Passive House
Sunstone Structures is dedicated to designing and constructing buildings
of the future. Welcome to our page dedicated to Passive Houses! If you
do not know what a passive house is, watch this video.
While many design build teams online claim to be building passive houses, Sunstone Structures is certified by North America's leading Passive House Certification body - PHIUS, http://www.passivehouse.us/
The Phius passive building certification standard is a rigorous energy standard that produces buildings that use 40-60 percent less energy than conventional structures. The Phius standard is climate-specific, cost-optimized, and includes third-party quality assurance. Phius Certified Consultants have completed a comprehensive training course and passed a rigorous exam.
What Makes a Passive House?
Passive House Building Principles
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Using continuous insulation throughout the building envelope to minimize or eliminate thermal bridging
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Building a well-detailed and extremely airtight building envelope, preventing infiltration of outside air and loss of conditioned air while increasing envelope durability and longevity
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Employs high-performance windows (double or triple-paned) and doors - solar gain is managed to exploit the sun's energy for heating purposes in the heating season and to minimize overheating during the cooling season
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Using some form of balanced heat- and moisture-recovery ventilation to significantly enhance indoor air quality
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Minimizing the space conditioning system because of lower space conditioning loads
This set of Passive Building Principles is a set of design principles for attaining a rigorous level of energy efficiency while also creating incredibly comfortable indoor living spaces. These principles can be applied to all buildings, including single-family homes, multifamily apartment buildings, schools, skyscrapers and more.