Announcing ECO CUSTOM HOMES COASTAL COMING JANUARY 2022!

Modern. Sustainable. Atlanta. 404.303.7280

passive-house

    • January

      13

      2013
    • 1782
    • 0

    Making Healthier, Greener Foam Insulation

    I’ve come down fairly hard on certain types of foam insulation over the years. The downsides include theblowing agents used in extruded polystyrene (XPS) and most closed-cell spray polyurethane foam and the flame retardants that are added to all foam-plastic insulation to impart some level of fire resistance.

    Now there’s an effort afoot to change building codes in a way that would allow manufacturers to remove the hazardous flame retardants. This is the subject of a just-published……..

    READ MORE
    • January

      13

      2013
    • 2572
    • 0

    The Butler-Nissen Passive House replaced a Walker and Weeks mansion

    The bigger question raised by the Nissen-Butler house is whether the architectural requirements of Passive House design have negative implications ……..

    READ MORE
    • November

      18

      2012
    • 1719
    • 0

    Tips for Buying an Energy Efficient House

    Buying an energy efficient home can be a great investment that will save you money on energy costs in the long term in addition to increasing the resale value of your home, when you’re ready to move on. With increasing consumer awareness of environmental issues, it’s growing much easier to find energy efficient homes, but it helps to be armored with some tips before you set out on your home buying journey. Savvy buyers can find the perfect house for their needs and negotiate……

    READ MORE
    • October

      27

      2012
    • 2023
    • 0

    An Affordable Prefabbed Passive House Line Is Launched

    It used to be that a green home was an expensive home. Call it a combination of higher material costs and the need for a little more know-how than the kind that goes into your average tract home — the upshot was that building green was out of reach for a lot of the people. Slowly, though, that’s been changing, and one of the key factors in increasing the cost-effectiveness of green building has been prefabrication.

    A number of different companies have been making a name for themselves with LEED-ready prefabs in recent years,

    READ MORE
    • October

      27

      2012
    • 1761
    • 0

    Four Insights from a Passive House Retreat

    The same can be said for energy choices. An ultra-efficient home can be an expression of a non-financial value such as the desire to avoid using fossil fuels, consume less overall energy, or emit less CO2, according to Horowitz and Goldman. Similarly, the decision to use renewable energy could be driven not by payback but by a desire to advance the use of renewable energy.

    Passive House Retreat obtained LEED Gold certification and the systems include a Mitsubishi ducted air-source heat pump (HSPF 10, SEER 15.5), Zehnder Comfoair HRV, and a GE GeoSpring heat pump water heater. The build includes a double-stud wall assembly with spray foam …

    READ MORE
    • September

      18

      2012
    • 2678
    • 0

    Floating passive house close to mass production

    The Dutch subsidiary of IBC Solar AG, one of the world’s leading system integrators for photovoltaics, has helped bring AUT-ARK home, a floating passive home, a step closer to mass production. A prototype of AUT-ARK is currently anchored in Maastricht (Netherlands) and draws a huge number of interested visitors during its opening hours due to its unconventional construction design.

    IBC Solar B.V. provided its support for the planning, technical design and installation of the photovoltaic system for this unique, future-oriented project, which is powered by a total of 24 photovoltaic modules with a total output of 6,360 Wp (watt peak), an inverter and a solar energy storage unit.

    The home was designed by Pieter Kromwijk (Architectuur Coenegracht & Kromwijk, Maastricht) focusing on minimum energy demand, and is currently anchored in Maastricht. The prototype took nine months to build, and IBC Solar explains that “owing to the considerable interest shown, the floating passive home will soon be going into mass production. Then each home will only take 4 months to build”.

    “The AUT-ARK Home is a perfect example of how the homes of the future will look,” claims Peter Meijers, Managing Director of IBC Solar B.V. in the Netherlands enthusiastically. Once it has been anchored at its mooring, the passive house does not need to be connected to a waterside power supply – electricity and water are produced and treated by the home itself.

    “This is of particular interest in those areas where there is an abundance of rivers and lakes and only limited housing space. This problem could be solved with the passive house, which offers a new, self-sufficient living space,” explains Meijers. Thanks to its innovative construction and self-sufficiency concept, the floating passive home is ten times more energy-friendly than a conventional home of a comparable size.

    Peter Meijers was immediately convinced of the idea of the self-sufficient home and offered his advice in designing the power supply from the very beginning. The planning stage of the project was quite complicated. For example, the construction plans for the passive home were altered several times. IBC Solar B.V. adapted the energy concept for each draft accordingly. IBC Solar B.V. t

    READ MORE
    • September

      8

      2012
    • 3002
    • 0

    New Mexican Adobe, German Efficiency Style

    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.

