Katrin and Nic Smith’s house is the modest, comfortable home of German-born architect Katrin Klingenberg. This house was built in the United States and completed in 2003. They were guided by the standards established by the Passivhaus Institut and the Institut’s Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) software.

A grape trellis is used for south face shading for this passive house on the hottest of summer months which provides huge comfort for the Smiths.

These windows are made up of triple glazed windows, The windows in this design are integrall to passive lighting and heating strategies making this Passive house easy to heat and keeping it comfortable during the cold winters The lower awning-style windows can be opened for natural ventilation, although Katrin says ‘‘the place is much more comfortable if you let the HRV bring in the fresh air’’.

Heating:

Heating in the house consists of a tall wall of glass which brings in a good deal of solar heat, along with an exposed concrete floor which absorbs and slowly releases that heat. A 100-foot-long earth tube warms incoming fresh air and the HRV equipped with a 1,000-watt electric resistance heating element scavenges heat from outgoing stale air. The earth tube and HRV also help keep the home cool during warmer months.

This house incorporates construction details considered extreme by many American builders:

·         Concrete slab is insulated using 14 inches of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam.

·         12 and 16-inch I-joists, creating deep wall and roof cavities, insulated with blown-in fiberglass insulation.

·         The exterior walls and foundation are wrapped in 4 and 6 inches, respectively, of EPS.

·         Utilities and HRV ducts enter from deep beneath the slab.

·         Interior wiring and electrical devices (with the exception of wireless light switches) are confined to floors and interior walls.

Construction:

Foundation: 4-in. slab over 14 in. EPS foam (R-56), surrounded by concrete-block frost wall covered in 6 in. of EPS foam.
Walls: vertical 12-in. I-joists (Trus Joist); 12 in. blown-in fiberglass, plus 4 in. EPS foam over exterior sheathing.
Roof: 16-in. I-joists with vent channels above the sheathing; 16 in. of blown-in fiberglass.
Windows: triple-pane, argon-filled, low-e, fiberglass frames with XPS insulation (average overall U-factor, .19)

Water Efficiency:

Plumbing to the toilets and laundry will be connected through a rainwater catchment system.

Green Materials and Resource Efficiency:

• Recyclable galvanized-steel roof.
• CMU frost wall/on-grade slab are material- and labor-efficient design. 
• 100% regionally sourced wood (fir, pine, and cedar).
• Recycled slate cladding on foundation.
• Recyclable blown-in fiberglass insulation.

Conclusion:

The design of the house worked well as the house is always comfortable. The heating load test put the annual demand around 11 kWh per square meter, a bit above the expectation of 8 kWh, but it's a full 4 kWh below the maximum prescribed by the Passivhaus Institut. The smith’s house was one of only four test homes in the region that met the EPA's strict indoor air quality standards.

web address: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/homes/first-us-passive-house-shows-energy-efficiency-can-be-affordable