Passive House
What is a Passive House?
Passive House is a performance-based energy standard for both residential and non-residential buildings that was developed in Germany, but is gaining traction in North America. Building to the Passive House standard results in a significant reduction in energy usage compared to a typical North American house. Passive Houses require less than 15 kWh/(m²yr) for heating and cooling, a value that is verified by an energy balance established using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP). Passive Houses are also known for the high level of comfort they offer.
Characteristics:
- Super-insulated building envelope
- High-performance windows and doors
- Air tightness n50
- Efficient heat recovery ventilation unit (HRV)
Benefits:
- Reduced energy costs
- High indoor air quality
- Improved thermal comfort
- High-quality construction
Links:
Passive House Institute: http://passiv.de/en/
Passipedia: http://passipedia.org/
CMT Performance Shell Panel System
CutMyTimber can supply Passive House panels for your project. Our Passive House kit contains insulated wall, floor, and roof panels. We like to work with vapour diffusion-open wood fibre insulation boards and breathable weather membranes on the exterior of our panels and high-performance European tapes for air sealing and moisture protection.
We are happy to work with you during the design phase of your project to ensure the most efficient design for panelization. We can also work with your building physics specialists on the thermal analysis and simulation of your building. We can interface directly between our 3D system and various building science tools. Our 3D FIM models include all material values such as bulk density, porosity, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, vapor diffusion resistance, etc.
We want to further Passive House building in North America as we feel that a well-engineered building with balanced lighting, thermal performance and acoustics will make you feel better, will dramatically reduce energy cost, and will last longer.
CMT and Phoenix Home Performance
We have a strong partnership with Phoenix Home Performance in Saginaw, Michigan. We joined forces to combine our strengths and have completed a number of Passive House projects together. Phoenix Home Performance is dedicated to providing high performance, healthy homes for customers that demand a sustainable lifestyle.
Together we are working on developing Passive House home designs for our customers.