftops.
Every climate varies and humidity and heat/cold. In the humid South, you would have put the vapor barrier on the wrong side and built a rot trap. Kudos on your project, but so many DIY folks and "professionals" do more damage than good.
I was hoping you’d take on passive houses. Hopefully they catch on a lot more in the US
Ya, a lot of houses there
I really hope so. The closer the costs get to a typically built home, the more we'll see adoption rise. Also, the more people understand how much money/energy they save in the long run, the more they will want one.
@@UndecidedMF Don't forget about old techniques like strawbale housing that are being rediscovered. They offer way better efficiency and comfort for about the same price as a good conventional house.
@@dillonvandergriff4124 Watched a home design show from the UK, a segment of a woodsman building a house made out of straw… It made rave reviews.
@@UndecidedMF The combination of Passive Design and Modular Construction I think are a major innovation for the construction industry. I'm excited to see how it evolves and disrupts going forward
We are right there with you. I will be following closely what you decide to build as your passive home. We are in California and just bought some land. While observing the land for the next year we will be thinking thoughtfully about all that involves location and building our home on the land. Thank you for all the great information you have compiled and shared, much appreciated!
Thanks for creating & sharing this, Matt Ferrell 🌻 I like the ‘feel’ of an energy efficient, passive home 🏡 bright, quiet independence
Oh, yes! This is a great topic! Acheiving net zero is my goal, I can hardly wait to experience the results.
Thank you for the very good explanation. I am from Germany and spent a lot of time researching passive houses, yet your explanation ist the best out there. In the end I decided not to build a passive house, but a so called KfW40+ house. KfW40 means that your total energy consumption (incl. heating and all household appliances) is less than 40 kWh per square meter per year, and the plus means that the house is equipped with Photovoltaic panels and a battery for energy storage. We moved in last August and it is much more comfortable than our old apartment. Since we spent only late summer, fall and now winter in our new house, I don’t have a full year of data yet. December and January were extremely rainy, first half of February was freezing cold and now all of a sudden we are in middle of spring with very warm temperatures and lots of sun. Unfortunately, the photovoltaic panels produce most of their energy in summer time, but most of the energy is needed in winter time, when the heating is running on full power. So in summer we have to sell the energy to the grid, in winter we need to buy it back.
friends of mine have a house like that, and they were always fuming that the money they got for selling their energy to the grid was far too little....now, during summer time, they let friends, family, neighbours charge their electric cars with their surplus, who pay way better - and still save money themselves, because public chargers cost an arm+leg. maybe something like that would work for you too?
@@PeyaLuna Haha, great life-hack :D Also storing solar heat from summer (Annualized Geo Solar: active or passive) for later use is smart solution too. Every additional degree of warmth for which you do not have to pay in winter counts.
Thanks for these videos. They are and in turn point to excellent resources as we work on our net 0 home. We are rehabbing an 1860s brick house farm near Green Bay, WI solar thermal hybrid with geothermal, roof rainwater catchment cistern, pve, attached greenhouse, and passive design. Since we are trying to source a minimum of 75% of our costs to WI, MI, or MN, having info to share with our technically competent local contractors is a must. It also helps to tell everyone in a rural area that you are basing your hone design off of George and Laura Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch. You get less “ y’all ain’t from around here are ya...” 😉
Very accurate info. A house that produces more energy than it consumes is called net positive. Well done.
Thanks for watching!
A major benefit that is not often mentioned in relation to passive houses is their self sufficiency, even if still hooked up to the grid. Their insulation is so crazy even if there were a power cut midwinter they'd probably stay fairly comfortable for some time. In Canada, winter storms can sometimes knock out power for entire towns for days.
In 1977 the Saskatchewan government had built a number of prototype homes of which the first was called the Saskatchewan Conservatory house, It had R 44 in the walls and over R60 in the ceiling with exterior thermal shutters that could be closed over the windows. With no internal heat input and the shutters closed it would lose less than 1 degree F per hour in minus 10 F .Using that heat lose number you would have about 3 1/2 days before the water would freeze. Super insulation seems like cheap insurance.
