Great channel, I am not a builder but just trying to educate myself on passive house design for the future. My question is regarding the vapour barrier after the drywall. Is it causing more issues than if it is not there? Especially for those that have external insulation via Styrofoam or zip sheathing?
My opinion is that Vapour Barriers that "don't facilitate drying from excess moisture in the wall" are the issue. There are vapour barriers that allow moisture to move in 1 - direction back through the drywall into the house. When all the insulation is outside the wall, then you can combine the Water Repellant Barrier, Vapour Barrier, and Air Barrier in to "one" and keep it outside the house. That is BY FAR my preferred approach because it isolates the structure of the house from substantially all the moisture related issues that I am seeing in the field.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. My concern is with rockwool increasing heat in the summer months, as well with the poly iso future breakdown . Have you used gutex or timber hp products Woodfiber products?
Gerrit, I do not have any personal experience with gutex but know a few building professionals who really like it. Regarding Rockwool increasing heat - All insulation varieties if installed propery will cause similar challenges with “retaining heat” in the summer. So I recommend having a cooling strategy to supplement “passive cooling” regardless of what insulation you choose - gutex included.
Aaron, great question. The answer is no - it is not hard to maintain if its built properly... Thats because you will have a house that if full of: Great Wall insulation (not a maintenance item) Great windows and doors (not a maintenance item for 30+ years) Great foundation insulation (not a maintenance item) Things like HRV/ERV's will need to be maintained with filters... like a typical furnace Solar panels are rated to 25 years typically (not a maintenance item) - after 25 years they are simply less efficient -but still functional. The roof should last 25 years - which is typical for any home. So, what I am trying to say is that being Passive or High Performance does not increase your maintenance at all. It may in fact shrink it, because of the thoughtful design that often accompanies the construction of these types of homes.
@@levelupstrategies thanks for taking the time to reply, usually when you pay more for something or high end it usually costs more to maintain. I have solar panels and love them. But been looking at passive houses for a long time trying to decide how to make one work with everything I think I want. From my limited research it seems like the people who build passive houses in the area I want to build in only build luxury houses so the prices are astronomical and then on top of that you have to buy land to. I would love to see more passive house communities so it's easier for people to buy into it with out the cutting corners/sacrificing quality like you mentioned in another video
@@Abmonsta1 I totally hear you on that. Just like any home thats built, when you get into the luxury market there is really no limit to the potential cost of construction. Which, as you have noted, makes it difficult for people who just want to access the energy efficiency without the extravagant interior finishings.
Well done. Thanks for getting this conversation moving. The future is now for home building. Now we just have to get house wrap off the market!
Do you have a recommendation for an energy consultant in the UK? I'm considering retrofitting an old house.
Adrian, unfortunately I don’t. I have not had a chance to connect with any energy advisors in the UK yet.
Best of luck!
Great channel, I am not a builder but just trying to educate myself on passive house design for the future. My question is regarding the vapour barrier after the drywall. Is it causing more issues than if it is not there? Especially for those that have external insulation via Styrofoam or zip sheathing?
My opinion is that Vapour Barriers that "don't facilitate drying from excess moisture in the wall" are the issue. There are vapour barriers that allow moisture to move in 1 - direction back through the drywall into the house.
When all the insulation is outside the wall, then you can combine the Water Repellant Barrier, Vapour Barrier, and Air Barrier in to "one" and keep it outside the house.
That is BY FAR my preferred approach because it isolates the structure of the house from substantially all the moisture related issues that I am seeing in the field.
@@levelupstrategies thanks so much for the info !!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. My concern is with rockwool increasing heat in the summer months, as well with the poly iso future breakdown . Have you used gutex or timber hp products Woodfiber products?
Gerrit, I do not have any personal experience with gutex but know a few building professionals who really like it.
Regarding Rockwool increasing heat - All insulation varieties if installed propery will cause similar challenges with “retaining heat” in the summer.
So I recommend having a cooling strategy to supplement “passive cooling” regardless of what insulation you choose - gutex included.
Is it hard to maintain a high performance home/passive house if it is built correctly?
Aaron, great question. The answer is no - it is not hard to maintain if its built properly...
Thats because you will have a house that if full of:
Great Wall insulation (not a maintenance item)
Great windows and doors (not a maintenance item for 30+ years)
Great foundation insulation (not a maintenance item)
Things like HRV/ERV's will need to be maintained with filters... like a typical furnace
Solar panels are rated to 25 years typically (not a maintenance item) - after 25 years they are simply less efficient -but still functional.
The roof should last 25 years - which is typical for any home.
So, what I am trying to say is that being Passive or High Performance does not increase your maintenance at all. It may in fact shrink it, because of the thoughtful design that often accompanies the construction of these types of homes.
@@levelupstrategies thanks for taking the time to reply, usually when you pay more for something or high end it usually costs more to maintain. I have solar panels and love them. But been looking at passive houses for a long time trying to decide how to make one work with everything I think I want. From my limited research it seems like the people who build passive houses in the area I want to build in only build luxury houses so the prices are astronomical and then on top of that you have to buy land to. I would love to see more passive house communities so it's easier for people to buy into it with out the cutting corners/sacrificing quality like you mentioned in another video
@@Abmonsta1 I totally hear you on that. Just like any home thats built, when you get into the luxury market there is really no limit to the potential cost of construction. Which, as you have noted, makes it difficult for people who just want to access the energy efficiency without the extravagant interior finishings.
Looking for attractive Passive Haus infill Lot home Designs suitable to Manitoba's climate.
Isn't the value gained over the long haul, 30 + years?