Visitin'

Last month we had a great opportunity -- we got to visit another Passivhaus.  We met the builder, Ward Smith (Turtle Creek Builders) at the LEAP Energy Fair in Waterbury on April 13, and he generously invited us to tour their newly-constructed Passivhaus in Moretown. (Ward, by the way, won the "Vermont Builder of the Year" Award this past year.....and he wears the most amazing glasses. Round, and the latest pair is bright purple, although he is known for wearing bright red ones. Scoff not -- these things are important! If you bumped into him at the farmer's market, you'd definitely remember him.)

The enclosure for the outside portion of the mini-split.

Gerg, Indigo, Bailey (our doggy) and I met up with Ward, David Vissering, Chris and his business partner, Malcolm, at the Moretown General Store, and Ward led us up a short road to the house site. They did the usual housebuilder thing....looked at the eaves and the size of the overhang, the solar panels, and the vents....basically circled the house and examined parts of it until I started to get cold and asked if they minded if I went inside.

The guys looking around; Ward (in the light blue shirt) explaining.

Front of house with window-shading scheme.

Deep-set windows create their own window seats.

I took off my boots at the door, and the first thing I noticed was the warmth of the floor. Then the uniform warmth of the air in the room. Then I noticed the amount of light that was coming in, in spite of the fact that the window openings were about 18" deep.  Very nice.

Then, of course, I had to investigate the kitchen.  Induction cooktop by Maytag -- check. Super energy-efficient dishwasher by Fisher-Paykel -- check.

Fisher-Paykel two-drawer dishwasher uses only two gallons of water
to do a load of dishes and is so quiet you don't know it's on.  (We just got the single-drawer model and I love it!)

 High-efficiency washer and condensing dryer by Bosch -- check. 

Nice, functional kitchen

Great cabinets with lots of practical storage (Ward told me they were made by Kraftmaid).  

Fancy pull-out vertical storage frames the refrigerator,
shallow pantry shelves along adjacent wall.

The living room has a really nice view across the little valley.  Additional light comes in from the high window above the stairway, which opens via an electrical gizmo mounted on the wall.

Clerestory openable window above stairway.

The house is a bit unusual, as it was built specifically for two people with disabilities to live in with a full-time caregiver -- so there are three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, and some other accommodations.

We made our way downstairs, and another astonishing sensation -- the basement floor was warm to the foot. Because the slab is so well-insulated, it felt amazingly like a heated floor. Fantastic! It was so warm in the house, in fact, that the "air conditioning" was actually on. Which is one function of the mini-split, which is a heating and cooling unit made by Mitsubishi.

Indigo examines the mini-split.

Ward is a tireless raconteur, and extremely interesting.  I could actually listen to him talk for a really long time about things I barely understand -- which is what I did.

Ward holding forth about the Zehnder HRV.

It was so much fun to be in a real Passivhaus. We've been talking so abstractly, looking at charts and diagrams, and doing so much imagining.  To see it "in the flesh" ("in the wood"?) was a thrill.  Thanks, Ward!

This is the Sunward storage tank attached to the domestic hot water tank.

Sunward pumping station

Holding tank for solar hot water.