What a great video. As a professional marketer/communicator, I can appreciate 'hitting your mark'... and this video does it over and over again. Your comfortable and informative style blends a natural warmth with a familiar tone. Really, super stuff! I've been doing a fair bit of Passivhaus research and your presentation is top shelf. And I LOVE that you are in Ottawa! Hopefully one day I will be calling upon you and your team to build my family and I a passive, net-zero home. Until then, carry on doing great things. Cheers!
Thank you so much about the notes for solar heating and sound traveling. We will be building our own passive house soon and those are two things that I didn't consider.
( Free ) overheating in winter isn't such a bad problem to have :-D. Still, it's remarkable how much benefit comes from just doing the low-tech stuff of air-tightness, insulation, and placement -even before all the high-tech solar-pv + battery. Better insulation = lower sized PV etc.
Love the highlight you mentioned about directions and the impact of sun towards energy efficiency of the house. Thank you for sharing the love of living in one purposeful built house👍🙏✨i appreciate you.
About the winter over heating - If you build the house in a square or rectangle with a Conservatory built in the middle wouldn’t solve many of those problems? The conservatory roof and doors leading to the outside could then with sliding doors on 3 sides, allow the heat to escape into a center where you could grow herbs, fruits & veg or simply flowers. In the center yard, which would be humid you could also have a dining space, some fountains (as the old fincas in Spain) . With sliding doors on 3 sides, you could open them, cooling the house, and growing the center enclosed garden even in winter.
Many ways to skin a cat! Ultimately the designs we arrive at come down to what the client is looking for. Would be interested to discuss the plans for a design like this with an energy modeller. Would like to see one that would work well in Canada. Who doesn't love a good courtyard!
Interesting experience. Agreed: Very high solar gains may even during winter rise temperatures above setpoint. (Well: you may always shade the sun and additionally cool by opening a window). But I agree: I also enjoy the 27° a few hours during February high solar radiation weather conditions. For me that feels not uncomfortable - so, I don't shade my huge windows facing south (...in the winter), too.
Re sun overheating in a passive house: do you have mass to accumulate heat? I personally love the sun heating the house in the winter. A sheer delight!
Hi! This was a certified Passive House vs. a Passive Solar House, which are different in approaches. In a certified Passive House, mass may be accounted for with energy modelling but it's not generally part of the building strategy so it wasn't a primary focus. You might like our video ruclips.net/video/PM3K6hTgUGM/видео.html or check out our blog www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog/is-there-a-difference-passive-solar-homes-vs-passive-house-standards#/ for more on the differences!
Thanks for your story, Casey. It seems to be a common theme amongst those who have experienced living in a passive house that the intangible benefits must be experienced as they cannot easily be 'seen' but must be 'felt' in situ. As someone who recently got his first heated steering wheel, I appreciate your comparison. There is no going back! ha!
Good video, so I'm wondering about putting window normally on the outside and another one on the inside with the air gap in the middle, could be opened during the day, since a good window is around R 3 and your thick outside walls are say R 45. Thats what I think a lot of passive houses with a lot of windows to the south there too hot during the day and tremendous heat loss at night, and you have to have so much thermal mass to offset that, could also use hot water solar to heat up the thermal mass say in the floors during the day and cut down on the window size. I'd like to hear any other ideas
Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching! You may like this blog post on the difference between certified passive homes and passive solar homes: www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog/is-there-a-difference-passive-solar-homes-vs-passive-house-standards#/ You may also be interested in this post about the elements of a certified passive house: www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog/elements-of-a-certified-passive-house#/
You could search cms.passivehouse.com/en/training/find-professional/ for certified professionals or look for Passive House projects in your area and figure out who worked on them! Other industry pros in your area may be able to point you to someone.
It is possible to design for the right amount of solar gain for a specific climate. Sounds like you may have had to much glass on the south side of the house or not enough thermal mass. Usually cheaper and more sustainable to design passive strategies before turning to active/mechanical strategies.
