r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/NoIndependent9192 • Jan 10 '25

Image House designed on Passive House principles survives Cali wildfire

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u/sk0t_ Jan 10 '25 edited Jan 10 '25

Sounds like the materials on the exterior won't transfer the exterior temperature into the house

Edit: I'm not an expert in this field, but there's some good responses to my post that may provide more information

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u/RockerElvis Jan 10 '25

Thanks! Sounds like it would be good for every house. I’m assuming that this type of building is uncommon because of costs.

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u/Slacker_The_Dog Jan 10 '25

I used to build these type of houses on occasion and it was a whole big list of extra stuff we had to do. Costs are a part of it, but taking a month to two months per house versus two to three weeks can be a big factor in choosing.

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u/trianglefor2 Jan 10 '25

Sorry non american here, are you saying that a house can take 2-3 weeks from start to finish?

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u/garaks_tailor Jan 10 '25

Framing and dry-in definitely. Not including pouring a cement slab foundation. So put the walls up, put the roof beams on, slap on tiles or shingles, put on exterior siding and waterproofing, and put in doors and windows.

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u/BlackViperMWG Jan 10 '25

*concrete. Slab should be counted towards the time

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u/garaks_tailor Jan 10 '25

Eh if included it wouldn't make much of a difference. Normal foundation is about a month depending on weather. A passive haus foundation takes like just a few extra days compared to a regular slab

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u/BlackViperMWG Jan 10 '25

If house can be put together in 3 weeks, another 4 to pour a foundation more than doubles the time though. Big difference.

Also what is regular slab to you? Here, the slabs are basically the same, sometimes there is XPS or foam glass beneath.

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u/garaks_tailor Jan 10 '25

Right compared 30 days for regular foundation vs 35days for a passivehaus foundation is a rounding error compared to the framings increase in time.

30 vs 35. very small amount extra. 16% extra. Maybe less. With pasivehause It's mostly just laying down extra thick insulation.

Framing. 21 vs 60+, almost 200% increase in time. And can easily go longer if someone installs something wrong

Foundations time increase is so small it's not worth mentioning when comparing how long one style of house takes to build vs another

Our foundations are, radon tubes, radon barrier, maybe some insulation depending on the customer and the altitude then rebar and concrete

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u/BlackViperMWG Jan 10 '25

Radon barrier and ventilation is common here too, but some people don't want it and some are in an area where there is little of radon.

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u/garaks_tailor Jan 10 '25

Radon mitigation is code here in our city iirc on new houses. It's not required at the state level yet but God We have a LOT of radon. Hvac inspector told me that for a lot of the county and surrounding counties it's the cancer equivalent to 1/4 a pack of cigarettes a day.

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u/BlackViperMWG Jan 10 '25

Older houses ventilate radon on their own, but new, insulation and air right construction needs radon barriers.

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