No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’

[BR_Parkway]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/europe/27house.html?pagewanted=1&em


In Berthold Kaufmann’s home, there is, to be fair, one radiator for emergency backup in the living room — but it is not in use. Even on the coldest nights in central Germany, Mr. Kaufmann’s new “passive house” and others of this design get all the heat and hot water they need from the amount of energy that would be needed to run a hair dryer.

“You don’t think about temperature — the house just adjusts,” said Mr. Kaufmann, watching his 2-year-old daughter, dressed in a T-shirt, tuck into her sausage in the spacious living room, whose glass doors open to a patio. His new home uses about one-twentieth the heating energy of his parents’ home of roughly the same size, he said.

<snip>

There are now an estimated 15,000 passive houses around the world, the vast majority built in the past few years in German-speaking countries or Scandinavia.

The first passive home was built here in 1991 by Wolfgang Feist, a local physicist, but diffusion of the idea was slowed by language. The courses and literature were mostly in German, and even now the components are mass-produced only in this part of the world.

The industry is thriving in Germany, however — for example, schools in Frankfurt are built with the technique.

Moreover, its popularity is spreading. The European Commission is promoting passive-house building, and the European Parliament has proposed that new buildings meet passive-house standards by 2011.

[iamtechus]

1. "but diffusion of the idea was slowed by language"

Hmmm, language hasn't seemed to slow the spread of german cars and other good products and ideas from that part of the world.

I suspect that the real reason we haven't heard much of this is because it would leave us with a lot of surplus gas, oil and coal.

[Gold Metal Flake]

2. There are a lot of engineering documents and theories to digest...

...I suspect. Translating such into production data, standards and inspection criteria into english (and inches) might take a little while. Of course, as you allude, keeping out those who would want to sabotage the concepts would also cause delays. And then there are those involved in inspection, zoning, licensing and various approval functions who are freeper assholes and would gum up the works just because this stuff might help the image of liberals, greens and moderates. So language issues would have a delaying effect and so would resistance from giant moneyed bastards but don't discount ordinary conservative neurosis.

It would also take time to develop domestic sources of products. Importing all of this would be cost-prohibited and definately counter to my domestic production concerns. It would be very cool to have some government sheppherding of this to help establish this new method of home construction here putting Americans to work building them.

These homes are also small, so I'll wager they will gain acceptance more readily amongst those looking for second homes, vacation homes and hunting cabins. These sorts of homes are often the places where new techniques and products are tested and readily embraced.

Our modes 1040sq.ft. house is cramped with three people. Storage is the main problem for collectors like us. The story is not clear, would the typical 500sq.ft. size include the basement they mention?

[Skidmore]

3. The only thing prohibitive about fostering energy efficient

technologies and ideas is the collective will of the nation to do so. At some point, I sincerely hope that the peoples of the world could join together to accomplish something for the common good without being focused on proprietary rights and corporate entities to promote them.

[Gold Metal Flake]

4. No, there may be some issues of proprietary technology...

...which would be protected under Export regulations. There could also be patents which would restrict the distribution of production and manufacturing details. The German government might be keen to hold on to this, and they may want their people to benefit from the production. These are all questions, BTW, not statements of fact. But the questions are based on my experiences working in the engineering department of a company working on cutting edge photovoltaic devices.

Wishing that these issues would not exist will not help us. But, there are ways of dealing with these issues, which is where the work comes in. One way or another, this stuff will come to the US.

[BR_Parkway]

5. That was 500 sq ft per person, so it's actually half again as big

for three people as what you are occupying. They did point out that McMansions aren't going to work - I don't know how much it would push up the cost in the States, our builders for the past few years, like our mortgage companies seemed to focus on throwing up things as quickly as possible to get the most profit they could while the getting was good versus building things with real, lasting value to them. Of course, that seems to be a big problem with our American way of life that's coming back to bite our collective asses now.

[riverdeep]

6. Had a friend that worked construction.

On his first day with a new boss, he asked 'where's your level?' The guy said, 'level? we don't use stuff like that.'

I don't know how representative that is of most construction, but I get the feeling that the saying 'they don't build them like they used to' applies.

[SoCalDem]

8. REAL men.. (like GW) just go by their GUT..or eyeball it

plenty good enough until the interior guys get in there and try to figure out how to put in the baseboards & tp hang the door frames :)

and the houses probably do a bit of creaking, as they settle:)

[ColbertWatcher]

9. I wonder if the US's refusal to follow ISO 9000+ stuff has anything to do with it? n/t

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. Huh?

Are you referring to a specific company or industry? You certainly are not talking about thousands of ISO 9xxx compliant companies including the one I work for.

[SoCalDem]

7. And the lobbyists here would HATE it

so they spend whatever it takes to rent legislators..

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. i think it is a great idea with one little exception

and i am sure tech could overcome it...

what about indoor air quality? i know we have problems today with very efficient buildings that are sealed up tight as a drum and the air quality in them. this article mentions an 'air exchange system' and i guess i would just like to know how you pass the energy from one mass of air to another while maintaining 90% efficiency...oh, well, there are some technical mysteries my brain can't absorb...before coffee...

sP

[Gold Metal Flake]

13. Google it.

There are air exchange systems sold in the country already. You can find them on the home repair and restoration shows.

[Celebration]

11. Award winning passive houses in the USA

http://enertia.com/

I always wanted one. You just order one and put it together.

Edited to add picture