Oh my freaking God, YES! We NEED more of these passive houses! I hope companies such as apartment builders and trailer makers can find someway to make more passive houses!
I have a very old pre first world war army barracks that I live in. It is wooden, old and very leaky. My kids cannot afford a house here in the UK so we are hoping to build on the current site. Fortunately I have nearly 2 acres of land that I can build on but even so it's going to be pricey. These videos have been invaluable. Thank you Matt. Makes me realise what I can send on into the future.
How could you not mention earthship homes? They take efficiency to the next level! I don't have one, but I love the concept. They don't only cover being energy efficient using much cheaper technology but also water efficient. They typically also add growing food. Basically, it makes it possible to be very self sufficient. Worth looking into... They exist in both very hot and cold climates.
Earthships, rammed earth, etc. all deserve their own deep dive videos.
I live in a 1994-built Earthship. It's amazing.
@@treydonovan4856 Did you plaster all tires? Off-gassing is serious issue with not covered tires.
i like, that you used meters instead of feet. the european metric system just makes way more sense
Yes, yes it does. I'm trying to get better about always including it in one way or another. I wish the US would just make the switch.
I’m 68 and building a new house this year. I’ll stick w/ feet and inches thanks anyway. Haha, too old to change.
@@UndecidedMF Them it would most things cheaper.
I lived in a passive solar home for a year and my conclusion is that, in this particular home, The heat loss from the massive Southern facing glass wall was much greater than the heat gained from the solar. Sure, it was pleasant on a nice sunny day, but on overcast days and definitely at night those big glass windows are a liability.
Passive houses are so cool! I’d love to own a net energy producing house one day.
I get a huge Practical Engineering vibe from this channel! You've earned yourself a new subscriber!
The single best method of improving efficiency on a pre-existing home, is to "add" a 'continuous' layer of insulation to the exterior of the walls, and added to the inside of the roof (not the ceiling). This is typically a layer of 'rigid foam' (ideally XPS foam). Doing this, and using a system like 'AeroBarrier" will dramatically reduce your energy costs, as well as preventing most types of mold/mildew growth (assuming you have an air-exchange system). This is also assuming you have energy-efficient doors & windows that have been properly installed. The savings are immense!
I definitely need to build a forever home for my parents and then one for me Also planning on making a self-sufficient yacht someday. Videos like yours are very inspiring. When I'm done with school, I'll already have early plans. The beauty of projects like that is that they are actually worth the investment. I'm looking forward to the future.
The great thing is that you can find online plans for passive solar homes, as well as passive-haus, which takes passive solar a few steps further. See if there are any government agencies or publications in your part of the world. They often have free plans to download. Good luck in your quest.
The Passivhaus standard also allows for Earth-tubes for warming incoming air. In warm environments, Earth-tubes have not worked well because of condensation of the humidity in the air that is being cooled. However, if its freezing outside, the tubes passing underground can warm the air to near 50F (10C) before entering the house. The "Heat Recovery Ventilator" is important, and I'm glad you showed it. The outgoing air warms the incoming air, so less heat is lost.
WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO GET ON BOARD WITH THIS !!!
Passive house standards are great, and over here in Europe where I live there is actually already another standard on the horizon: The "plus energy house". That's what I would love to have... Something that generates more energy than it needs... I am currently looking at building a house, so maybe this is what I will end up with.
This sounds fascinating! I'm off to Google it :)
Have you ever considered doing a video about liquid metal batteries for large scale energy storage? Batteries like those talked about by Donald Sadoway.
Man, you are doing humanity a huge service
wow its my dream house, a eco friendly fully, solar powered, strong, small, smooth and clean house. It is going to be difficult but i want to make it happen when i buy my first house
Cool stuff. I'd love to see how some advanced cob homes could be designed with these principles and in conjuction with tech.
