Yup, already on it. I've got the main duct sealed, I'm just working on all the branches now. I'm also looking for a place up here that sells insulation for the ducts. I've found some inulation, but the stuff I'm looking for has the inuslation on one side and the metalic shell around the outer.

My perimeter walls are insulated and finished...but I don't have any rooms or anything...the rest is all open...and no drop ceiling yet either. I'm just planning out the basemenet now. The perimeter wall was done before I bought the house.

Nobody is gonna ooh and ahh over a super high efficiency ERV or notice ultra efficient fenestration that might cost 5x as much as normal windows... well except us. :thumbup:

AC Hacker posted these links in another thread and I wanted to get them into this one for future reference.

Thermal Bridges - how to avoid them

Passivhaus Institut

I was reading my latest Shell Busey HouseSmart email, and saw he had an article on a passive house in Canada. He also linked to another passive house website. I haven't taken time to look through it yet, but the more info the better.

APG - Austrian Passive House Group (Passivhaus)

Local-Sourced Passive House in Wales
 

Here's an interesting page from UK about a very challenging Passive House project in Wales.


I found this article very interesting because a lot of the thinking (not always technical) that went into the project is on display in this interview.

Of particular interest is the very keen attention given to CO2 minimization, and local-sourcing of materials which is in line with CO2 reduction but also the training and encouragement of local labor and crafters to become involved, so it really looks like a triple-win to me.

It also got me thinking about the real cost of electricity, since such a large part of it is lost in transmission, and the coal fired power plants where it originates, and their huge contribution to CO2, and damaging emissions, and permanent damage to the environment in mining.

Similar thinking can be carried out about the true cost (real harm) of any non-renewable fuel.

So the initiatives that will drastically reduce our energy use are so valuable to us, in ways that are not s simple to calculate.

-AC_Hacker

It's nice when a company thinks about the energy needed to make the insulation and other parts. The diagram is interesting as well.

Less than 10%.

I'm a big wind power advocate, but you won't see me putting up a windmill. Due to economies of scale, centralization of power generation makes sense.

The vast majority of the life cycle pollution of an automobile comes from its operation, not its manufacture. I strongly suspect the same is true for conventional houses. Perhaps not so for Passivhäuser, where the carbon footprint of heating and cooling the house is vanishingly small. However: the reason these houses are not more common is the cost of building one. Anything that can be done to reduce the cost, e.g. trucking in Passivhaus windows from Germany to Wales, or using virgin materials if they're cheaper than recycled, is a step in the right direction, as it will result in better adoption of Passivhaus construction.

-AC_Hacker

Conclusion: The US has the equivalent of more than 140 cities the size of New York.

Market externalities drive down efficiency overall. An insistence on buying locally reduces the number of business competing for your patronage, and it causes some companies to do open up shop in the wrong locations. An extreme example is agriculture. If strawberries grow 50% better in California than in Buffalo, then Buffalo should import strawberries and perhaps export cheese. In a less extreme example, if there is already a massive fiberglass plant in Leeds, with millions spent on high efficiency, high output tooling, why open up a smaller, less efficient one in Cardiff?

changing old home to passive
 

I live in an old house build in early 50s and was wondering with a LIMITED budget how to start a change over into a passive style. What got me started was the fact that it is due for a new furnace and had a coversation with a friend about passive style homes. Do not have a clue if I need to start with a new insulation on home etc.