Marin at forefront of growing trend in architecture - 'passive'...

Hate to say it, but nothing NEW here. People have been building passive solar houses with air exchangers since the 60's. Tahan is way way way too young to claim the mantle of being it's main proponent in California, though he may have a good PR team working for him - but that's hardly the same. And not very ethical to claim it either.

What isn't addressed here, which we addressed in the Natural Building conference I put on in 1992 at Fort Mason, is, that with a house like this, it is imperative that all non-toxic building materials are used. That is part of the cost over-run. Anyone with a sensitivity to chemicals could not live in such a house, and other folks would be advised to be cautious as well, unless non-toxic paints, finished etc are used. And remember, those new curtains, that new couch, those new rugs, that new mattress, all probably have formaldehyde in them - and formaldehyde is a "universal senstizer" - which means, it can make you sensitive to other chemicals.
I'm sorry for being critical - it's my style of thinking. I was one of the earliest green building advocates in the Bay Area in the early 90's, and remain an enthusiastic believer in green buildings. But I did learn at the time, it is complex. And yes, LEED, while a huge step forward, is problematic.

Passive Houses = Too poor to pay PG&E bill.

Miriam Hamsa wrote:

Hate to say it, but nothing NEW here. People have been building passive solar houses with air exchangers since the 60's. Tahan is way way way too young to claim the mantle of being it's main proponent in California, though he may have a good PR team working for him - but that's hardly the same. And not very ethical to claim it either.

I agree and was about to say roughly the same thing.

agreed 100%. Nice PR. And nice of the IJ to not have enough sense to perhaps say that all this is a great idea, but not give credit to someone simply because they "claim" to be some kind of pioneer.

passive architecture has been around for a very long time.

Nice Try Tahan.

Miriam Hamsa wrote:

Hate to say it, but nothing NEW here. People have been building passive solar houses with air exchangers since the 60's. Tahan is way way way too young to claim the mantle of being it's main proponent in California, though he may have a good PR team working for him - but that's hardly the same. And not very ethical to claim it either.

I don't think it's Nabih who is making the claim that he's "the" pioneer of passive solar principles in California. You are correct that "modern" passive solar has been around for some time. I say modern because people for centureies have applied a form of solar consciousness to their living for hundreds of years. There is good reason why the Mission area of San Francisco was the first settled and developed.

As for the modern version, I was building passive solar homes in the late '70's and early '80's with architect Claude Stoller. In fact a close friend of Nabih worked for me on one of those, and if I recall Nabih visited the project.

Whether "the" pioneer, or simply an evangilist for the concept, Nabih deserves credit for helping to promote the ides. Once again, Europe is way ahead of the U.S. in this arena.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_passi...
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...The techniques of passive solar building design were practiced for thousands of years, by necessity, before the advent of mechanical heating and cooling...

Would seem to be an obstacle to resale trying to sell this to a new owner from a niche group

1. IJ, Once again you left out the important graphic from the article in the paper. And BTW, you should have labeled the most important aspect of these "net zero-energy" homes, the Air-to-Air Heat Exchanger!

2. You might have had a clearly labeled little diagram with cross section to show HOW amazingly simple these units are! Those unreadable signs in the picture is a joke.

3. Also, even people without a super insulated house, one can take advantage of this technology for a healthier home and workplace.

I agree with the statements above.

Thanks for this informative article. For more about CLAM's project, including a photo-journal of the energy-efficiency renovation step-by-step, go to www.clam-ptreyes.org , "CLAM's 2nd Property".

Like ohmygawd, how can this - or ANYTHING else - be more important than what is happening with Jon & Kate Gosselin??? We should all be worried about them and those kids. We need to get them reconciled. Contact your Congressional representatives. Forget global warmimg. THIS is a national emergency.

IM(H)O, the beauty of Passive House is that it doesn't rely on exotic, expensive mechanical equipment to achieve energy reduction. Quite the contrary, it is the methodical application of existing and proven principles (insulation, airtightness, solar gains, heat recovery ventilation) to achieve mechanical system simplicity and cost savings that is the profound achievement. All of these ideas have been seen before (some for centuries) but they have never been as effectively quantified and combined to such effect.

