By Matthew Ramon
Did you know that teamMADE has gone above and beyond the standard requirements and that our ADU is design to meet Passive House Institute US (Phius) CORE standards?
If you’ve never heard about Phius, here’s a quick breakdown. They are a non-profit that is dedicated to promoting passive building construction to the mainstream market to help “decarbonize the built environment”. The passive house movement started in the US in the early 1970s in response to sky-high oil prices. It was formally developed into a standard with Germany’s “Passivhaus Institut.” Phius developed because the US climate varies significantly throughout the country. Like other organizations, such as the US Green Building Council (who are responsible for LEED-certified buildings), Phius researches and publishes their own set of building standards and provides education services for professionals looking to achieve certification. It goes without saying that certification is a big part of how Phius pushes construction towards a goal of net-zero carbon buildings. With Phius, it is not just projects that can get certified, but even individual products, such as doors, windows, and skylights too. And all of this is supported and verified by individuals certified in Phius standards, ranging from consultants to contractors to inspectors.
And if you’re wondering why teamMADE is aiming to meet Phius standards over other sustainable building standards, the reason is simple. Compared to other, more well-known energy codes/standards, Phius is more specialized towards home comfort and energy sustainability.
In fact, Phius projects “use 40-60% less energy than code-built buildings”. And has also developed specific standards and strategies catered towards a project’s specific climate zone. For teamMADE, this ensures that our project is suitable for Southern California, and more specifically, the City of Placentia’s climate. And importantly, Phius places comfort for building users as one of their core tenets. All of this combined with teamMADE having a dedicated team of mechanical engineers made Phius the best fit for our team and project.
What does this mean for our ADU? It means that our ADU is using passive building techniques, including orientation, shading, insulation, and airtight construction. This minimizes unwanted heat transfer, resulting in more consistent and comfortable temperatures within the home. It means using energy recovery ventilators for superior levels of indoor air quality and reduced load on heating and cooling equipment. It means space and energy efficient appliances. All together in addition to outstanding occupant comfort, it means extreme energy efficiency. In fact, teamMADE’s ADU is expected to use less than half of the annual electricity consumed by the average American household. How did we achieve this? Be sure to read next month’s issue to learn about how our expert team of engineers got us there.
Want to learn more about PHIUS? Visit them here at https://www.phius.org/. And if you want to see their standards in action, visit teamMADE at the OC Fairgrounds for the OC Sustainability Decathlon, October 5th-15th!