Great video Matt. I wonder if some of the principles of passive design will become standard in time as we focus more on energy efficiency. Some of the features may be difficult to implement due to budget constraints and geographical location, however many new builds could implement some of the changes to provide a large aggregate benefit.
The only way it will happen is economically and/or politically. With the costs of energy rising so dramatically I can see this being more economically viable. For example solar panels in the UK had a payback time of 5 or more years, now it's down to 18 months due to the cost of energy. And the other factor is, if governments really commit to tackling climate change by doing things like tax breaks and subsidising building passive homes then it will also give a big incentive to homebuyers and building firms.
Passive house is a great idea. A greenhouse and a normal house combo is another good idea.
I pet-sat at an earth ship house. It was fantastic. All the amenities you need/want, and stayed comfortably cool year round.
👍
That would have been great for down here in Texas last week combined with home energy storage and solar.
Yep.
Yeah. The "It's Texas" factor is big. No frostline codes. So pipes freeze. Mounting instant hot water devices on the outside of a building. Insufficient insulation (most homes down there don't even meet code). Pipes in uninsulated exterior walls. I can SORT OF see the "It's Texas" argument. Most cold snaps down there are 1-2 day events, so even if crippled, the grid can JUST keep up. Stuff like this year are once in a century events. So, should we expect Texas to spend millions or billions on winterizing infrastructure that'll mostly sit idle? Or do we take that money and pour it into other things?
@@PhotonHerald I live in Austin, Texas. Just this past Friday it was still getting below freezing at night (22F). Today it is 78, and I'm wearing shorts/tshirt. Very surreal, but also it's why so many people, both private citizens and government, were unprepared. Fortunately a lot of newer construction uses pex pipes which don't tend to burst.
@@crusherven Yeah. Decent PEX installs with bulge, but return to shape. But SHODDY PEX installs...
@@PhotonHerald well, properly insulated houses can also save a lot on AC Electric bills in summer.
I'm guessing this will be a very popular video in Texas right now ...
A little insulation goes a long way in providing safety and comfort.
Well without battery storage and a power outage you would have to open windows to survive and negate many of the passive house effects. The heat exchanger saves 70-90% of the heat that would otherwise be lost to exhausted air. If you want to go full prepper you need at least a managed battery pack and solar panels.
@@thoreberlin, There is no reason that one would "have to open windows to survive" in a passive home. They are much better sealed than normal homes, but they aren't submarines. The ERV/HRV part of passive homes is for long term air quality concerns. For a handful of days or even months it isn't really needed and many passive homes don't have them.
Boooo
@@CL-gq3no most passive houses _do_ have MVHR. Some have other ventilation systems. But you are quite right that no-one is going to suffocate with the power off for 3 days. It'll just get stuffy. Also my MVHR uses 11watts in background mode. It would run off a car battery for 2-3 days.
You are providing much needed analysis of new building methods and I thank you. Extraordinary in presentation and true and correct. Thanks so much. You are brilliant.
Duuuuuude, about the winter dry skin issue. I agree! I'm 41 this year and it's been getting worse. This past winter was so miserable I couldn't sleep. Started taking early showers and only quickly washing the essentials. Haha!
My new house in the winter is as warm as my old house in the summer. It has central heating but I've yet to use it.
where do you live
@@MrBemnet1 Wales.
Great video! A fellow youtuber I follow about passive house building is Matt Risinger. The technology they are using in this industry these days is unbelievable.
Matt's videos are fantastic.
@@UndecidedMF I guess it helps that he has the same name as you too.🤣
We built a iCF home in 1998. Been living here since. It's so air tight we actually have to bring in fresh air. Our Indiana winters are cold but this house is easy to heat.
To know this is possible is the beginning. This gets me hopeful for the near future.
