132: Smart, Green and Beautiful Homes

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3 responses to “132: Smart, Green and Beautiful Homes”

1. 

   mcutlerwelsh

   October 19, 2015

   Thanks Elrond, and I see that Lloyd Alter has picked up on Martin Holladay’s commentary of the origins of the ‘superinsulated house’ here too: http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/everything-i-ever-knew-or-said-about-green-sustainable-design-was-probably-wrong.html.

   They agree with you regarding windows. Keep them small.

   The relevance of orientation-specific glazing seems to still be up for debate. http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/gba-prime-sneak-peek-reassessing-passive-solar-design-principles

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2. 

   Elrond Burrell

   October 15, 2015

   With reference to Robert Dumont, this conference paper from 1978 is well worth reading: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/Passive%20Solar%20Heating%20-%20Rob%20Dumont%20-%201978%20.pdf
   The super insulated house clearly outperforms the “passive solar” house in terms of both energy and comfort.

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3. 

   Elrond Burrell

   October 13, 2015

   Great to hear more from Saskatchewan, where MVHR was invented by Harold Orr and the Saskatchewan conservation house – forerunner to passivhaus.

   Using low g-value (solar gain co-efficient) glazing might be recommended in that climate for west facing windows, but I would discourage using glass with less than 0.5 g-value generally as it starts effecting the light transmittance too (looking slightly brown or tinted). Better to reduce window sizes to reduce solar gain if possible.

   Not convinced that achieving passivhaus airtightness of 0.6ach is more expensive than 1ach though. It’s not like you can design for 1 or 0.6 or anything else… You design and build to be airtight!

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