Comments for TE Studio Blog http://www.timeian.com/blog A Blog for Beautiful, Resource-Efficient Buildings. Passive House Minneapolis, Minnesota. Architecture, Building Design. Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:23:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on PH Article on buildingscience.com by Tim Eian http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=598&cpage=1#comment-327 Tim Eian Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:23:26 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=598#comment-327 Krisjanis, Thanks for your comment. If I understand you correctly, you are talking about a basement that is thermally disconnected from the spaces above and therefore outside of the Passive House envelope. I would recommend against running pipes outside of the envelope, since they will protrude the air-tight envelope in places where they weave in and out of it, and because of the heat-loss potential. In general, and if this were a Passive House, what do you need the heating pipes for? In case this were a retrofit, you may be better off insulating the basement and making it part of the Passive House envelope. If you do that, its treated floor area does count based on the German "Wohnflächenverordnung", which has different factors based on how you use the space. Living space can be counted at 100%, secondary and utility spaces at 60%. Some height restrictions apply. Of course I'm just guessing here since I have not consulted with you on the actual challenge you are working on. Krisjanis,

Thanks for your comment. If I understand you correctly, you are talking about a basement that is thermally disconnected from the spaces above and therefore outside of the Passive House envelope. I would recommend against running pipes outside of the envelope, since they will protrude the air-tight envelope in places where they weave in and out of it, and because of the heat-loss potential. In general, and if this were a Passive House, what do you need the heating pipes for?

In case this were a retrofit, you may be better off insulating the basement and making it part of the Passive House envelope. If you do that, its treated floor area does count based on the German “Wohnflächenverordnung”, which has different factors based on how you use the space. Living space can be counted at 100%, secondary and utility spaces at 60%. Some height restrictions apply. Of course I’m just guessing here since I have not consulted with you on the actual challenge you are working on.

]]> Comment on PH Article on buildingscience.com by Krisjanis http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=598&cpage=1#comment-326 Krisjanis Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:53:04 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=598#comment-326 So how does PH deal with Basement which is not heated, but has uninsulated heating pipes through it. Do I need to count it in the Treated floor area, if the average temperature is about +11 C . So how does PH deal with Basement which is not heated, but has uninsulated heating pipes through it. Do I need to count it in the Treated floor area, if the average temperature is about +11 C .

]]> Comment on It’s a hole! by Lisa http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=658&cpage=1#comment-324 Lisa Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:59:46 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=658#comment-324 Love the work you are doing. Will continue to follow your project. Please stop by our similar project - THE CONCORD GREEN HOME - to share ideas and follow progress. www.ConcordGreen.blogspot.com. Best of luck to you. Lisa Love the work you are doing. Will continue to follow your project.

Please stop by our similar project – THE CONCORD GREEN HOME – to share ideas and follow progress. http://www.ConcordGreen.blogspot.com.

Best of luck to you.

Lisa

]]> Comment on This is the Passive House in the Woods by Tim Eian http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646&cpage=1#comment-322 Tim Eian Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:55:24 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646#comment-322 We are using Porextherm from Germany. We have a local supplier nearby: Peak Building Products: http://www.peakbp.net/ We are using Porextherm from Germany. We have a local supplier nearby: Peak Building Products: http://www.peakbp.net/

]]> Comment on This is the Passive House in the Woods by Roger Woodbury http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646&cpage=1#comment-321 Roger Woodbury Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:03:55 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646#comment-321 Hi Tim: Thanks for your quick response. I have had numerous conversations with three different manufacturers of vips and all are working on improved outer skins that would make them easier and more widely utilized in the building construction industry, both commercial and residential. We are particularly interested in vips because we are designing this house from an interior conditioned space standpoint. In order to meet our specific needs we intend to manage the exterior dimensions to not more than a certain footprint. Thus the overall size is important and the less sheer width of the wall will yield a reduction in overall footprint while maintaining th interior size that we want. VIPs will accomplish this provided the exterior skins can withstand reasonable care on the job site, and the fastening systems used can be improved sufficiently to allow a reasonable time factor for installation. I find it interesting that you are using these in some fashion in your project. Were your VIPs sourced from a European manufacturer? Hi Tim: Thanks for your quick response. I have had numerous conversations with three different manufacturers of vips and all are working on improved outer skins that would make them easier and more widely utilized in the building construction industry, both commercial and residential.

