Passive House REMODEL of a Volume Home Built Project

High volume homes are everywhere, and a lot of them don't perform as well as what they could. We can't knock them all down, so in this video, we are talking passive house, and a discussion of getting a mainstream home to perform to passive house principles, and getting certified to the passive house retrofit standard. Incredible work completed in this project, especially considering all the thermal bridges that would have needed to be resolve as apart of the retrofit.
Retrofitting air tightness is tough, but in this house it got nailed.
ecolibria.com.au
aphiprojects.com.au
#passivehouse #passivehouseretrofit #passivehouseprinciples
0:00 Before the Conversion
7:47 Air Barrier Installed
26:37 Tips on wrapping a home with an internal airtight wrap
28:38 Air Tightness Testing

[@nmitbuildingdesign]

A budget would be great to know. Good to see it’s a first. Certainly a big job but will be well worth it.

[@HardstylePete]

It's gotta be in excess of $50k right?

[@davo1188]

@@HardstylePete Definitely! 10 weeks passed and they were still working. If they're paying for 3 guys say $80/hr for 5 days a week there is $100k just for the labour. Probably more around the $150k mark I'd say.

[@marcsullivan3479]

Very impressive builder and team. Great to see a building owner willing to invest in this type of retrofit, Congratulations!

[@canusdominici]

Very informative. I’m surprised that the insulation was not put under the roof so that the roof cavity would be insulated, meaning the air exchanger and ducting could be in the roof space.

[@gavinhulme8837]

Great vid again guys! Congrats to Alphi and Raphael on a massive job. Well done.

[@KJSvitko]

Air sealing and blower door testing are under appreciated building techniques.
Building an energy efficient home saves money on utilities and is more comfortable.
Building codes need to require blower door testing and greater energy efficiency.

[@lloydkennedy7433]

I have been looking for a good retro fitting video 1970s Brick Veneer home for a why. This is an excellent example of what can be achieved. Great job! Hopefully I can improve our home a bit before winter. Thanks for all your tips and common mistakes.

[@alexouretski115]

Also, why isn’t anyone talking about the sheer craziness of having heating coming from the ceiling? It seems to be an Australian thing. Nobody in Europe would even think about putting heating vents in the ceiling. Well hydronic heating is generally what everyone should be switching to anyway from the cheap and nasty ducted heating.

[@1mysteriouslycurious]

Great video. Is there any updates to the house?

[@iteerrex8166]

That is super! If I may ask a question. I'd love to learn more about safe materials for our home we are about to build here in the States. Did you learn of any reference websites, books, documentations.. form the home owner? Thank you.

[@JD-bp7od]

Id like to do this in Florida

[@farzadaf]

How much did the whole project cost?

[@rossmcleod7983]

Always look forward to your vids boys, interesting as all get out, but not sure about all the off gassing membranes, tapes and insulation. Hempcrete and lime plaster would’ve been my preferred option and a conditioned attic space, but then that’s just me.

[@iteerrex8166]

I was thinking the same thing. The owner being a building biologist was very much involved, but i think his considerations were only conventional stuff. Not going for an "organically" safe living space.

[@rossmcleod7983]

iTeerRex yeah it’s hempcretes dynamic lambda and unique ability to control humidity, plus its diy friendliness and a bunch of other positive environmental credentials that float my boat. The more I find out about it, the more I like it. Extraordinary material properties.

[@captfrack]

I was hoping to see some footage of the makeup air system for the rangehood. Can you please give an overview of how that was done?

[@nathanwooldridge85]

Did they manage to keep the combustion fire and achieve the 0.5 value?

[@albertt7784]

Is the cost of this remodel project going to be slightly less or similar to the cost of a brand new build? Also since they installed a new roof and wanted a rendered look, why didn't they install an insulated cladding system on top of the brickwork? Which would provide the benefits of increased air tightness, thermal mass within the building envelope, etc.

[@josephcheung3964]

Unfortunately, I believe since year 2000, most of the project homes already built on the minimum "set back" allowed under the local planning schemes. Walls cannot be extended to outside on at least the two sides boring neighbours.

[@alexouretski115]

How is colorbond metal roof better than tiles? Is it because it is easier to insulate and waterproof?

[@thomasschafer7268]

Hätte ich nie gemacht bei soviel Kehlen und Graten .

[@acchaladka]

Yeah I think the 5-star system came online in 2008 or so.
Hi from Canada. I'd be super-interested if you could do a learning exchange kind of trip with Canadian PassivHaus / high-performance builders. Oz has kind of an inverse weather issue with heat like we do with cold in some areas, and I'd bet there's some very interesting learning to be exchanged or picked up in comparing with builders here. Maybe one of the trade offices has that kind of programme.

[@ecoevo]

acchaladka Great idea, Would be great to get out of lockdown! 🙃

[@ausguy4385]

What hot water systems do you recommend? Looking for a heat pump with tank. Had a system I liked that's still available in NZ that had a panel on the roof with a gas that build at 0c.
In cold climate so typical panel water heater fail after first cold winter.

[@chickenhawk9877]

I love your shows,
Just want to know what inline baffle you used for the the rangehood?
I've googled a lot of them and they all have gaps in the middle of the flaps so air can escape.

[@ecoevo]

We will try to find out.

[@chickenhawk9877]

@@ecoevo thank you

[@thomas536]

Was there a follow up video or any other details on this how it turned out in the end after internal finishes were done?

[@ecoevo]

There is a follow up for this video coming.

[@nathanwooldridge85]

How much does it cost for a blower door test? And how does the blower door test take account for door which the blower is attached to?

[@amdg1499]

But how much did it cost?

[@MrEediot]

You might have to say goodbye to that wood heater and get a fire pit outside to satisfy "sitting around the fire" need. On the plus side, you wont have to find wood and deal with the mess that they inevitably create.

[@alexouretski115]

Overall quality of the volume built buildings is just rubbish. Most ppl are not prepared to pay extra to get quality. This should be addressed at the standards level and take away building licenses from dodgy builders.

[@ssaini5028]

This project would probably cost as much as building a new passive home from the ground up

[@MrPillowFoot]

Why is no one wearing masks? (Edit: Older Footage)

[@ecoevo]

Old footage. 👍🏻

[@MrPillowFoot]

@@ecoevo Ahhh, I thought that might have been the case. Love the videos. Keep them coming. And do you guys work in the USA at all?

[@ecoevo]

MrPillowFoot You guys have Matt Risinger, what, would you need us for. 🤣😉

[@nicholasb.6018]

@@ecoevo not everyone has his budgets 😂

[@MrPillowFoot]

@@nicholasb.6018 Exactly. Haha

[@thomasschafer7268]

Wie soll das denn gehen? Keine Dämmung der Bodenplatte. Schlechtes. A/V Verhältnis. Aussenwanddämmung? Blower door Wert?