Another way to help prevent thermal bridges is to use T stud. Basically it's an insulated miniature truss that replace conventional 2x studs so the path for heat to escape is much smaller
Another thing that we can do to reduce energy usage is just build housing with shared surfaces. Multifamily homes like townhouses, rowhouses, quadplexes, etc have lower energy costs per housing unit than detached single family homes. They also have the benefit of creating denser cities, so if coupled with more relaxed zoning laws to allow small commercial and offices in and near residential areas as well as a robust public transportation system, fewer people would need to drive, which would further reduce the total energy used, and have a beneficial impact on the local environment, even if all cars were EVs due to the tire and brake dust inherent in cars.
In 2004 I purchased my 3,400 sq. ft. home with a full basement. Within a year I started improving the insulation witn expanding spray foam. I also invested in solar and switched from oil to a 5 ton 2 stage geo thermal heating system. I now have a 18.6 Kw solar PV system that provides a little more energy than my home consumes on an annual basis. I had a blower door test done and they told me that my house was tighter than an Energy Start Home. I also had an HRV installed with my geo system.
I love the idea of passive homes. Not for the climate but for the fact the less you depend on others the more self reliant you will be.
This is basically how all buildings are built in Sweden 🇸🇪💪
Do video about passive aggressive next week :D
hola
I learned about passive houses about 2 years after I built my house, 24 years ago. I've since seen homes in Colorado that will amazing you in how they are able to use sunlight to move air around the house to heat and cool a house. It cost a little more at construction but over the years it is a small amount.
I'm actually in the process of specing out a Passive House now. I'm planning to build in Florida where the heating demands won't be great, but the cooling demands will. I'm looking to geothermal to hopefully provide all the HVAC I need for the project.
I've heard it said best, "you will always achieve the opposite of your goal when to do so with force." If you hope to get more people to adopt this life style, you NEED to appeal to them through their wallets. If they knew the cost savings in the long run, they'll be more likely to adopt a passive house like this. And they can do it with little sacrifice to their lifestyle. But that's just my opinion. I'm a cheap ass who tries his best to stretch his little income as far as possible.
I'm moving to a new house *Coincidence? I THINK NOT*
🤣
Awesome video! My Patents built 2003, one of the first Passiv houses in Austria. It is realy nice to live in, the funny thing is that even in the winter months we have an inside temperature of 24 to 28°C when the sun is shining and without sun 23°C with a small pellet stove.
Thanks! Glad you liked it. Thanks for sharing ... love hearing from folks that have experienced it first hand.
Living in an Passive "House" now (it's a 27 unit pasive building). They're pretty awesome and it was surprisingly affordable.
Be interested in learning more about ‘retrofitting’ the standard to an existing house - given I am not beginning with the opportunity to build new!
That is certainly possible, just requires expertise in planning and excellent building materials. I am lucky to live in a house from the late 70s. It used to be a prefabricated concrete building, but 8 years ago, all outer walls were removed and replaced by air-tight well-insulated wood walls. Given that it was meant to be a bomb shelter, there is still a large amount of heavily reinforced concrete in the roof, ceiling and the inner walls. The air quality is excellent and we rarely need to heat it and never need to cool it, mostly thanks to the heat exchanger. We paid 220'000 € for 125 m² here in Germany. Feel free to ask me anything at kzhead.infodiscussion.
You should cover Hempcrete. It seems to have a great potential for reaching our carbon sequestration goals.
Lol, no. There are much better materials for construction. Remember that the durability of the construction materials is hugely important. For sustainability.
Well, check out Gabe Brown's keynotes (at YT) about the health of Americas soil, only to realize that one of your main problems is wasting/destroying the soils carbon binding capacity. You can change that too. You are the consumer. But wait - you're getting fooled anyway. From today: www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/jul/14/food-monopoly-meals-profits-data-investigation
Great job putting it all together. Currently we have a house from 1835 in New Haven CT. When we bought it in 2003 it had single paned windows, no insulation and used 1000 gallons of oil a year to heat it and also used 12 Mwh electricity for everything else ... Since then we got all energy star appliance, added cellulose insulation, changed to double paned low e windows, converted to a 96% efficiency gas heater, and a on demand gas water heater. Now we use 1000$ per year in gas. Then 2y ago we installed a new roof with massive insulation and added 13kW solar system. Now we make enough electricity to power our house, Tesla M3, and Pacifica PHEV and are still have 2000kwh extra. I oversized the solar intentionally so that we can now convert our now 17y gas cooktop, dryer and water heater to electric as they meet the end of their lifespan. The next big project is to get a Air Source Heat pump for HVAC. We have a long term goal of building a passive net positive house with Bright Built home on land in New Hampshire for a vacation home and future retirement home. We love your show!!
