Passive House Northwest AIA CEU Provider Passive House Case Studies: Roy Passivhaus, Owl Haven Passive, and View Haus 5 AIA Course # phnw087 Various March 27, 2015
Credit(s) earned on completion of this course will be reported to AIA CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-aia members are available upon request. This course is registered with AIA CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product. Questions related to specific materials, methods, and services will be addressed at the conclusion of this presentation.
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Course Description A comprehensive look into three projects utilizing green building science in the Pacific Northwest. Two single family residences and one town home project, each demonstrating distinctive high performance, Passive House standards.
Learning Objectives At the end of the this course, participants will be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. Participants will be able to summarize energy efficiency, ventilation, design, and construction criteria for the Passive house standard; Participants will be able to identify technical challenges of applying passive house design principles to both single-family residential and multi-family housing; Participants will be able to identify key cost premiums and constructability challenges; Attendees will be able to apply lessons learned to reduce future costs and barriers to adoption for this aggressive energy efficiency standard.
Overcoming Constraints N E W S
Wall Assembly 5.5 Blown-in Fiberglass WRB Prosoco Window Wrap 4 Roxul Rockboard ¾ Batten Rainscreen R-39 Wall
Windows and Doors Pros Performance Cost Cons Buyer Understanding of energy savings Window Operation Delivery Time
Nuts and Bolts Zehnder HRV Mitsubishi Minisplits Navien Tankless hot water with ondemand recirc loop
The Design
Spec Projects How do they work? Buy dirt from dirt guy Fast cookie cutter design Simple design, easy to build Build it cheap Cut corners, code minimum Nice (but cheap!) finishes Listing agent is the dirt guy Margin=Value Created and Captured - Cost of Creating that Value Spec houses, copy paste
PH Spec Projects How do they work? Buy dirt from dirt guy Don t tell the lender it s a PH Complex design Design iterations: CPHC, Structural Eng, Arch=$$ Build complexity & cost $$ More supervision $$ Nice (but cheap!) finishes Listing agent is the dirt guy Margin = Value Created and Captured - Cost of Creating that Value Zola, Roxul, barnwood
Marketing Considerations PH costs more and is better Need to charge more to capture value How to reach buyers? If they walk in, they won t notice How to engage during open houses? How to engage outside of open houses? PR, press, outreach, exposure, messaging Agent training builder led training on PH Extra effort, time, costs associated with the above Extra hassle given the opportunity cost to buyers agents to just go sell other standard inventory, easier to understand
Marketing Results Signage Strong presence at open houses Builder and staff attended nearly every open house PR, press, outreach, exposure Agent training builder led training was provided to about 25 agents, some of whom brought us buyers 3 (of 5) units sold PH premium captured, for the most part Slower absorption than typical product Buyer inspectors had challenges with exterior Roxul Appraisers had no issues with value
Market Observations Spoken to 100+ buyers last 60 days Some 20 -ish percent genuinely appreciate the Passive House concept and grasp the basics PH Buyer Pool greatly reduced to intersection between Active Buyers and those who value PH Value of PH is possible (not easy) to articulate It is possible to charge a PH premium However: Most buyers have never heard of it Nor has their agent Uphill battle to get them to see it and pay for it Heard of PH Active Buyers Open to PH Concept
Comparison The Bad News I can t give you conclusive answers Not possible to make accurate comparisons, or draw valid conclusions This is only a 5 unit development, N is too small and all units were different, not cookie cutter: size ranges, some views, some not, some no parking This project is totally unique, at a unique location at one unique point in time There is no valid way to generalize from this result back to other projects Hard to quantify PH Cost Premium or PH sale premium The Good News I think it costs about 5-7% more than BG4* (for us, results may vary) AND I think it yields about a 5-10% sale premium
Realtors Specifically Buyers agents Many are good but I have observed on occasion: the Need to instill confidence in buyer Know the answer to things, and may even lie to hide ignorance Gain buyer confidence by bad-mouthing things about a property Induction example
Conclusions Challenges Market does not know what Passive House is Most buyers barely know anything about houses Agents don t know enough PH costs more to build 5%? PH costs more to certify Longer build duration Slower market absorption Positives Builders can build it, not too complex Some buyers value PH Some agents get PH Can capture PH premium
Opportunities Opportunities Educate on PH quality up and down the value chain, buyers, agents Municipal incentives? FAR bonus > BG4* Start pre-sales early to expand market exposure for niche buyer pool Or just figure out how to do PH for zero cost add Overall: Lower the cost to produce PH, increase the marketing, PH brand awareness, more FAR bonus for PH, keep upping energy codes
www.cascadebuilt.com sloan@cascadebuilt.com 206-354-3455
This concludes The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems Course Passive House Northwest education@phnw.org