All of the homes we build follow several key markers for success:
Health for the occupants.
Health for the craftspeople building your home.
Health for the planet.
By following these guiding principles, we build our clients warm, healthy, and durable buildings meant to last generations, while complimenting the land they sit upon.
We follow Passive House principles for all of our homes whether the client chooses to pursue certification or not.
Every home we build is all electric and fossil fuel free.
What is a Passive House?
Passive House is the most stringent, energy efficiency standard in the world, designed to reduce a building's environmental impact. This concept makes efficient use of the sun, internal heat sources and heat recovery, to eliminate the need for conventional heating sources, even in the harsh Vermont winters.
These houses typically use 75% - 90% less energy than regular code-built homes today.
Every house we build follows the core principles of Passive House:
Super Insulation
Thickened walls with lots of insulation. This can be accomplished with a double stud wall or exterior continuous insulation. We choose proven, healthy and cost effective methods of insulation for each project.
Advanced Window and Doors
Triple pane European windows allow more natural daylight and passive heating of the space through solar heat gain, without the large energy loss of a single or double pane window. They are constructed to a much higher standard than typical American windows.
Avoid Thermal Bridging
Heat can travel though materials in a process called convection. We make sure there are no elements in the house that can allow this transfer of energy between the interior and exterior of the house, resulting in a more efficient envelope.
Airtightness
We use the best air sealing systems on the market and are actively working with these companies, providing feedback to help them create the best products on the market. A well sealed house controls heat loss and then relies on mechanical ventilation to bring fresh and filtered air into the home. We use our blower door system to verify results on every home.
Balanced and Filtered Ventilation Systems
These homes are very air tight, so they require the use of HRV or ERV systems to supply fresh air to its occupants, and move conditioned air around the home. These systems can recover heat and humidity levels from the exhausted stale air and transfer it to incoming fresh air.
A tight, well insulated home, with a heat recovery system provides its occupants a space with no cold spots, no drafts, and a superior level of comfort all year long.
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The use of sustainable materials, omission of fossil fuels and toxic materials that off-gas, and proper ventilation create a healthy environment for you to live in.
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Your home can be left unattended and unheated in a power outage.
Even when temperatures outside are well below freezing, the inside of the home will stay around 55 degrees Fahrenheit due to the insulation, air tightness and use of solar heat gain through triple glazed windows.
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Investing in these principles for your home will isolate you from volatile utility prices throughout the years.
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What is Net-Zero?
Net-Zero, also referred to as Zero-Energy Building, is a home that generates as much energy on site as the house consumes in a year, typically by installing a solar panel array. Excess energy produced by the solar panels can either be sent back into the electrical grid for credit against your utility bill, stored in backup batteries onsite for use during long winter nights or power outages, or a combination of both. Using the core principles of Passive House construction, it is very easy to achieve Net-Zero status on a house.