Passive House Comes to Brooklyn Heights
[nggallery id=”53667″ template=galleryview] We were invited to tour an in-construction Passive House in Brooklyn Heights, a 1846 brownstone on Sydney Place that was badly remodeled in the 80s and is now receiving a gut renovation to accommodate to the most rigorous energy standard in the world. For details on what a Passive House is, you…
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We were invited to tour an in-construction Passive House in Brooklyn Heights, a 1846 brownstone on Sydney Place that was badly remodeled in the 80s and is now receiving a gut renovation to accommodate to the most rigorous energy standard in the world. For details on what a Passive House is, you can visit this website or listen to this helpful NPR feature. We can tell you it is a house-wide energy system that uses an incredible amount of insulation and effective, insulated windows to create an airtight building. In this particular home, air source heat pumps bring fresh air into the house, filter the air, and then heat or cool the air which in turn heats or cools the house. (This is 80-90 percent more effective than a traditional heating or cooling system.) The contractor on the site, Sam McAfee, told us that the project is the first landmarked Passive House in the US, and the LPC has worked closely with them, especially with the windows. Through the winter, the home could maintaining 55 degrees without heat. Click through the photos to see how certain features in the home work in the system. Construction should be complete by this April.
NY Guy 7
The windows definitely open. The thinking is that, when the occupant opens the windows, you aren’t having a lot of heat/gain loss, because its nice outside.
The thermos analogy refers to the closed position of all windows, which would be typical when its cold or hot outside.
I’m assuming the windows still open in a house like this?
I believe an alcohol-run fireplace is just one of the ventfree decorative thingies — never liked ’em. Would a fireplace insert be considered too leaky and non-compliant?
The rear windows appear not to be customized to fit the brick mold arch. Seems a shame or am I not seeing something?
And how on earth do you insulate the original double doors in the vestibule? Replacing the glass I understand. But how do you insulate solid wood — laminate on an extra layer?
Guy with house –
Great question.
Passive House is a balanced ventilation. You put exhaust ventilation in the problem areas (kitchens, bathrooms etc) and supply ventilation in the living areas.
You aren’t reducing the amount of air that you’re exhausting, you’re just controlling it.
You’re still removing the chili smell at the same rate, but instead of bringing in 20 degree air to replace it, you’re running it through a heat exchanger.
The heat exchanger brings the air up to 60 or 65, which means you have do significantly less heating.
The other interesting point is that you can bring the fresh air from a known source. Rather than seeping in through cracks (and over mold or worse, dead critters), you place your supply air intake in the cleanest possible location.
could someone explain what an alcohol-run fireplace is? I assume a regular wood-burning fireplace would be utterly impermissible,
so how does an alcohol fireplace work?
It’s all interesting, but living in a sealed “thermos” seems problematic.
Even with a reasonably efficient air-exchanger, how does one manage cooking smells and the inevitable after-effects of chili-night?
BHS – Yeah, Heat pumps have come a long way. The one thing to consider in NYC is that electric is more expensive than gas (and its not close). It just so happens that heat pumps work really well within the Passive House paradigm.
Minard – in a sense I know what you’re saying, but these old brownstones aren’t that green in terms of energy consumption.
I don’t deny a sort of integral vernacular beauty, but I also think its valid to improve on the energy efficiency in a meaningful way, especially if it can be integrated in a way that doesn’t diminish the existing facades.
Also, the fresh air is less about germophobia (although it is much cleaner than the air being pulled through dirty cracks in the wall the rest of us are breathing), and more about supplying enough fresh air, since the houses are built so tight.
We really should be doing this in ALL new homes, because we don’t build like we used to.
young archi, thanks for the explanation. Interesting stuff.
The company I worked for 15 years ago did some work with heat pumps, but the rest of the pieces were not in place to make them really effective.
As to issue of cost:
It depends on your situation, but people are seeing between 5% and 15% cost increase for PH renovation.
Not insignificant, but the paybacks are dramatic when you consider cutting energy bills by 90%.
You have to do this payback on a case by case basis, but if you’re planning on actually staying in your home for the long haul, its the way to go (unlike a solar panel, you wont’ be replacing it in 15 years).
If you’re moving in 5 years, it won’t pay back during your stay.
That is, of course, unless energy prices spike dramatically.
Also, as these homes catch on, some of the product costs (like R-10 German windows) will hopefully become more affordable.