No furnace but heat aplenty in passive houses
Friday, January 2, 2009, 6:00 AM | Leave Comment
New York Times online ran a story about “No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in Passive Houses” by ELISABETH ROSENTHAL Published: December 26, 2008. In Darmstadt, Germany, a new development consists of houses that are heated by alternative energy.
“There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace”, the article claims.
It further states that “Architects in many countries, in attempts to meet new energy efficiency standards like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard in the United States, are designing homes with better insulation and high-efficiency appliances, as well as tapping into alternative sources of power, like solar panels and wind turbines.”
“The concept of the passive house, pioneered in this city of 140,000 outside Frankfurt, approaches the challenge from a different angle.
Using ultra thick insulation and complex doors and windows, the architect engineers a home encased in an airtight shell, so that barely any heat escapes and barely any cold seeps in.
That means a passive house can be warmed not only by the sun, but also by the heat from appliances and even from occupants’ bodies.”
Read the story on NY Times online in full: No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’
Moral of the story
There are many things we can do, here in the States, to save energy. The article further states that in Germany, passive houses cost only about 5 to 7 percent more to build than conventional houses.
I hope in the U.S., there will be no more than 7% additional cost to build similar houses.
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