We are particularly interested in vips because we are designing this house from an interior conditioned space standpoint. In order to meet our specific needs we intend to manage the exterior dimensions to not more than a certain footprint. Thus the overall size is important and the less sheer width of the wall will yield a reduction in overall footprint while maintaining th interior size that we want. VIPs will accomplish this provided the exterior skins can withstand reasonable care on the job site, and the fastening systems used can be improved sufficiently to allow a reasonable time factor for installation. I find it interesting that you are using these in some fashion in your project. Were your VIPs sourced from a European manufacturer?

]]> Comment on This is the Passive House in the Woods by Tim Eian http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646&cpage=1#comment-320 Tim Eian Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:05:21 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646#comment-320 Hello Roger, Thanks for your interest. We've looked at vacuum insulated panels briefly, as they were used for the BioHaus in Bemidji. The R-value is phenomenal but the detailing is rather tricky. For the first effort, we decided to be more conservative and stick with more common details. The basic structure is a standard ICF module, with a thicker than average EIFS facade. Therefore, many of the things builders already now apply. Again, we were hoping to stick with familiar paradigms. There are a couple of details where we are using vacuum insulated panels in order to maintain R-value, i.e. at the exterior shading elements, which are built-into the wall, and at the exterior door sills. Hello Roger,
Thanks for your interest. We’ve looked at vacuum insulated panels briefly, as they were used for the BioHaus in Bemidji. The R-value is phenomenal but the detailing is rather tricky. For the first effort, we decided to be more conservative and stick with more common details. The basic structure is a standard ICF module, with a thicker than average EIFS facade. Therefore, many of the things builders already now apply. Again, we were hoping to stick with familiar paradigms. There are a couple of details where we are using vacuum insulated panels in order to maintain R-value, i.e. at the exterior shading elements, which are built-into the wall, and at the exterior door sills.

]]> Comment on This is the Passive House in the Woods by Roger Woodbury http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646&cpage=1#comment-319 Roger Woodbury Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:38:11 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646#comment-319 Interesting project. We are in the planning stages of a new home that we intend to meet Passivehaus standards here in eastern Maine. Therefore all cold climate projects are of particular interest. I was curious what your position might be about use of very high R-value thin insulation products, like vacuum insulated panels in a project such as the one that you have working now? Interesting project. We are in the planning stages of a new home that we intend to meet Passivehaus standards here in eastern Maine. Therefore all cold climate projects are of particular interest.

I was curious what your position might be about use of very high R-value thin insulation products, like vacuum insulated panels in a project such as the one that you have working now?

]]> Comment on This is the Passive House in the Woods by Tim Eian http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646&cpage=1#comment-317 Tim Eian Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:22:53 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646#comment-317 Mike, Building high-performance building envelopes in an extremely cold climate is a real balancing act. I agree with your assessment of embodied energy and the importance of a complete carbon offset. In this context, carbon-neutral operation is a low-hanging fruit (sorry Architecture 2030 Challenge). Besides cost-factors, quality control, and build-ability, we found it to be most difficult to meet a low embodied energy goal with materials and assemblies that perform well in hygrothermal analysis. Making an assembly that is both robust, and benign is something we all strive for. First and foremost however, we need to deliver a durable product for our client. We hope to engineer assemblies around cellulose and other low-embodied energy insulation products—that's actually where we started with this design. However, given the circumstance of cost, availability, building physics, and probably a million other things we looked at over this past year, we ended up with mostly EPS, some polyisocyanurate and some XPS. The BioHaus in Bemidji did a study on embodied energy versus operational energy (and operational energy savings). These things are not trivial. Not many clients would pay for services to take it to that level either. So once again, there is an ideal—and then there is the reality of having to provide professional services in the market place. BTW, I am not sure that this is a general issue with Passive House. In our case, it is much more climate driven. There is plenty of precedent for Passive House buildings that use entirely renewable, and low embodied energy materials. Those are usually located in more moderate climates, however. Thanks for sharing your insight. Mike,
Building high-performance building envelopes in an extremely cold climate is a real balancing act. I agree with your assessment of embodied energy and the importance of a complete carbon offset. In this context, carbon-neutral operation is a low-hanging fruit (sorry Architecture 2030 Challenge).

