Energy Use:

Design to the Passive House standard carefully examines all energy uses, and must aggressively manage them to achieve Passive House certification for a small building in a cold climate like this one. So aggressive passive design techniques are used to minimize annual energy use, at a higher first cost in design and materials and this minimizes the need for additional energy sources, maximizes the return delivered by the PV and solar DHW systems, and the ground loop ventilation pre-conditioning system. The slab on grade is significant in moderating temperature fluctuations, by absorbing and re-radiating solar energy. Shading via South elevation brise soleil and deep West porch overhangs help manage unwanted gains in conjunction with operable internal shading.

Energy Strategies:

100% Electric home.
Aggressively minimize energy use using passive techniques described above, using super-insulation, thermal bridge free design, ~ R9 / SHGC 0.50 center of glass windows, extremely low air infiltration, high performance ERV with ground loop pre-heating / dehumidification, PV, Solar DHW to meet Passive House space heating, cooling and primary energy requirements.