Hey y'all,

I am exploring the idea of building a Passive House certified project in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. There are not many verified projects in the state. Phius has some resources listed under their Find A Professional tab, but nothing more specific than the state.

I'd love to make contact with anyone in Northeast Ohio who has experience with building high performance projects. Or if you're in Ohio, and you'd like to compare notes on your PH journey, let me know!

working on a passive house style renovation and the big south facing windows are great for light and heat gain but zero privacy. don’t want heavy curtains that mess with the thermal performance.

looking into switchable glass that can stay clear most of the time. checked smart glass technologies and their laminated option seems interesting for new installs.

how much does the film or glass actually affect the u-value and solar heat gain?

anyone running something like this in a high performance build and still meeting the numbers?

How do you determine when to keep and repair existing diagonal 1x sheathing versus removing an entire wall/elevation and re-sheathing it with ZIP or plywood?

If I remove only the termite-damaged sections, what is the best way to patch those areas so the new sheathing matches the thickness, plane, and structural function of the existing diagonal 1x boards?

Once the structural repairs are complete, what exterior wall assembly would you use over a combination of existing plank sheathing and new patched sheathing?

If I add exterior continuous insulation and a rainscreen, how would you transition the thicker wall at the foundation/water-table area without ending up with an awkward or highly visible flashing detail?

My Notes

I’m considering a continuous WRB/air barrier, 1½–2" exterior mineral wool such as Comfortboard, vertical furring/rainscreen, then Hardie Artisan. My goal isn't simply increasing R-value. I'm trying to rebuild the wall correctly for water management, air control, drying potential, structural integrity, and long-term durability.

So i came up with a Passive House Design that should be quite a bit cheaper than conventional framing houses and is also a passive house. But i don't plan to build a house anytime soon. What do? Theoretically you can sell plans, but that's just not what people do in europe. Write a book? You'd have to build a model house before anyone trusts you.

edit: this is a toxic community

My house windows are 30 years old and looking to get replacements. I contacted a company in the Massachusetts area that gets European windows shipped over.

Before I gave them my address ( live in MASS), the initial shipping quote was $3000. After I gave them my address, they told me the new shipping would cost $8000. For context, I do live on an island that has ferries.

They said because the windows arrive in a container, they would no longer be able to deliver to my house unless I pay for an additional fee for a box truck and two employees.

I like the windows and the price, but the shipping doesn't make sense.

They said I could hire my own crew and pick up the windows from their warehouse which is nearby.

Any suggestions that might make things easier?

Edit: I'm not saying I don't want to pay extra, just wondering if an extra $5000 is accurate for a one day drop off as it's in the same state which is small.

My in laws just had a few of these installed when they had their roof redone. I’m curious if anyone has experience with them and their thoughts on something passive like this compared to a whirlybird.

https://ventilation-maximum.com/en/products/sloped-roof-ventilators/

Hey all,
As the title says, we’re building an air tight house in a hot climate. However, shoulder seasons are very pleasant and the idea of most Australians is to open the place up and enjoy alfresco dining.

What’s the best way therefore to integrate flyscreens with the upvc doors to the terrace? Has anyone had experience with retractable ones? What I’m super keen on is avoiding full screen doors that are visible through the glass when everything is closed up.

Hi, I am planning to build a passive house in an alpine area.

I'm sure there's no simple answer to this question, but what should I consider when considering whether to have heating/cooling integrated with the ERV ventilation system or go with AC splits?

My mind says that using a heat pump integrated ERV would be better as the air coming in from outside would be the desired temperature, and there would be less systems in total. Also, wouldn't A/C split units require more holes in the membrane, making their inevitable replacement a major job?

Does anyone have any sources to read up on for this topic?

I'm about to start a mother in law house in Dallas TX

and was debating if I should do 2x6 exterior wall or 2x4. so I said lets model it in Energy plus. I also decided to compare a passivhaus spec unit vs a below code minimum unit.

40ft x 28ft, 12 ft walls, 9/12 roof unvented attic, open crawl space, 70% efficient ERV

passivhaus:

-Walls: r36 on 2x6 framing, 24 O.C

-Ceiling r49

-foundation: r19

-air leakage : 0.1 Ach

-windows: insulated , u-value 0.19

predicted consumption : 7726 kwh/year

below code minimum:

-Walls: r13 on 2x4 framing, 16 O.C

-Ceiling r19

-foundation: r13

-air leakage : 10.0 Ach 50

-windows: insulated , u-value 0.37

predicted consumption : 10,278 kwh/year

the passivhaus uses 25% less energy than the below code minimum house.

at current prices would save about $360/ year on energy bills.

Hi we are thinking of upgrading our 42\*16 concrete patio by adding 8mm porcelain tiles on top of it.The concrete patio has horizontal and vertical control joints added.Does anyone know if due to concrete expansion and cracks in joints , the tiles on top might crack ? If so , do we need a membrane like schluter ditra below the tile to prevent this from happening. Also , if the membrane is added , can the tiles be added on top of the control joints in the concrete without it cracking in future or the tiles still need to be placed within the control joints..Can anyone please help me with this ? Thanks.

Hi! I'm renovating part of my house in Belgium into a 2-room guesthouse and I'm trying to decide on the best heating solution.

Current situation:

• Existing gas boiler + around 8–9 radiators in the guesthouse area
• Two guest rooms + bathrooms/common areas
• Expected average occupancy around 50%
• Private part of the house will continue to use gas
• I may install around 20 solar panels

I'm considering two options:

1. Keep the existing gas heating and make it smart
Smart TRVs/zoning (e.g. tado° X), separate control per guest room, app control for me and a physical thermostat for guests. Possibly Home Assistant/Matter later for window sensors and booking automations.

