Production Homebuilder + Passive House: Lessons Learned

The builder that IBACOS worked with is a high performance startup homebuilder, building in a new community near downtown Denver, Colorado. The builder’s standard production homes are intended to achieve a Home Energy Rating System® (HERS) Index of 45 to 55 and to be ENERGY STAR® Version 3 certified. IBACOS worked with the builder to design and construct a Passive House (PH) certified model home. The architects, out of Denver, designed the new floor plan, intending it to be a standard production model with the PH standard as an upgrade option. Design began in December 2012, construction started in March 2013 and was completed and certified in August 2013. IBACOS worked with the builder to identify a package of measures that would achieve PH certification and could be implemented in an occupied test house. The team used several modeling programs and calculation methods such as Building Energy Optimization software (BEopt), THERM, and a Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) model, as well as Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual J and ACCA Manual D calculations. IBACOS is currently monitoring this house along with two other homes in the area to compare various outputs.

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