Anatomy of an Intus window

Yo, Canada!

This past week we took a side trip as part of our journey through PassivHausworld. We ran up to Magog, a small town in one of Canada's Eastern Townships, to spend a few days at O Bois Dormant, a great B & B getaway with amazing breakfasts.  It was our last chance to get away for a couple of days before things become too intense with the building project. It was totally relaxing and just what I needed. Gerg, on the other hand, spent almost all his time working on PassivHaus research and muttering about how much he still had to learn and how May 1 was almost here (our building start date) and how he wished he had started all this preparation a year ago (although we didn't find out about his parents' move until the first week in January).

It's amazing how much we both have learned since starting this project. Ah, if only we had known all this when we designed and built our current house. Presumably we wouldn't have used those crappy windows, or as many of them. We would have used more insulation, although we already have a super-tight, heavily insulated house. But without the PHPP, how was one to judge?  We had great intentions about being as energy-efficient as we could, and we thought our walls and ceiling were "over-insulated"!  Who knew??  We've also learned about induction cooktops (bought a small Max Burton single burner one to try it out), mini-splits, condensing clothes dryers, trellis window shades, and other performance-enhancing gadgets from reading the great blogs of other PassivHaus builders...and it's great to be privy to the thoughts and experiences of fellow travelers on this path. More about those, with links, later.