Super Insulated Construction

ZeroEnergy Design, an architecture and mechanical design firm, congratulates principals Stephanie Horowitz, AIA and Jordan Goldman, LEED AP, on their official certification as Passive House Consultants, which qualifies them to implement the Passive House Standard.

The standard is a design methodology that champions a super insulated, airtight home or building that uses 70-90% less energy for heating than a conventional new home or building. This high performance standard is achieved through maximized passive solar gains, reduced heating loads, efficient ventilation of fresh air, and significant size and cost reduction of the heating system, which in some cases can be eliminated altogether.

The Passive House Institute US works to further implementation of the Passive House Standard which they describe as “the most rigorous building energy standard in the world.”

“Rather than investing in an expensive heating and cooling system that needs an ongoing supply of energy to operate, the Passive House Standard helps to shift that investment into the insulation, airsealing, and windows of the house, or the ‘passive’ parts of the home. The result is a building shell that conserves so much that the energy required to heat and cool the space becomes very small,” says Jordan Goldman, Engineering Principal at ZeroEnergy Design.

Originating in Germany where over 6,000 homes are certified, the Passive House Standard only recently arrived in the US but is primed for growth. “We have several homes in the design process now targeting the Passive House Standard,” said Stephanie Horowitz, Managing Director at ZeroEnergy Design. “Our firm has seen a huge boom in interest as the public has become more aware of the standard’s excellence. With two certified consultants on staff, we’ll be well positioned to serve this growing market.”

About the Consultants: ZeroEnergy Design, an architecture and mechanical engineering firm, designs and consults on high performance residences and buildings. The unique collaboration between in-house architects, mechanical engineers, and financial analysts drives a competitive advantage and enables the firm to deliver fully integrated design services. Green and energy certifications facilitated by the staff include Energy Star, LEED, NAHB Green Building Standard, Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, and the Passive House Standard. http://www.ZeroEnergy.com

Press contact:

Emile Chin-Dickey

ecd@zeroenergy.com

617-720-5002 *101

ZeroEnergy Design

Certified Passive House Consultant

"The truck is 70 feet long.

I did not anticipate that.

The biggest issue was getting it in the driveway - this is a rural property and it took them over an HOUR to make that turn. We took out the driveway posts, and fortunately there were no large trees that we had to cut down in order to get the truck onto the site.

You don't want a large staff the first day - we used three: myself and two Amish.

The last pictures show everything is staged- they just came bundled, not sorted, so we had to sort everything out (another reason you don't want a lot of people on hand the first day because people might stand around while you're organizing). We stacked in reverse order so when you bring your bigger crew in, it's all ready.

They don't weigh much, but I would have preferred to have a forklift with the forks further apart, and longer.

(Because the packages are so big.)

Tomorrow we will not work as there is an Amish wedding.

We're going to start on that long wall, and work our way around, clockwise.

The weather forecast does not look great for the later part of the week. So we will be keeping an eye on it, because if the cladding arrives Friday we certainly do not want a truck full o' metal being towed out out of the mud at our expense."

Thank you Ron! Finding a *super* contractor who is passionate about efficiency saves YOU money. We are *very* grateful to Ron Bernaldo, and Giant Oaks Construction, in making this project such a success.

Build Your Own S.A.B.S. Dream Home

With S.A.B.S. you can truly do it yourself. EPS blocks are lightweight and easy to set in place. GFRC is applied with low pressure and easily smoothed using trowels. These two steps make up the whole shell and can both be done with very little training or experience.

S.A.B.S. does not use heavy materials which makes it possible for anyone to do the job. Panels only weigh 16 – 48lbs and are easy to set in place. GFRC is applied using low pressure so it is easy for anyone to do. With S.A.B.S. you can get as much or as little help as you want.

With S.A.B.S. you can build as fast or as slow as you want to. EPS, if left uncoated, only requires cleaning before GFRC application. S.A.B.S. buildings are built in phases, each completed phase of your house has been checked for structural integrity and can be left without having to worry about something happening to it. If you want to build fast, S.A.B.S. doesn’t hold you back. Each step to completing a S.A.B.S. requires little wait time.

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S.A.B.S. is type V-B construction material and limited under type V-B restrictions of the IBC. In short S.A.B.S. is limited to 2 stories with a maximum height of 40ft. Larger projects can be built by utilizing multiple building materials. For a detailed description please see type V-B material limitation in the IBC. S.A.B.S. can be used as floors, interior / exterior walls, and roofs. Because of S.A.B.S. flexibility it can also be used for almost anything from rockwork to waterfalls. Everything in the S.A.B.S. system becomes structural no matter how odd the shape, with no added frame work.

S.A.B.S. has many advantages over any other system on the market. By building or purchasing a house built with S.A.B.S. technology, you are getting a home that will never have a structural fire because GFRC and EPS don’t burn. Your home will also never have water damage, mold or termites. S.A.B.S. box frame composite doesn’t rely on any specific structural members, meaning any damage to your house remains localized. To see a full list of benefits please visit our Benefits page.

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Find more examoles of EPS Foam construction at: 

http://StyroHomeNews.blogspot.com