The name "Passive House" is often confused with "passive solar" and, indeed, passive solar was a precursor to Passive House, as was superinsulation work from the 1970s and 1980s. What was realized by Dr. Feist (the originator of Passive House) was the concept that one can not only save energy and utility costs with efficiency, but reduce costs for mechanical systems as well. Feist also developed software that enables us to easily perform cost/benefit analysis of various envelope measures on a project and climate specific basis.

Better still, the Passive House not only delivers unmatched energy efficiency, but superior comfort and air quality as well, since the building is insulated and ventilated more effectively than under other methodologies. The buildings deliver more fresh air to occupants than conventional buildings and are more comfortable, because the interior surfaces are all engineered to remain at comfort level.

Why do I like Passive House? Because it WORKS. There are ~20,000 Passive House buildings in the world (houses, apartments, schools, factories, offices) that do not require a conventional heating and cooling system for comfort, in locations as challenging as northern Minnesota and northern Europe. Perhaps the better question to ask is not "what is new about this" but "why is this not common practice."

If you'd like to learn more, please visit the following sites and feel free to attend monthly meetings in Berkeley:

Local Passive House group: www.passivehouseca.org
The Passive House Institute, US (PHIUS) www.passivehouse.us
The Passive House Institute (PHI) www.passivehouse.com

Cheers,
Graham

Interesting article. This type of construction may have been around for "years" as one writer here suggests but I didn't know about it and I suspect many others were unaware as well.

Thanks Graham! You say it so well. I surely will visit these sights

If you'd like more information about Passive House, there's a fact sheet here: www.essentialhabitatconsulting.com/PH_fact_sh...

Also, please consider attending a meeting in Berkeley and/or joining the bulletin board:
www.passivehouseca.org

Again, the Passive House Institute, US (PHIUS), the certifying body for North America:
www.passivehouse.us

The Passive House Institute (PHI) in Germany: www.passivehouse.com

The LEED regulations coming down the pike will cost each and every one of us a fortune and will accomplish little. Be careful what you wish for. Better check it all out before you sign on. Your private property rights are being trampled under the guise of "green," which is really the new "red." Just for example, price a replacement roof on a conventional home with a LEEDs approved roof. Ca-Ching-Ca-Ching. And if you own a commercial building, better bend over now and reach for the Astroglide.

My house is passive/aggressive.

passive homes have worked in many places around the world and is definitely a good idea and a step in the right direction, however there are issues that would have to be overcome.

1st off if our lifestyles. In europe, they simply don't live to excess as we do. Are we ready to give up our 3 plasma screens? are we ready to use less energy? I might be, but i think most people around here simply don't care.

Our unique hillsides will make it tough to design to the standard.

speaking of design, the standard doesn't exactly encourage good looking design. I'm not sure we can create cookie cutter boxes all over the place. look at the photo in the article. I think people prefer some individuality.

just a few thoughts

FatFreddysCat wrote:

My house is passive/aggressive.

He he he..good one!

Tahan stresses the importance of having an air-tight home and while that is important for maximizing passive heating and cooling systems, it is not necessarily the best. He is correct in saying that ventilation is key, however, a house needs to breathe. If a house is completely sealed the occupant faces (SBS) sick building syndrome. This is where 20% of the occupants or more have complaints about such things as headaches, respiratory irritation, eye irritation, sneezing coughing etc. the list goes on. It is difficult to predict the off-gassing of all the materials used in a given building. However it is widely known that common paints, adhesives, sealants, furniture and carpet are big off-gassers. One can purchase such things as low VOC paints that are non toxic to use in their homes (most don't even smell while you are applying them). As it is today people spend considerably more time indoors and while energy conservation has led us to build tighter buildings, there are also more chemicals in our environment. While not everybody is affected by SBS we all are affected by the toxins in our environment and a building needs to breathe in order to release these toxins. The last thing you want is to be living in a toxic gas chamber in the winter so you don't loose your heat. Passive designs are the way of the future and provide an opportunity to dramatically improve its occupants quality of life and help the environment by not contributing the the problem. Be aware of the materials you are employing, where you put your money, and design responsibly.