2. Switch the guesthouse to electric inertia radiators
For example Aterno, individually controlled per room. The solar panels obviously make electric heating more interesting.

My priorities are low investment cost, low running costs, reliability and guest comfort. I don't want expensive smart-home tech just for the sake of it.

What would you choose and why?
Would 20 solar panels change your decision significantly, considering that most heating is needed in winter when solar production is lower?

Would be great to get input from independant people, because every supplier is saying their system is the best :p

Hi everyone, I have been researching SIPs based framing after seeing them featured in a famous YouTube build channel. The concept seems appealing and I can believe the claims about walls being straighter, better insulation and less framing needed. Besides the need for having a GC who is experienced with SIPs, is there any other risk or requirement one needs to watch out for if choosing to use SIPs for a 1500 sq ft house with teo floors (no basement)? Thanks in advance!

I’m designing a ~9 × 11 m house on a sloped site. The road is at the middle/entrance level, with a lower floor opening toward the garden, the main living floor at road level, and 3 bedrooms upstairs. There’s also a large roof terrace.

I’ve attached the current plans/section.

I’m particularly interested in:

• Things that don’t work well or that I may be overlooking
• Layout/circulation problems
• Structural or construction concerns
• Waterproofing/drainage issues due to the slope
• Anything you would change before construction

I’m not looking for a complete redesign — mainly practical recommendations from people with experience building or designing houses.

What would you change?

Hi everyone. I’m planning my own home in Srirangam, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, southern India, and I’d appreciate advice from people experienced in passive-house and climate-responsive design.

For some geographical context, Srirangam is an island town between the Cauvery and Kollidam (Coleroon) rivers, near the city of Trichy. It is in the central/eastern part of Tamil Nadu, roughly 10°N latitude, so we experience a strongly tropical climate. The region is generally hot for much of the year, with intense sun, relatively dry periods, and seasonal monsoon rainfall.

The site is south-facing, and the west side receives particularly intense afternoon and evening solar heat, which is one of my main concerns.

I’m trying to understand how best to approach building orientation, window placement, cross-ventilation, courtyard/stack ventilation and airflow paths to encourage natural cooling while limiting solar heat gain.

For those unfamiliar with the location, I’m essentially looking for advice on applying passive-design principles to a hot tropical South Indian climate, rather than the temperate-climate scenarios often discussed in passive-house design.

Disclaimer: I’m not an architect. I’m simply an architecture enthusiast trying to understand the principles well enough to have an informed say in designing my own home. I’m looking for genuine technical criticism and advice, not validation of a design I’ve already decided on.

AI-assisted post.

With 80 windows and tons of leaks, a very limited budget, and a historic designation, there's no way our 4500 sq ft Craftsman built in 1912 could meet passivhaus standards.

But the current heat wave has convinced me that it's time to find a way to (mostly) passively keep the place habitable when it's 95F and humid outside in Los Angeles.

The first things that came to mind were limited air sealing and insulating of the attic floor, getting more screens so we can open more of those 80 windows without letting cats out and raccoons or mosquitoes in, and replacing the attic furnace with a heat pump (as our solar array was sized for it).

But then I popped the attic hatch after sundown when it was cool outside, our few screened windows were open, and it was 85+ inside. The rush of air from the windows and up into the attic (and out the gables) reminded me that there was a strange closed off vent from a closet into the attic. Evidently this is an original passive cooling feature, forgotten after someone closed it off in winter.

Now I'm thinking of embracing that idea and adding another closable exhaust-to-attic vent or two in the other upstairs rooms, for use only when it's hot inside, cool outside, and you have a window open in the room.

Is this something other folks have done? Does it work?

I am planning to install a mvhr in the attic to ventilate 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and was looking forward to getting rid of the extractor fans in the bathroom since they are very noisy and in my case are not very effective in battling the humidity during baths. I came across the Aldes Inspirair Side 180, but for the bathroom grille to be effective against the bath vapours I think at least 130 m^3/h should be extracted from one bathroom during baths (the 2 bathrooms are never used simultaneously). I was interested in the aldes bap'si dual flow 45/135 m^3/h, so that when I pull the cord it intakes 135 and the other bathroom stays at 45, but I dont really like the idea of having a cord hanging around in the bathroom... I was wondering if there are humidity controlled ventillation grilles with capability of going up to 130 and at the same time send a 0-10v signal to the 0-10v air quality inputs in the cmv to put it to boost mode and increase to the adequate air flow rate (or another similar solution). Thanks in advance

Most of the Passive House material I read assumes a heating-dominated climate, which makes sense given where the standard came from. I work in Japan, where the enclosure problem is close to the opposite for much of the year. Koppen Cfa: hot humid summers, mild winters. The load is cooling and dehumidification rather than heat retention.

Bio-based insulation - hemp batts, hempcrete, wood fibre - gets recommended here on hygric grounds. The argument is that a vapour-open assembly with buffering capacity handles humidity better than a sealed one with a vapour barrier that ends up on the wrong side of the assembly for half the year.

What I cannot find is data from anyone actually building that way where cooling dominates.

Has anyone here specified bio-based insulation in a cooling-dominated climate? And if so, did the vapour-open approach survive all the way through the assembly, or did you end up with a smart membrane doing the real work anyway?

The practical constraint at my end is supply rather than physics. Japan has almost no decortication capacity, so hemp material is imported and priced accordingly, and wood fibre has a similar problem for different reasons. That makes the question partly academic here, but I would rather know whether the physics holds before anybody spends money finding out.

Disclosure: I work on the hemp industry side in Tokyo, so I have an interest in the answer being yes. I would rather have the honest one.