Hey Matthew thanks for watching! We got into this more in this conversation with Ross Elliot, thought you might enjoy the video. ruclips.net/video/PM3K6hTgUGM/видео.html
You don't talk actual dollars. What does it cost to run the house in each season? Is there a heating system? Do you produce all your own electricity or just some? If the house overheated in winter time what is it like in summer? Thanks.
Thanks for watching! You might find this video more informative: ruclips.net/video/7WabCsWRRyY/видео.html we're working on some updated content as well. Stay tuned:)
Very useful video Casey. We are starting our major reno this spring thanks in part to your input and to your reference to Chris Weissflog. I have seen similar comments from Building Scientists regarding overheating...with the same recommendation - build for tightness and use the sun for solar energy to power mechanical environmental systems for consistent temperature and humidity. Looking forward to watching your upcoming series on the cottage.
We're in Ontario. If you go for a certified passive house, the level of insulation will change depending on where you live and the design of the house. For example, a certified passive house in California is not much better than minimum building code here.
Thanks Chris, we are definitely into passive houses over here, welcome! I was living in it within 7 months of beginning construction, but there was still a lot to do. In true Contractor fashion, since it was my home I took longer with the remaining details...and finished four years later haha. For a client this would likely take 12-14 months to finish, barring unforseen interruptions.
Nothing practical on the market that I am aware of. This is what people try to use thermal masses for.. You could also install solar panels that heat a hot water tank directly and then use that to preheat your main hot water tank, essentially using the water as a battery.
Your not making a whole lot of sense at 6:00 Too much heat in the winter isn't really an issue. You have ERVs or HRVs all you have to do is use a bypass damper when the house temp hits a setpoint. Many ways to do this most or the time it's done with an economizer. Can also be done with the HVAC connect the damper as a 1st stage cooling with a temperature lockout. There are also modulating dampers so your tempering the air and not blasting cold air into the house. Too much solar gain isn't a problem when the outside envelope is a heat sink, it's an opportunity.
Hi Brian, You might find our blog post "How much does it cost to build a custom home?" helpful as we break down some of the details to consider, including passive house elements. www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog . As for the wall assembly, we'll be putting out more content around this, meantime this talk on passive house design should offer more insight: ruclips.net/video/7WabCsWRRyY/видео.html. Thanks for watching!
It's true the up front costs are generally higher-depending on where you live, the energy savings over time can make it well worth it! The market is starting to reflect more value in efficient homes as well, but it's still different project to project. The more we use better materials and practices, we hope the more accessible they will become. Thanks for watching Kimmie!
In Europe the costs are put as 5%-10% higher on average. But we have decades of experience with lots of specialist construction companies and window suppliers etc. It is worth doing and downgrading the expensive kitchen to a more basic one when you build, the bills to run your home will be 20x lower and you can easily fit an expensive kitchen in 10 years time if you really want one.
I’m honestly surprised that his Passivhaus isn’t not only net zero, but net positive! What’s the R-rating on your entire envelope: walls, foundation, roof, and windows? Is your solar array not robust enough?
Hello Casey. Iam going to be building a passive house this spring near Napanee ont. What are your thoughts on using SIPs. I like the idea but have never used them before. Been aound them for roofing projects but not for a whole project. Thanks for sharing your experience. Ive followed your own build. great job. Dan
i'm always amazed at builders that talk green but use traditional semi toxic or toxic materials in that same old stick built fashion I also do not like the insistence that in order for a house to be efficient and comfortable it must be a " Certified " passive house . That puts off a lot of really good ideas ,especially if building codes are asking for certification. For example , i have built two , ALMOST passive houses in Germany,in the following way. manufactured log home with flat faced machined logs ,26cm high by 14 cm thick sealed in between but not necessary . 14 cm thick wood fiber insulation on the outside with furring strips over the insulation panels and wood siding over the furring strips . The solid wood walls regulate humidity swings by being hygroscopic and the low mass is enough to minimize temp. swings. The entire wall structure can " breath" so no vapor barriers are necessary. the furring strips create an air channel that is vented from the bottom to the top . There is no air to air heat exchanger because there are no toxic or off gassing materials in the structure and all furnishings are from natural untreated sources . It can't be called " passive " but it's insanely comfortable and takes bout two days in minus freezing temps to cool down to about 68 F. This system can also use CLT panels which would be WAY faster saving a lot on labor . Windows are triple glazed tilt and turn and the entire house is sealed with heavy building paper and tape .
