Build Your Home Ideas

Passive House and Radon Let me 1st start by saying - I am not Certified in anything Radon. I don't know what goes into the analysis in the lab and I only followed the instructions on the package.  Here is what I do know: Radon is a radioactive soil gas that can cause cancer.  Radon is a "heavy" gas Molar weight of 222 g/mol vs 44 g/mol of CO2 The major sources of Radon in homes (mostly basements) can be attributed to: Open Foundation Block cores Dirt Floors Cracks in your foundation Open Sump Pump Crocks When your drain tile is not filled with water, it is filled with soil gas (ie Radon) Basically direct any connection between the soil and your home can lead to Radon in your home. Mendon, NY has been identified as an area with high Radon levels (39-51% of the homes have greater than 4 pCi/L). It was certainly a concern for me from the start. A passive house is suppose to be super tight, thermal bridge free, and properly ventilated, but if Radon seeps into the house it cou...

Product and Material Links Given the house is just about finished I thought it would be helpful for everyone if I gave out the links to all of the "special" materials we used in our house along with links to where they came from for more information. Hope this will help! Sub Slab Radon Barrier:  Reef Industries T90 Griffolyn - roughly $0.40 per sqft - shipping included http://www.reefindustries.com/assets/pdf/t90.pdf This product was used instead of 6 mil poly due to the high radon in our area and came in 1 sheet sized for our slab. Very happy with this product! Capillary Break: MasterSeal HLM 5000 https://www.master-builders-solutions.basf.us/en-us/products/masterseal/1991 This product was used off label as a capillary break. We ran into some questions of EPS foam melting with a liquid applied capillary break. We called technical assistance and they assured us it would work for our application. No complaints here ICF Blocks: AMVIC - 13" Blocks - 2.5" EPS / 8" ...

Thermal Image Scan This weekend we will be moving into the Rochester Passive House! As a family we are VERY excited! The moving van is rented and we will begin collecting our things from various locations in Rochester on Friday. Before we filled the house with tables, chairs, toys and boxes I thought it would be a good idea to do a thermal imaging scan of the house. On Wednesday we had a 95+ degree day, and I figured it was a great opportunity. The ventilation system was not running, The Master Bedroom heat pump was set at 73 degrees and the 1st floor one was on "Dehumidify".  A few notes on thermal imagine scans for those of you  not familiar with them: The scan only is measuring surface temperature - it is not an x-ray. So cold spots or hot spots may be due to other factors (foot prints, electronics, wet paint etc.) not related to heat gain. Objects with different emisivities (shininess) will show different temperatures. This has to do with its ability to reflect infrared r...

Superior Comfort is achieved Passively Passive House is just as much about comfort as it is about energy efficiency. But what is COMFORT? Passive Houses are ultra comfortable because: 1) They are ALWAYS Draft Free! 2) They are ALWAYS Quiet! 3) They are ALWAYS Let in Lots of Sun Light! 4) They are ALWAYS Warm! 5) They ALWAYS have Fresh Filtered Air! 6) Oh - they are ALWAYS Low Energy! So lets talk "Comfort" for a minute... While writing this post I did an internet search for images of "Comfort" and after seeing photo's of Mattresses, Bra's and Lasagna and having a good laugh and some internal comments about our society I decided I had to narrow down my search to "Home Comfort". There were 2 common themes: Fireplaces, coffee, blankets and snow out the windows Fireplaces are not exactly Passive House Comfort So this is a little closer White, bright, couches and smiles Now - guess the season... You never know in a Passive House! So, there is more to co...