Maine home can stay 70 degrees without a furnace, even in freezing temps

mainepublic.org

2 points·CharlieDigital··6 comments

I'm not buying this math:

"So, let's look at the math. Say a conventional single family home that's up to code costs $400,000. A similar passive house would run about $40,000 more."

Tell a builder you want a "passive home" and the price will increase 50% not 10.

https://www.realtor.com/advice/buy/what-is-a-passive-house/

"Building a passive house will typically set you back 10% to 15% more in upfront costs."

Since the frame and insulation are typically only a fairly small fraction of the cost of a house, where are you getting 50%?

What about embodied energy?

Expended when and where energy was cheap, providing its benefit when energy may be expensive. Think of it as a kind of multi-year storage and long distance transmission.

It even has averaging capability over the short term: if the factory that makes the materials is running off solar energy it can run when energy is available. On the other hand a lot of the embodied energy might not be commercial energy in the direct sense: it might be the energy embodied in trees cut for wood or something like that.

Highly insulated houses also allow another kind of short term storage: using the house itself as a thermal battery. The better the insulation, the longer the thermal time constant, and the longer the effective storage time from precooling or preheating the house.

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