Sounds like you're working on some very cool projects, thanks for sharing! It is not true that only certified passive houses are efficient and comfortable though there are excellent standards that have to be met if you want the certification. In many cases coming close is the best option available and that's still great, just not certified! We work with clients with their budget and desires and try to bring things as close to the highest standards of efficiency and sustainability as their parameters allow.
Hey, Casey! I enjoyed this video in particular because it goes into the details you dont hear very much regarding living in passive houses. To your point concerning the overheating issue in passive solar builds, could this be mitigated by using the data from previously designed passive houses to find a suitable 'sweet' spot? Or is it too complicated factoring in geographic location, sun intensity, material etc? Please let me know and thanks!
Hey JJ, thanks for watching! Yes, the more info you can gather from other passive houses in your area, the more data you can apply to your model and get closer to that sweet spot. Every site will be a little different and the plans will need to vary accordingly. This one was for me so we tried a few things and some (like keeping the overhangs back a bit to reach for the winter sun) worked a little too well!
Sound control in a hard wood floor house is dramatically different than wall-to-wall carpeting! No sound control specification or awareness of the problem until AFTER you move in is a MASSIVE failure you must now live with. Trial and Error is an expensive way to learn!
We had overhangs but scaled them back a bit- we were a little greedier for the winter sun than we needed to be. It would make the house a bit darker but you are correct, that would help. Thanks for watching!
your mis-representing Passive Solar Design- if its overheating in the winter you didn't have enough MASS in the south rooms ! that is also a simple free solution- ventilate! and i bet you didn't have moveable window insulation over all the windows! using PV to heat and cool the house (via heat pumps) doubles the size of the PV system needed- that costs more $. and does have higher carbon footprint as well as more maintainance needed. and its a huge mistake to ingnore siteing and not locate the long side of the house to the south- just that alone will save you 15% in your heating/cooling load! and with good passive solar design (according to location) you will have the lowest cost, most durable and environmental structure possible- and thats what a "conscious builder" is. www.bendsolarhomes.com
Hi Mark, sounds like you have some great insights and experience! Thanks for sharing. This house was not designed to be a Passive Solar home, but it is a Certified Passive House.
@@Theconsciousbuilder they are the same thing. and very energy efficient house. the "Passive House" is just a new term (essentially a business that certifies the structure) that came from Europe. we called them a "super insulated passive solar house". of course if that business wants to make $ they can't be as strict with the passive solar since that requires a specific siteing, which many may not have- or they have other priorities.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Glad you explain the real pro and con about the passive home build.
What a great video. As a professional marketer/communicator, I can appreciate 'hitting your mark'... and this video does it over and over again. Your comfortable and informative style blends a natural warmth with a familiar tone. Really, super stuff!
I've been doing a fair bit of Passivhaus research and your presentation is top shelf. And I LOVE that you are in Ottawa!
Hopefully one day I will be calling upon you and your team to build my family and I a passive, net-zero home.
Until then, carry on doing great things. Cheers!
Thanks for watching David! Look forward to hearing from you about your build:)
Thank you so much about the notes for solar heating and sound traveling. We will be building our own passive house soon and those are two things that I didn't consider.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching :)
( Free ) overheating in winter isn't such a bad problem to have :-D. Still, it's remarkable how much benefit comes from just doing the low-tech stuff of air-tightness, insulation, and placement -even before all the high-tech solar-pv + battery. Better insulation = lower sized PV etc.
Love the highlight you mentioned about directions and the impact of sun towards energy efficiency of the house. Thank you for sharing the love of living in one purposeful built house👍🙏✨i appreciate you.
