I’ve seen several projects pursue both LEED Platinum and Passive House certification, but I can’t think of any that actually went through with the aim other than this Passive House, Platinum-certified home in Taos, New Mexico. The 2,400 square-foot home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage, and 1.1 acres of land with a serene, scenic view of Taos Mountain to the east, Truchas Peaks to the South, and pasture land to the west.
Construction of this home was with 12″ walls filled with cellulose and covered with 2″ of rigid foam (R52) and a roof of loose-fill cellulose to approximately R102. The windows and doors, Serious Windows, have double-glazing and a third heat-shield layer in the middle.
In addition, the home has LEDs and CFLs, a radon mitigation system, an ERV for ventilation, and rainwater harvesting for the garden and landscape.
Interior walls were finished with a custom plaster mix of Kaolin Clay, Mica, flour, sand, straw, and coloring, while the exterior is finished with a cement plaster base coat covered by cementitious stucco.
There’s powered generated from a 2.8 kW photovoltaic array connected to the grid and a five-panel drainback solar thermal system with a 650-gallon solar water storage tank for most of the home’s domestic hot water needs.
The Passive House residence was built by Ben van Willigen, BvW Inc Construction; Joaquin Karcher of Zero E Design; Michael Tarleton of Tarleton Engineering; and Wolfgang Meller of Energy Consulting in Shokan, New York.
