Stories: 2 (plus finished and conditioned basement)
Square footage: 4,763 square feet
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 4 ½
Green certification: NGBS-Emerald, Passive House Institute US-PHIUS+ Certified Passive House, DOE Challenge Home
Chicagoland’s First Certified Passive House is a 2014 Green Awards Honorable Mention for Single-Family: Custom and was submitted by Weiss Building & Development. One of the first Department of Energy Challenge Homes in the US, this passive house also has a HERS rating of 27, compared with the average home at a rating of 100. The passive home’s design is meant to keep the home and inhabitants healthier all while saving the money on the utility home owners – the estimated annual energy cost for the home is only $1,052. Here are some of the green features included in the home:
Green building and site features
- The home’s heating load is just 13,500 BTUs (heating comes from sunlight, internal gains from appliances and cooking, body heat of the inhabitants, lighting, and just two wall mount mini-split heat pumps)
- An energy recovery ventilator (ERV) that recovers 93% of the energy from outgoing air when conditioning incoming air
- The indoor air quality will continue to be tested throughout the first year of occupancy to ensure that the home has a healthy interior
- 96% of waste was diverted from landfills
- Built to be outfitted with solar PV in the future
- A green roof over the front porch
- Solar hot water
- Low flow fixtures and efficient lighting throughout
- Reuse of windows and bricks from the old house
Find out how your green project can win Best in Green in the 2015 NAHB Green Awards here: www.nahb.org/greenawards.
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