Thanks for watching Lilian! We appreciate you too :)
About the winter over heating - If you build the house in a square or rectangle with a Conservatory built in the middle wouldn’t solve many of those problems? The conservatory roof and doors leading to the outside could then with sliding doors on 3 sides, allow the heat to escape into a center where you could grow herbs, fruits & veg or simply flowers. In the center yard, which would be humid you could also have a dining space, some fountains (as the old fincas in Spain) . With sliding doors on 3 sides, you could open them, cooling the house, and growing the center enclosed garden even in winter.
Many ways to skin a cat! Ultimately the designs we arrive at come down to what the client is looking for. Would be interested to discuss the plans for a design like this with an energy modeller. Would like to see one that would work well in Canada. Who doesn't love a good courtyard!
Excellent information video, thanks. Looking to build my passive certified home 🏠.
Thanks for watching Doug! Keep us posted on your project and how we can help!
Interesting experience.
Agreed: Very high solar gains may even during winter rise temperatures above setpoint. (Well: you may always shade the sun and additionally cool by opening a window).
But I agree: I also enjoy the 27° a few hours during February high solar radiation weather conditions. For me that feels not uncomfortable - so, I don't shade my huge windows facing south (...in the winter), too.
This is such a helpful video Casey! Excellent well thought through information. Loving the channel!
Awesome, Thank you for watching! So glad you're finding value in it :)
Re sun overheating in a passive house: do you have mass to accumulate heat? I personally love the sun heating the house in the winter. A sheer delight!
Hi! This was a certified Passive House vs. a Passive Solar House, which are different in approaches. In a certified Passive House, mass may be accounted for with energy modelling but it's not generally part of the building strategy so it wasn't a primary focus. You might like our video ruclips.net/video/PM3K6hTgUGM/видео.html or check out our blog www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog/is-there-a-difference-passive-solar-homes-vs-passive-house-standards#/ for more on the differences!
Love your videos. How you ever shared the floor plan for your house?
I don't believe I have. Is this something you would be interested in seeing?
@@Theconsciousbuilder absolutely!!
Thanks for your story, Casey. It seems to be a common theme amongst those who have experienced living in a passive house that the intangible benefits must be experienced as they cannot easily be 'seen' but must be 'felt' in situ. As someone who recently got his first heated steering wheel, I appreciate your comparison. There is no going back! ha!
Thanks for watching Brandon! Warm hands, homes and hearts, can't lose!
Good video, so I'm wondering about putting window normally on the outside and another one on the inside with the air gap in the middle, could be opened during the day, since a good window is around R 3 and your thick outside walls are say R 45.
Thats what I think a lot of passive houses with a lot of windows to the south there too hot during the day and tremendous heat loss at night, and you have to have so much thermal mass to offset that, could also use hot water solar to heat up the thermal mass say in the floors during the day and cut down on the window size.
I'd like to hear any other ideas
Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching! You may like this blog post on the difference between certified passive homes and passive solar homes: www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog/is-there-a-difference-passive-solar-homes-vs-passive-house-standards#/ You may also be interested in this post about the elements of a certified passive house: www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog/elements-of-a-certified-passive-house#/
Do you think you could still of had a comfortable temperature in the winter with sun exposure if you had installed less south facing windows?
That would have kept things from heating up so much. Larger overhangs or awnings would have made a difference as well.
What kind of windows did you use?
How do you find a designer to work with to design a passive house?
You could search cms.passivehouse.com/en/training/find-professional/ for certified professionals or look for Passive House projects in your area and figure out who worked on them! Other industry pros in your area may be able to point you to someone.
It is possible to design for the right amount of solar gain for a specific climate. Sounds like you may have had to much glass on the south side of the house or not enough thermal mass. Usually cheaper and more sustainable to design passive strategies before turning to active/mechanical strategies.
Hey Matthew thanks for watching! We got into this more in this conversation with Ross Elliot, thought you might enjoy the video. ruclips.net/video/PM3K6hTgUGM/видео.html
You don't talk actual dollars. What does it cost to run the house in each season? Is there a heating system? Do you produce all your own electricity or just some? If the house overheated in winter time what is it like in summer? Thanks.