    READ MORE
    • August

      22

      2012
    • 1500
    • 0

    Zero Net-Energy Ready Homes to be Certified by Energy Department Partnership

    For people who think Passive House is a Fad.

    On Monday, August 20, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a newpartnership between the DOE Challenge Homeprogram and the Passive House Institute US to cooperate on the promotion of various levels of high-performance buildings on the path to zero net-energy.

    This news is a huge development for the passive house community and for PHIUS. The endorsement of PHIUS+ passive house certification through the DOE instantly makes passive house the most energy efficient option for builders, designers and developers who want to achieve a zero energy building. This recognition will go a long way toward making passive house mainstream.

    This took a lot of time and effort, and we owe thanks to Sam Rashkin, Chief Architect at the DOE, whose knowledge, vision and determination were critical to the effort. (Sam was the keynote at last year’s North American Passive House Conference.)

    So, how does this partnership change current PHIUS+ passive house certification and what do consultants need to know?

    In a nutshell: not much. A passive house already fulfills most of the Challenge Home requirements – certification essentially remains the same process with a few minor additions! Those additions are very good improvements, making the home even better. Indoor air quality requirements ask for low VOC materials and the water efficiency requirements establish a reasonable savings baseline, all good things.

    The Challenge Home requires rigorous third-party, on-site verification, which already is part of PHIUS+. PHIUS+ certified RESNET Raters already use an advanced passive house checklist created specifically for passive houses. (This testing protocol is actually more rigorous than the one the Challenge Home is using.)

    What Challenge Home brings to the table that PHIUS+ did not before is a more formalized exterior water management and flashing checklist. Having seen quite a few bad water management details during certification so far, we are happy to add a more formalized process to assure the long term durability of the house. QAQC is crucial to assure quality in execution, actual performance and peace of mind for the client we found.

    READ MORE
    • June

      22

      2012
    • 2381
    • 0

    Japanese ‘Light House’ | Optimising Natural Light Without the Heat

    With extensive benefits, natural lighting is a key focus for the modern interior designer. Natural lighting in green buildings is even more important, and the balancing act between natural light allowance and solar shading is a challenge for designers around the world.

    A clever piece of innovation from a Japanese architectural firm, however, demonstrates that extensive natural lighting does not have to mean thermal gain. Architectural firm Takeshi Hosaka architects have developed the ‘Daylight House’ in Yokohama

    READ MORE
    • June

      2

      2012
    • 2209
    • 0

    Ventilation in Passive Housing – Why Doesn’t Airtight Housing Choke?

    We know that ventilation is incredibly important in developing comfortable and practical interior design – but when we’re dealing with a passive house; a highly energy efficient building that is known for its key feature of airtight insulation – the means of ventilation are paramount.
    The passive house design means that through high levels of insulation and window energy efficiency, airflow into of out of the building is limited. A complete lack of fresh air amounts to an unliveable building.
    Equally important as this highly energy efficient design – which generally gets all the media attention – are the ventilation processes that, as anyone who deals in passive design development knows, are the key element in providing liveable interiors.
    However, air quality issues are not the only problem that faces a building that doesn’t ‘breathe’. Moisture can develop, causing mold and.

    READ MORE
    • June

      2

      2012
    • 1434
    • 0

    Energy efficient home nets cash for owners

    If things go as planned, Ashley Warren and Anthony Spicer won’t pay an electric bill at their new home in Whitley County. They’ll be getting a check from the power company instead.

    The couple and their three daughters recently moved into a house designed to use 90 percent less energy for heating and cooling than a conventional home.

    The house also has solar panels on the roof that generate power to sell back to the electric company.

    Spicer said the electric bill at the house they rented before moving averaged $350 to $370 a month.

    “It’s going to mean everything” to get rid of that payment, Spicer said. “We’re going to be able to buy things we couldn’t normally buy because of this.”

    READ MORE
    • June

      2

      2012
    • 4814
    • 0

    Light 12-Glazed Window on the Horizon, at R-38

    In the USA, most windows are probably single- or double-glazed and some builders will use triple-glazed windows for Passive House and other high-performance homes. But in Hanover, Germany, a 12-glazed window prototype by Mariusz Paszkowski and Antoni Kostka was the star of the recent International Passive House Conference, according toDer Standard. Check out these windows with aerogel!

    The two scientists, in conjunction with SUPERWINDOWS, showcased INVIS160stack and INVIS160tweed, and both of the prototypes are about 160 mm thick, though they weigh no more than a double- or triple-glazed window unit.

