PRESCOTT PASSIVE HOUSE
Affordability is a pressing issue in American housing as is sustainability. With the Prescott House Studio 804 addressed both of these sometime conflicting goals. Many sustainable energy strategies require high-efficiency mechanical and on site energy generation systems with up-front costs that can be prohibitive. For this project, Studio 804 tried to do as much as possible by addressing these subjects passively while still targeting an eventual homeowner earning 80% or lower of the area’s median income. It is a unique solution set in a marginal urban neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas that was working to reverse its decline.
These design goals led Studio 804 to not only achieve LEED Platinum Certification but it inspired them to strive for Passive House Certification. The Passive House Institute standards are analogous to a thermos in which energy loads are drastically reduced by means of a super-insulated, virtually airtight building shell which allows almost no heat transfer. This is done with high performance windows and doors and sixteen inch thick insulated walls and twenty-two inch thick insulated roof. When combined with a broad south exposure, proper sun control and an energy recovery ventilator the results are a high performance but relatively simple building.
In the spirit of the age-old Japanese shou-sugi-ban tradition, the exterior of this 1,700 sf, 3 bed, 2 bath residence is clad with a charred Douglas fir rain screen to create a low-maintenance, UV-protected dark black finish. It is modest in size but the open floor plan creates a spacious interior. A double height living room connects the main floor with the upper level, where the master bedroom is located. The stacked master bathroom and main floor bathroom are flooded with natural light through an internal two-story frosted glass wall. Overlooking the living room is the flexible loft space. On the main level, the living room is connected to the kitchen and dining spaces with an exposed concrete thermal mass floor. A front deck off the living room offers views of the Kansas City skyline and creates a roof for the carport below.
Images and Plans
Technical Description
With a very few exceptions all of this work is built by the students. From the moment a Studio 804 class gathers in August the work is hands-on. Even the design phase includes working on mock ups. We do everything ourselves; the students are on site every day working on the excavation, pouring concrete, framing walls, welding steel, laying masonry, installing roofing, folding flashings, and setting windows and doors. We run plumbing lines and set fixtures, and we even do work on the mechanical systems and as electricians. In short, there is little about building the students won’t have a chance to experience during a Studio 804 project.
SUSTAINABLE FEATURES
- LEED Platinum Certified
- Passive House Institute Certified
- The house is exceptionally air tight and captures all the heat produced by daily activities such as cooking and showering. It filters it and reuses it to heat the house. The building also needs much less cool air during the summer to keep the spaces comfortable as it acts like a thermos and does not allow the cool air to escape.
- The house uses high efficiency light fixtures, mechanical systems and plumbing fixtures to minimize the use of resources
- High performance triple paned windows are used to meet the passive house standards
- The floors are a concrete solar mass to store the heat that passes through the glazing of the long south elevation.
- The louvers are calculated to manage the sun’s penetration into the space depending on the season.
- The building’s orientation and the locations of the openings promote cross ventilation for cooling.
- All the rainwater from the roof is harvested and stored in an underground cistern.
- The PV’s on the roof meet the building’s energy needs over a calendar year.
- Net metering is used to credit the owners when the building is generating more energy than it is consuming.
- A Geothermal Heat Pump system is used to condition the space when passive strategies are not enough.
- The landscaping uses native grasses.
- The lumber used to build and side the house is either reclaimed wood from a dismantled building or FSC certified.
- All of the materials, paints, flooring, sealants and adhesives used inside the addition emit low or no volatile organic compounds
- The framing is done with engineered lumber which is manufactured from fast growing underutilized lumber.
- Promotes carbon sequestration by using sustainably harvested FSC wood.