Thanks for watching! You might find this video more informative: ruclips.net/video/7WabCsWRRyY/видео.html we're working on some updated content as well. Stay tuned:)
Very useful video Casey. We are starting our major reno this spring thanks in part to your input and to your reference to Chris Weissflog. I have seen similar comments from Building Scientists regarding overheating...with the same recommendation - build for tightness and use the sun for solar energy to power mechanical environmental systems for consistent temperature and humidity. Looking forward to watching your upcoming series on the cottage.
Thanks Richard! Glad to hear you're going ahead with your reno. Keep us posted with the project and thanks for watching!
What province are you in? I'm in Saskatchewan and wondering if passive house can handle -40 celsius.
We're in Ontario. If you go for a certified passive house, the level of insulation will change depending on where you live and the design of the house. For example, a certified passive house in California is not much better than minimum building code here.
Beautiful house. I’m just beginning to learn about passive houses and I really dig the concept. How long did it take to complete your build?
Thanks Chris, we are definitely into passive houses over here, welcome! I was living in it within 7 months of beginning construction, but there was still a lot to do. In true Contractor fashion, since it was my home I took longer with the remaining details...and finished four years later haha. For a client this would likely take 12-14 months to finish, barring unforseen interruptions.
Would it not be possible to recover the excess heat from the sun heating the house into some kind of storage heater with a heat pump?
Nothing practical on the market that I am aware of. This is what people try to use thermal masses for.. You could also install solar panels that heat a hot water tank directly and then use that to preheat your main hot water tank, essentially using the water as a battery.
Can you tell me where you got your plans from? I was envisioning a very similar design for my build. Thanks
Hi Shane, thanks for watching! the plans for our place were done custom for us by local architect Chris Straka vertdesign.ca/
Looking forward to starting our Passive build!
So exciting!
Your not making a whole lot of sense at 6:00 Too much heat in the winter isn't really an issue. You have ERVs or HRVs all you have to do is use a bypass damper when the house temp hits a setpoint. Many ways to do this most or the time it's done with an economizer. Can also be done with the HVAC connect the damper as a 1st stage cooling with a temperature lockout. There are also modulating dampers so your tempering the air and not blasting cold air into the house. Too much solar gain isn't a problem when the outside envelope is a heat sink, it's an opportunity.
What's the added cost to build a passive house? Do you have any information on your wall construction? Thanks for your help.
Hi Brian, You might find our blog post "How much does it cost to build a custom home?" helpful as we break down some of the details to consider, including passive house elements. www.theconsciousbuilder.com/blog . As for the wall assembly, we'll be putting out more content around this, meantime this talk on passive house design should offer more insight: ruclips.net/video/7WabCsWRRyY/видео.html. Thanks for watching!
It is so expensive! Well in one mil, On top of buying your land and all the other things.
It's true the up front costs are generally higher-depending on where you live, the energy savings over time can make it well worth it! The market is starting to reflect more value in efficient homes as well, but it's still different project to project. The more we use better materials and practices, we hope the more accessible they will become. Thanks for watching Kimmie!
In Europe the costs are put as 5%-10% higher on average. But we have decades of experience with lots of specialist construction companies and window suppliers etc.
It is worth doing and downgrading the expensive kitchen to a more basic one when you build, the bills to run your home will be 20x lower and you can easily fit an expensive kitchen in 10 years time if you really want one.
do you build passive houses in Colorado and Massachusets?
Hi John, unfortunately we are limited to Ontario, Canada at the moment.
I’m honestly surprised that his Passivhaus isn’t not only net zero, but net positive!
What’s the R-rating on your entire envelope: walls, foundation, roof, and windows?
Is your solar array not robust enough?
Hi Trevor, thanks for the question. Did you see we made a video for you? ruclips.net/video/imGbTpAGHZ0/видео.html
Hello Casey. Iam going to be building a passive house this spring near Napanee ont. What are your thoughts on using SIPs. I like the idea but have never used them before. Been aound them for roofing projects but not for a whole project. Thanks for sharing your experience. Ive followed your own build. great job. Dan
Thanks for the question Dan! ruclips.net/video/NBL1lpYLTXI/видео.html Let us know how the build goes.
i'm always amazed at
builders that talk green but use traditional semi toxic or toxic materials in that same old stick built fashion I also do not like the insistence that in order for a house to be efficient and comfortable it must be a " Certified " passive house . That puts off a lot of really good ideas ,especially if building codes are asking for certification.
