“The first thing people recognize about a Passive House is if you walk in on a hot day it’s cool, and on a cold day it’s warm; it’s the same temperature everywhere—no hot or cold spots,” he says. “Once the door is shut, the space is so quiet people always remark about it.” And, he adds, the airtightness of a Passive House does not allow smells to penetrate, and the fresh-air intake is filtered, so his staff won’t be enticed by hunger-inducing aromas from Xico.
One of Hagerman’s goals with Glasswood is to demonstrate that achieving the Passive House standard—especially on a commercial retrofit—is easier than one might think. He explains: “One of the keys to Passive House is that it was developed in a heating climate, so the model really wants to lower the heating load to almost nothing. In a commercial building, any architect will tell you, your interior free heat gains from occupants and equipment are many times higher than they are in a residence. Passive House can use those internal heat gains instead of a heating system and instead of solar gains from expensive window systems, allowing the walls to be skinnier and the windows to be more affordable. You don’t have to take as many steps up the difficulty ladder to get to Passive House in a large commercial building.”
Online Buzz
Hammer & Hand showcases a series of videos about the Glasswood project on its website.
Retrofit Team
Owner and contractor: Hammer & Hand, Portland, Ore., hammerandhand.com
Architect: Scott Edwards Architecture, Portland, www.seallp.com
Retrofit Materials
Liquid-applied Flashing: FastFlash/AirDam/Joint & Seam Filler from Prosoco R-Guard, www.prosoco.com/airbarriers
Continuous Exterior Insulation: Type II EPS from Big Sky Insulations Inc., www.bigskyrcontrol.com
Cellulose Insulation: 735 All Borate Stabilized Wall Spray Insulation from GreenFiber, www.greenfiber.com
Water-blown Low-density Spray Foam: Sealection Agribalance from Demilec, www.demilecusa.com
Air-barrier Tape: SIGA Rissan and Wigluv from SIGA/Small Planet Workshop, www.smallplanetworkshopstore.com
Heat Recovery Ventilator: ComfoAir 550 from Zehnder America, www.zehnderamerica.com
Triple-pane Windows: 300 Series Tilt and Turn from Cascadia Windows & Doors, www.cascadiawindows.com
Heat-pump Water Heater: AirTap Hybrid ATI66 from airgenerate, www.airgenerate.com
Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pump: MSZ-FE/MUZ-FE – High Performance H2i Hyper-Heating from Mitsubishi, www.mitsubishipro.com
Building Energy Monitoring: eMonitor from PowerhouseDynamics, www.powerhousedynamics.com
Building Performance Monitoring: Web Energy Logger (WEL) from OurCoolHouse, www.welserver.com
Air-velocity Sensors: FXP-10 from Kele, www.kele.com
Daylighting Controls: LightSaver LS-301 Dimming Photosensor from WattStopper, www.wattstopper.com
PHOTOS: Hammer & Hand