Northwest Perspective. Color Rendering, April 2018

Inspired by other trailblazing Passive House homeowners, we decided to started this blog to document our own journey in designing, building and living in a resilient high-performance modern home in Long Branch, New Jersey. By doing so, we hope to use our home as a showcase to educate and encourage others to adopt the Passive House standard and to build more resilient and green homes.  If all goes well, we could be the first Passive House Plus home certified by the Passive House Institute in New Jersey and the first certified Passive House in Monmouth County and the City of Long Branch.

First and foremost, this blog will focus on Passive House construction and design but we’ll also cover topics on modern architecture and living.

As a design philosophy, we tend towards Minimalism. In the design of our house, we strive to create a better living environment through simplicity - simplicity in form, space, material, detail and color. With restraint, careful editing and the use of simple detailing and honest materials, we strive to create a home that exudes the calmness, warmth and beauty that makes minimalist spaces so appealing to us.

Aesthetics aside, a modern home is designed for modern living. Good modern design is about creating an environment that fosters a high quality of life and embraces the way we live today. A well thought out and deliberate architecture provides a safe secure setting that nurtures the elements that matter most: friends, family, food and sharing. To this end, it would be irresponsible to build a new modern home along the Jersey Shore without taking into consideration the escalating impacts of climate change, rising sea levels, rising cost of utilities and more frequent extreme weather events. Many of the strategies that make a home resilient are exactly the ones that make it green, and a Passive House employs many of the same strategies.

What is a Passive House?

Not to be confused with passive solar design which refers solely to the use of the sun’s energy for the heating and cooling needs of a home, a Passive House (also known as “passivehaus” in German) is a building that adheres to a strict international building standard developed by the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt, Germany, for energy efficiency in building construction. It results in an ultra-low energy home which typically uses 90% less energy for heating and cooling and up to 75% less in primary energy usage compared to conventionally built new homes. The Passive House standard well exceeds the currently adopted 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)  and the Zero-Energy Ready Home Tier of New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program. To achieve the rigorous requirements of the standard, the home is designed with the following passive measures and principles:

	Solar orientation Very heavy insulation (more than double the typical amount) with absences of thermal bridges Ultra-airtight construction Triple pane windows Continuous balanced ventilation using mechanical Heat/Energy Recovery Ventilation (HRV/ERV)
[source: www.passivehouseacademy.com]

For more details on the energy standards and criteria for a Passive House, see here.