For example , i have built two , ALMOST passive houses in Germany,in the following way.
manufactured log home with flat faced machined logs ,26cm high by 14 cm
thick sealed in between but not necessary .
14 cm thick wood fiber insulation on the outside with furring strips over the insulation panels and wood siding over the furring strips .
The solid wood walls regulate humidity swings by being hygroscopic and the low mass is enough to minimize temp. swings.
The entire wall structure can " breath" so no vapor barriers are necessary. the furring strips create an air channel that is vented from the bottom to the top .
There is no air to air heat exchanger because there are no toxic or off gassing materials in the structure and all furnishings are from natural untreated sources . It can't be called " passive " but it's insanely comfortable and takes bout two days in minus freezing temps to cool down to about 68 F.
This system can also use CLT panels which would be WAY faster saving a lot on labor .
Windows are triple glazed tilt and turn and the entire house is sealed with heavy building paper and tape .
Sounds like you're working on some very cool projects, thanks for sharing! It is not true that only certified passive houses are efficient and comfortable though there are excellent standards that have to be met if you want the certification. In many cases coming close is the best option available and that's still great, just not certified! We work with clients with their budget and desires and try to bring things as close to the highest standards of efficiency and sustainability as their parameters allow.
Hey, Casey! I enjoyed this video in particular because it goes into the details you dont hear very much regarding living in passive houses. To your point concerning the overheating issue in passive solar builds, could this be mitigated by using the data from previously designed passive houses to find a suitable 'sweet' spot? Or is it too complicated factoring in geographic location, sun intensity, material etc? Please let me know and thanks!
Hey JJ, thanks for watching! Yes, the more info you can gather from other passive houses in your area, the more data you can apply to your model and get closer to that sweet spot. Every site will be a little different and the plans will need to vary accordingly. This one was for me so we tried a few things and some (like keeping the overhangs back a bit to reach for the winter sun) worked a little too well!
Where's the house?
In Ottawa! ruclips.net/video/7WabCsWRRyY/видео.html. Thanks for watching :)
Sound control in a hard wood floor house is dramatically different than wall-to-wall carpeting! No sound control specification or awareness of the problem until AFTER you move in is a MASSIVE failure you must now live with. Trial and Error is an expensive way to learn!
You ignored overhangs so it overheats. Put overhangs and you got yourself no problems.
We had overhangs but scaled them back a bit- we were a little greedier for the winter sun than we needed to be. It would make the house a bit darker but you are correct, that would help. Thanks for watching!
Heated steering wheel, LOL. Try Heated gloves for real comfort you can enjoy anywhere.
Oh that's next level. LOL Why stop there, why not heated socks and underwear too?! :)
The home is immaculate planned and built. You guy are weaith huh?
Thank you!
your mis-representing Passive Solar Design- if its overheating in the winter you didn't have enough MASS in the south rooms ! that is also a simple free solution- ventilate! and i bet you didn't have moveable window insulation over all the windows! using PV to heat and cool the house (via heat pumps) doubles the size of the PV system needed- that costs more $. and does have higher carbon footprint as well as more maintainance needed. and its a huge mistake to ingnore siteing and not locate the long side of the house to the south- just that alone will save you 15% in your heating/cooling load! and with good passive solar design (according to location) you will have the lowest cost, most durable and environmental structure possible- and thats what a "conscious builder" is. www.bendsolarhomes.com
Hi Mark, sounds like you have some great insights and experience! Thanks for sharing. This house was not designed to be a Passive Solar home, but it is a Certified Passive House.
@@Theconsciousbuilder they are the same thing. and very energy efficient house. the "Passive House" is just a new term (essentially a business that certifies the structure) that came from Europe. we called them a "super insulated passive solar house". of course if that business wants to make $ they can't be as strict with the passive solar since that requires a specific siteing, which many may not have- or they have other priorities.