<div dir="ltr">on the subject of passive house vs pretty good house--I think that to make this into a conflict is setting up a false dilemma. At some point, it would be valuable to derive some rules of thumb for building in a given climate, to skip the intensive analysis that PH certification entails. at the same time, in any given climate, a house is not a house is not a house...the thermal behavior of a house will vary according to scale, massing, and exposure. <div>
<br></div><div>it goes back to what your objective is. if it's energy per square foot, it's got to be detailed thermal analysis. If it's a more nebulous, "pretty good practice for whatever I'm building," then it's PGH. But they are not mutually exclusive approaches. PGH could benefit from, say, an understanding of whether high or low SHG works better on a given exposure, or whether another inch or two of insulation in the ceiling improves performance better than in the walls. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Intuition only gets you so far. At the extreme end of my thoughts is the notion that, at some point, PGH is a deliberate dumbing down of design. But I am trying to shake it.</div><div><br></div><div>
AA</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 6:38 AM, Alan Abrams <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:alan@abramsdesignbuild.com" target="_blank">alan@abramsdesignbuild.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">re the GB advisor article:<div><br></div><div>some people recoil at the notion of large amounts of sub slab insulation, but this is about heat loss via conduction, rather than convection loss through walls and roofs. Heat loss to soil is different than heat loss to air. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Conversely (assuming you are looking at net heat loss through the building envelope), increasing, say wall insulation, to compensate for heat loss under a slab, requires more and more complex assemblies. It also requires either expanding the footprint--adding roof area, increasing tax assessments, etc--or reducing interior area. So there can be some advantages to dumping some more insulation where it does not have a big impact on other building assemblies.</div>
<div><br></div><div>the downside is that there seems to be no reasonable substitute for foam. My present thinking (not yet implemented) is to put the slab on the ground where it belongs, and insulate on top of it, and cover with a floating floor system. let point loads penetrate as they must. </div>
<div><br></div><div>-AA</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5">On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 7:59 PM, Sacie Lambertson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sacie.lambertson@gmail.com" target="_blank">sacie.lambertson@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="h5"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">
If you can open this, herewith an interesting Passive Haus article:<br>
<br><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/garden/the-passive-house-sealed-for-freshness.html?pagewanted=1&hpw" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/garden/the-passive-house-sealed-for-freshness.html?pagewanted=1&hpw</a><br>
<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">juxtaposed against this discussion suggesting as an alternative:<br><br><a href="http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/guest-blogs/pretty-good-house" target="_blank">http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/guest-blogs/pretty-good-house</a><span><font color="#888888"><br>
<br></font></span></div><span><font color="#888888"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">Sacie<br></div></font></span></div>
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</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><font><font><span style="color:rgb(102,0,0)">Alan Abrams</span></font><b style="color:rgb(102,0,0)"><br></b><i><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102)">certified professional building designer, AIBD<br>
certified passive house consultant, PHIUS</span></i></font><div><i><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102)">certified passive house builder, PHIUS</span></i><font><span style="color:rgb(102,0,0)"><font color="#666666"><i><br>
</i></font></span><font><span style="color:rgb(102,0,0)">Abrams Design Build LLC</span></font><font size="4"><br style="color:rgb(102,0,0)"><font><i style="color:rgb(102,0,0)">sustainable design for <font>intentional</font> living</i></font></font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font><br>
</font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font>cell </font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font>202-437-8583</font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font><br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><font><font><span style="color:rgb(102,0,0)">Alan Abrams</span></font><b style="color:rgb(102,0,0)"><br></b><i><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102)">certified professional building designer, AIBD<br>
certified passive house consultant, PHIUS</span></i></font><div><i><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102)">certified passive house builder, PHIUS</span></i><font><span style="color:rgb(102,0,0)"><font color="#666666"><i><br>
</i></font></span><font><span style="color:rgb(102,0,0)">Abrams Design Build LLC</span></font><font size="4"><br style="color:rgb(102,0,0)"><font><i style="color:rgb(102,0,0)">sustainable design for <font>intentional</font> living</i></font></font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font><br>
</font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font>cell </font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font>202-437-8583</font></font><font style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" size="1"><font><br>
<a style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" href="mailto:alan@abramsdesignbuild.com" target="_blank">alan@abramsdesignbuild.com</a><br style="color:rgb(102,102,102)">
<a style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" href="http://www.abramsdesignbuild.com/" target="_blank">www.abramsdesignbuild.com</a></font></font><br></div>
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