Clintonville Passive House

Okay, I need to start off by acknowledging that I’ve done a lousy job of creating frequent posts to mark the progress of this project.  Oops.  In the spirit of doing better while making the task manageable, I’m going to make this post short and sweet.  Here’s the gist: I’m certifiable!

To those of you who may claim you already knew this about me, I’ll add that it’s official now.  PHIUS has formally recognized the Clintonville Passive House project as “design certified.”  What this means is essentially that as long as I continue to build the house according to the plans and digital model I created, I’ll have a certified Passive House when it’s complete! 

This is huge for me as a new practitioner of passive house construction.  When I set out to build this house, I didn’t want to simply create one more run-of-the-mill house.  I wanted to go above and beyond, to make something that would be much better than the typical Ohio code-built home.  This house had to improve greatly on energy efficiency, comfort, durability, and sustainability.  Designing to passive house standards fit the bill.

But it took a lot of extra work.  Learning about building science and earning my CPHC credentials, for one.  Carefully detailing the construction drawings with precise diagrams of the air barrier, water barrier, vapor control layer, and thermal boundary.  Specifying high performance windows, insulation, wall and roof assemblies, and then modeling it all with sophisticated energy simulation software to ensure I could meet the stringent PHIUS targets.  Not to mention managing the budget for a construction project in 2022.  It’s a lot of work for one house and enough to make my head spin sometimes.

After several months of reviews, revisions, and lots of frustrated head scratching, I’ve made it.  Now, all I have to do is finish building the thing.  And passing the blower door test.  And the insulation and HVAC commissioning inspections.  And the thermal imaging check…Oh, boy, there’s a lot to do.  I’d better get off here and get back to building.

Thanks for checking in again.  Until next time, Happy New Year!