The Passive House

These clients said they were looking for a “small, elegant, sustainable house” … and they meant it!

Combining in one house such beauty, off-the-charts energy efficiency, and craftsmanship is extremely rare. The house is 1,450 sq. ft. on the exterior, but because of the 12 inch thick walls is only about 1,150 sq. ft. on the interior. There’s no bigger commitment to green than starting small, and these clients showed their true colors by sticking to this very small footprint.

The project began by carefully deconstructing an existing house and fence, saving for reuse or recycling every possible material. All reclaimed lumber was kiln-dried to make sure the wood was debugged. Additional wood was sourced from local, responsible suppliers and all the lumber for cabinets, trim, door jambs, and more was milled on-site from reclaimed bleacher seat wood. All interior doors were reclaimed. The craftsmanship is truly a work of art.

This house, the first pending Passive House in Oregon south of Salem, while still under construction passed a rigorous positive and negative, blower door test with a score of .45 ACH at 50 pascals (this translates to a very, and we mean very, tight house). The triple pane windows have a U-Value of 0.12.

This efficiency achievement, the beautiful interior carpentry, and the urban farmstead designed by Lovinger/Robertson Landscape Architects, combine to create a jewel of a home and garden.

Architect: Jan Fillinger / STUDIO-E Architecture / Completed: 2011