Passive Design Trainings Begin this Month

As we noted this week, the construction industry is still struggling, but the Passive House Institute is hoping to build a new niche in building.

This month, the group will start training passive building consultants. Passive construction is an energy-efficient construction and renovation model that was developed in Germany and is slowly spreading across the United States. Passive homes and other buildings are thoroughly insulated, virtually airtight and designed to require very little heating and cooling energy.

Official Passive home standards are more stringent than International Residential Code and Energy Star standards. They are also tighter than the energy portion of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Unlike LEED certifications, you can't get any passive home points for installing a bike rack. You only earn Passive Home certification by using less than 11 kWh per square foot for all electric needs (at least 60 percent less than most homes built to efficiency codes) in a home that must be 10 times more airtight than IRC-approved homes.

While design of a net-zero house is focused on solar panels and other renewable sources that can replace energy from the electric grid, passive homes instead focus on minimizing energy use. Passive home designers focus on materials and designs that maximize passive solar gain, or the absorption and use of incoming sunlight. They also take steps to reuse heat emanating from people and appliances. In summer, windows are orientated and shaded to dramatically cut the need for air conditioning.

Heating and cooling a properly designed and certified passive home is 90 percent more efficient than the same size house built to standard building codes. The Passive Home Institute estimates that passive home design adds about 10 percent to basic construction costs, but the heating and cooling system is significantly smaller and cheaper, and the ductwork can be incorporated into standard walls.

Passive home designs also compensate for the indoor air quality problems that sometimes accompany airtight buildings. They typically use an energy recovery ventilator designed to keep fresh air flowing through the house.

Katrin Klingenberg, director of the Passive House Institute US, studied under the German founder and director of the Passivhaus Institut in Germany. In turn, she is passing on her training to American consultants with a series of trainings around the country.

She leads three consecutive trainings, which each last for three days. Students can take a certification exam and become certified passive house consultants. The first training series starts on April 28 in Seattle, followed by other spring and summer training programs in California and Colorado.

The group has trained dozens of consultants, but a map of certified consultants shows huge blank spots where homeowners and contractors cannot find local help. Even the green-centric states of Colorado and Vermont each have only one consultant.

Click here for more information about Passive Home Institute consultant trainings.

Photo credit: Terrapass.com

Posted by: Steve Graham