Things are happening – significant progress this last month. First, they installed the glass in the huge windows in the living area. The view from the planned couch location remains amazing. Here you can see those windows in the context of the kitchen and living area. Doors to backyard and patio still need to be installed, but you can already feel that the temperature inside is more comfortable and even than in regular constructions.

Roof overhangs are an important component of the whole passive house strategy: keep the sun from hitting the facade during summer, let the sun help heat the house during winter. In the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) spreadsheet, each window not only includes size and orientation, but also overhang depth and position. This allows the heat gains to be calculated accurately throughout the year. However, this only works if the value entered in the spreadsheet is correct.

I was on a family trip to Norway and Portugal for two weeks. We got updates and handled some house questions while traveling, but it’s good to be back and see the progress with my own eyes. A lot has happened. Roof We have a roof! As the roof is at a low angle (4°), TPO works really well. We looked into a standing seam metal roof, but it would have been twice the cost, which was not worth it for a roof that’s mostly hidden.