Besides cost-factors, quality control, and build-ability, we found it to be most difficult to meet a low embodied energy goal with materials and assemblies that perform well in hygrothermal analysis. Making an assembly that is both robust, and benign is something we all strive for. First and foremost however, we need to deliver a durable product for our client. We hope to engineer assemblies around cellulose and other low-embodied energy insulation products—that’s actually where we started with this design. However, given the circumstance of cost, availability, building physics, and probably a million other things we looked at over this past year, we ended up with mostly EPS, some polyisocyanurate and some XPS. The BioHaus in Bemidji did a study on embodied energy versus operational energy (and operational energy savings). These things are not trivial. Not many clients would pay for services to take it to that level either. So once again, there is an ideal—and then there is the reality of having to provide professional services in the market place.

BTW, I am not sure that this is a general issue with Passive House. In our case, it is much more climate driven. There is plenty of precedent for Passive House buildings that use entirely renewable, and low embodied energy materials. Those are usually located in more moderate climates, however.

Thanks for sharing your insight.

]]> Comment on This is the Passive House in the Woods by mike http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646&cpage=1#comment-316 mike Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:50:27 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=646#comment-316 to continue the topic of embodied energy, polyiso has an EE of 110 MJ/kg while XPS has an EE of 70 MJ/kg. how do you come to grips with a carbon-neutral project that has such a high level of embodied energy? yes, the long term savings of the insulation more than make up for the deficit - but there are ways that this can be achieved using materials with significantly lower EE. it's probably my largest concern about passivhaus. to continue the topic of embodied energy, polyiso has an EE of 110 MJ/kg while XPS has an EE of 70 MJ/kg. how do you come to grips with a carbon-neutral project that has such a high level of embodied energy? yes, the long term savings of the insulation more than make up for the deficit – but there are ways that this can be achieved using materials with significantly lower EE. it’s probably my largest concern about passivhaus.

]]> Comment on What is Passive House? by mike http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=643&cpage=1#comment-315 mike Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:08:39 +0000 http://www.timeian.com/blog/?p=643#comment-315 the ‘PH im wald’ project sounds interesting. I’ll try and follow the blog to see how it unfolds. You might be right in that the PEH isn’t yet a standard, my understanding from working in Freiburg was that he was in the process of pushing it. In either case, I’m also looking forward to seeing (and hopefully working on) more net zero energy projects, and have been following a few projects attempting to attain LBC (net zero energy/water) Rolf’s work has been getting better and better. The issue of energy performance v. conservation is definitely an important one. Embodied energy is also another biggie, which is another point which LBC attempts to mandate. As for low-energy buildings that attempt to minimize insulation use, my former employer, pfeifer.kuhn (www.pfeifer-kuhn.de) have some very interesting projects. the ‘PH im wald’ project sounds interesting. I’ll try and follow the blog to see how it unfolds.

You might be right in that the PEH isn’t yet a standard, my understanding from working in Freiburg was that he was in the process of pushing it. In either case, I’m also looking forward to seeing (and hopefully working on) more net zero energy projects, and have been following a few projects attempting to attain LBC (net zero energy/water)

Rolf’s work has been getting better and better. The issue of energy performance v. conservation is definitely an important one. Embodied energy is also another biggie, which is another point which LBC attempts to mandate.

As for low-energy buildings that attempt to minimize insulation use, my former employer, pfeifer.kuhn (www.pfeifer-kuhn.de) have some very interesting projects.

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