Mechanic Street Passive House
An Affordable, Replicable Passive House
Completion
Completion date 07/31/2015
Occupancy
Owner-occupied by family with 2 adults and 2 children.
Days per year Building is fully occupied: 365
Scope
3 bedroom, 2.5 bath single family new construction.
Type of Construction
New
Number of buildings
1
Floor area of each building
1,404
Bedrooms
3
Bathrooms
2.5
Stories
2
Conditioned Building Volume
16,053 cu ft
Conditioned Floor Area
1,804 sq ft
Location and Climate Details
Single family residence
Address
13 Mechanic Street
Wakefield, RI 02879
United States
Location Type
Suburaban
Climate Region
Zone 5
Köppen Climate Type
Dfb
Lat. / Long.
POINT (-71.4933777 41.4395963)
Elevation
53 ft
Solar Insolation
3.89 kWh/m2/day
Annual CDD and Base Temp
0 |
Annual HDD and Base Temp
5792 |
Site
Site conditions: previously undeveloped land
Site description: Infill lot in a residential neighborhood.
Materials and Design Strategy
Materials: One of the main goals of this project was to use locally available materials (local meaning easily sourced from the lumberyard vs. harvested on site) and to keep the construction details builder-friendly. This initial goal was further enhanced by the need to meet a very specific and tight budget. The building shell - framing, insulation - was 100% standard construction. Air sealing was mostly standard with the majority of it coming from zip sheathing and zip tape, and the additional cost coming from the extra caulking we installed at critical joints. The exterior siding costs were kept in check by using #2 eastern white pine (sourced from NH) as the main siding. It was refinished off site and installed as an open rain screen. Both material choice and installation technique led to a very cost effective siding installation. The use of sustainable materials we never a major priority with this project. We did avoid grossly unsustainable products like cellular PVC. The "sustainable" angle we did focus on was in making this construction details we used a affordable and repeatable as possible with the long term goal of inspiring more people to build homes to this higher standard.
Indoor Environment Description: We followed the Energy Star Indoor Air Plus guidelines and used all low or zero VOC finishes and materials, with continuous balanced ventilation.
Completion
Occupancy
Owner-occupied by family with 2 adults and 2 children.
Scope
3 bedroom, 2.5 bath single family new construction.
| Type of Construction | New |
|---|---|
| Number of buildings | 1 |
| Floor area of each building | 1,404 |
| Bedrooms | 3 |
| Bathrooms | 2.5 |
| Stories | 2 |
| Conditioned Building Volume | 16,053 cu ft |
| Conditioned Floor Area | 1,804 sq ft |
Location and Climate Details
Single family residence
| Address |
13 Mechanic Street Wakefield, RI 02879
United States |
|---|---|
| Location Type | Suburaban |
| Climate Region | Zone 5 |
| Köppen Climate Type | Dfb |
| Lat. / Long. | POINT (-71.4933777 41.4395963) |
| Elevation | 53 ft |
| Solar Insolation | 3.89 kWh/m2/day |
| Annual CDD and Base Temp | 0 | |
| Annual HDD and Base Temp | 5792 | |
Site
Infill lot in a residential neighborhood.
Materials and Design Strategy
One of the main goals of this project was to use locally available materials (local meaning easily sourced from the lumberyard vs. harvested on site) and to keep the construction details builder-friendly. This initial goal was further enhanced by the need to meet a very specific and tight budget. The building shell - framing, insulation - was 100% standard construction. Air sealing was mostly standard with the majority of it coming from zip sheathing and zip tape, and the additional cost coming from the extra caulking we installed at critical joints. The exterior siding costs were kept in check by using #2 eastern white pine (sourced from NH) as the main siding. It was refinished off site and installed as an open rain screen. Both material choice and installation technique led to a very cost effective siding installation. The use of sustainable materials we never a major priority with this project. We did avoid grossly unsustainable products like cellular PVC. The "sustainable" angle we did focus on was in making this construction details we used a affordable and repeatable as possible with the long term goal of inspiring more people to build homes to this higher standard.