    READ MORE
    • April

      15

      2012
    • 1562
    • 0

    Beat the heat: how a new type of eco home is helping tackle global warming

    Beat the heat: how a new type of eco home is helping tackle global warming The Ecologist The heat storage capacity of different materials is one of the most important features of building a passive house , explains Swift, which is why several of the designs on the site are partly buried underground, to make the most of the constant …

    READ MORE
    • April

      15

      2012
    • 1876
    • 0

    Habitat builds passive house in Berea

    Habitat builds passive house in Berea Lexington Herald Leader A family in Berea is getting an energy-efficient home from Habitat for Humanity. The Richmond Register (http://bit.ly/HkaBZC) reports it is Habitat for Humanity’s first ” passive ” home in the state, which means it exceeds federal Energy Star ratings and … Berea family getting Habitat’s first; Passive home in Kentucky.

    READ MORE
    • April

      15

      2012
    • 1726
    • 0

    Energy Efficient Buildings in Demand Worldwide

    We cannot sustainably keep pace with the world’s continuously growing hunger for energy if we continue along our current path. Especially in the building sector, however, there exists an enormous potential for energy savings where we can reduce energy use by 80 to 90% without any reduction in comfort.

    Countries around the world are realizing this. Only “Net zero energy buildings” will be built inSouth Korea and California as of 2020 and throughout Europe, all new builds will have to be constructed as “nearly zero energy buildings” by 2020. Europe’s future energy efficiency directive also calls for high annual retrofit rates of public building stock

    READ MORE
    • March

      18

      2012
    • 1460
    • 0

    PHA Atlanta, Brings Passive House Training to Atlanta in June

    Passive House Training is coming to Atlanta in June & July. Click here to see more information on the up coming classes.

    READ MORE
    • January

      22

      2012
    • 2216
    • 0

    Video: The Passive House Revolution By Charles Hoxie

    Video: The Passive House Revolution By Charles Hoxie.Twenty years ago, German physicists erected a home that demonstrated how little energy a building would need if built with, among other things, thick insulation and airtight walls. The so-called “ Passive House ” (or “Passivhaus” in German) was soon …

    READ MORE
    • January

      22

      2012
    • 1879
    • 0

    Start of the Passive House Design Contest – publics.bg

    Тhе registration for the first edition of the electronic design competition for a passive house in the village of Lozen, near Sofia, Bulgaria has started. The event is set up by Passive House Bulgaria and the agenda has been published on the …

    READ MORE
    • January

      22

      2012
    • 1722
    • 0

    10 Green Building Predictions for 2012 from Earth Advantage Institute – MarketWatch (press release)

    10 Green Building Predictions for 2012 from Earth Advantage Institute MarketWatch (press release) Portland State University’s mechanical engineering department recently partnered with a local builder to measure the effects of phase change material used as insulation in a duplex passive house , while Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories is …

    READ MORE
    • January

      22

      2012
    • 1491
    • 0

    How green is their valley? Ebbw Vale residents sought to test eco homes

    The United Welsh Housing Association is running a competition to find people to live in and assess two homes built on the site of a former steel works at Ebbw Vale in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales. The homes, built to showcase the “Passivhaus” concept, are in a group of state-of-the-art homes built for the 2010 National Eisteddfod.

    READ MORE
Search
Latest Posts

Categories

Tags

alpharetta custom home builder alpharettacustom home builder alpharetta custom homes alpharetta home builder alpharetta homes alpharetta luxury homes alpharetta new homes atlanta atlanta custom home builder atlanta custom homes Atlanta Home Builder Atlanta Home Renovation Buckhead buckhead atlanta homes buckhead custom home builder buckhead custom homes buckhead home builders buckhead homes buckheadluxury home builder buckhead luxury homes custom-builders custom-homes custom home atlanta Custom Home Builder custom home builder alpharetta Custom Home Builder atlanta Custom Home Builder atlanta ga custom home builders atlanta custom homes atlanta Design eco custom homes eco custom homes atlanta georgia home builder green home builder atlanta home builders buckhead homes alpharetta house luxury homes buckhead mid century modern homes atlanta modern modern home builders atlanta modern homes atlanta passive-house table-border
facebook instagram House Pinterest Twitter LinkedIn YouTube

© Copyright EcoCustom Homes | 5784 Lake Forrest Dr | Suite 216 | Sandy Springs, Georgia 30328 | 404.303.7280
Costs of Custom Homes

The first thing most people want to know is: What does it costs to build a 3000 sqft custom home in the Atlanta, GA. market?  The first thing you have to calculate is the square footage you want.  Once you have that, the numbers below give you a good starting point.

Adjusted Square Foot Calculation:

New Construction:

Renovations:

×
Sign Up For Our Newsletter