I met with the architect today, in part to review the current project working on, but also to review process in general.
The residential building Design process with Passive House is in some ways more similar to building a commercial project, then your typical home build.
There are many things that you need to have specifically and directly determined prior to the drawings being finished. These items would be everything from who are the manufactures of the equipment you’re going to use for heating plumbing and air handling, to what appliances you are planning on, what is the air filtration system going to be used, and many other things like that. Not what you would typically do in a residential built when many of these items are even considered until well past the frame of the house being put up!
And while Passive House is not expensive to build because of it's nature, it does not have to be a luxury product from a price for materials perspective. Durability is key so quality is vital. A Passive House structure is built for the long term, and durability of the building is paramount to the success of a passive house project. There are varying grades of different materials that can be used as long as quality and durability are keep as the top priority.
I am developing a list of manufactures and suppliers that I will categorize as acceptable to be used in Passive House. I am categorizing them according to what price and value equation they offer. Similar to a good/better,/best list for use when we are first developing parameters with a new customer. We can in this way pre-determine who we’re going to be using as suppliers and in this way we can know what price range and value equation is needed for a specific project.
Also factoring into that equation is the customers personal preference in taste as well as the style of the home being built. For example on a craftsman style home you would not want to use sleek modern windows, rather more of a wood and wood look is appropriate. So those things fractor in as well and this is why it's vital to know what suppliers would be appropriate for a Passive House build from the very beginning of the project.
So much came from my meeting with the Architect's team. It was a good meeting which gave me good direction and focus to create the best experience for future customers. These customers will benefit from my own experience, not only as a General Contractor, but also as the customer building a Passive House.