That’s awesome, Jessica! Thanks for sharing ... and my wife and I are seriously looking at Bright Built for ourselves here in MA. Just have to find the land. If you end up pulling the trigger on a passive/net zero home, let me know how it goes.
This is great. Let’s Challenge our designers, architects, city planners and engineers to think outside the box and incorporate these fundamentals into design. Passive and net Zero and environmental disaster Risk like hurricanes, floods, earthquake shouldn’t be the starting point of all designs.
“Thermal Bridges” great band name
Yes, yes it is.
Would their first album be "crossing the cold"?
Personally, I wasn't initiall thinking "Straw and Fire", I was thinking "Straw and Mice" ...
Ha! Hadn't thought of that.
I was thinking The Three Little Pigs.
The answer in both cases is the same, the density of the compressed material is so high that there isn't enough oxygen for either fire or mice to really deal with it. I suspect it's also possible to treat straw with a bitterant that would make them not want to chew on it, but honestly I can't think of too many things that a mouse won't chew on, you find them living in fiberglass insulation all the time and that is not a terribly comfortable place to be.
The insulating materials have a sealed air barrier and siding on the outside and a vapour barrier and drywall (or similar) on the inside so rodents shouldn't be a problem unless they get in during construction.
Living in the country near a woods I can tell you there is no place a mouse or squirrel will not try and live and the only siding they can not get through is steel any other sheathing or siding up to and including fiber cement is not a barrier in any way to them. Also as a fireman for 40 years you would be surprised how building materials overtime change like blown cellulose and lose there there fire retardant over time and heat cycles near a recessed light fixture or bad wire connection.
Yes I totally agree and want to use this standard for our next build.. I’ve been in the 1st passive house in CO, was 32 outside and 74 in , it has no heat source and the air quality was fantastic.. passive house is the best way to go and I have studied about all the sustainable methods and IMO, passive is the way to go.. great video!
Thumbs up just for the cooper foundation… 👍👍 Thank you from someone who cares.
Is it possible to build tiny homes as passive homes? I'm just asking.
@@m.m.4376 Alright, thank you. That is what I wanted to know.
Absolutely. You have less space for things like passive solar, but you can absolutely make an incredible passive home at smaller sizes.
@@UndecidedMF Well, Thank you.
@@beaudavis3808 I'm a bit discouraged by this idea, because the wall thickness will steal a lot from your useable space, but hey, it is still possible! Net zero is certainly achievable.
Yes, no problem. But, because the standard is defined in terms of 'per m2' and useable floor area, it actually favours large buildings so it's easier to make a big passivehouse (huge home or block of flats) than a small one (tony house or even typical UK house). But a small building is intrinsically lower energy so you could actually relax the standards a little and still get an extremely low energy home.
Why would you quote “energy savings over 30 years” in “euros/year”? Either one or the other would be clearer.
maybe its averaged over 30 years. if you have different weather patterns the energy savings will be different, so over 30 years worth of data the average saving per year was the specified amount.
@@ge2719 Yeah I see your point, but you can still call that an annual average without specifying any time-span. Most people seeing "over 30 years" will assume that's a cumulative total - and when they see it's so low they might tune out without realizing. It took me a bit to realize what they were saying.
I live in a passive house in the United Kingdom. This is the best video I have seen that explains the principles of the passive house design. For the record we have no heating at all. We light a few tea lights in the living room on cold days and this seems to do the trick.
We are doing an owner-builder icf passive house in the future. Your video is what I use to explain to people just what the heck I'm talking about. Thank you.