Passive House Los Angeles (PHLA+)
- by Construction21 Communication
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- 2021-03-31 17:28:07
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- International
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- 80 / EN
New Construction
- Building Type : Isolated or semi-detached house
- Construction Year : 2019
- Delivery year :
- Address 1 - street : LOS ANGELES, USA
- Climate zone : [Csa] Interior Mediterranean - Mild with dry, hot summer.
- Net Floor Area : 1 750 m2
Certifications :
-
Primary energy need :
32 kWhpe/m2.year
(Calculation method : Other )
This single-family residence is a “PASSIVE HOUSE PLUS” certified building in West Los Angeles (Culver City) and one of the first Passive House buildings in Southern California. It is an all-electric home focusing on the reduction of energy consumption, reduction of operational carbon and providing most of the needed power via a small on-site photovoltaic system with onsite battery storage (14kWh). This is a Net Zero Energy Home, which turns out a to be a “Plus Energy Home” with 16x solar PV panels. After the first year of operation the surplus power generated onsite is sufficient to drive an electric vehicle +/- 10,000 miles.
Passive House Los Angeles (PHLA+) is located on a duplex lot, an infill site and is comprised of 1,791 sq.ft. living area with an additional large 400 sq.ft. deck area over the carport. This home has four bedrooms and three baths. Large windows with automated exterior sun shades are providing sufficient natural daylight and a connection between indoor and outdoor living even with this home’s limited footprint.
PHLA+’s energy performance was modeled using the by the Passive House Institute (PHI) developed Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) software and following the 5x basic Passive House principles:
(1) Climate specific continuous insulation. PHLA+ uses two Inches of rigid foam insulation below the slab on grade, 2x6 wood framing with net & blow insulation and 1 ½” of exterior continuous basalt rock and recycled slag insulation.
(2) Minimizing thermal bridges.
(3) High-efficiency operable windows & exterior automated venetian blinds for shading which are reducing the cooling load significantly. At the same time providing daylight with views to the exterior during the day and privacy at night.
(4) The Airtight building envelope was achieved with a liquid applied air barrier. PHLA+ achieved 0.48 ACH50 which is well below the very demanding Passive House certification requirement of 0.6 air changes per hour for new construction.
(5) Continuous 24-hour filtered (MERV-13) fresh air ventilation with heat recovery (HRV). Fresh air is getting supplied to the living and bedrooms and is extracted from the bathrooms, kitchen and storage areas. Ventilation systems like this have gained more interest this year due to COVID-19 and local wild fires. No air is re-circulated in the building and always 100% fresh air is provided.
Labels/Awards:
11/2019 “North American Finalist” & “National Winner” of 5th CertainTeed Gypsum Trophy.
10/2019 AIA COTE MERIT AWARD, Passive House Los Angeles (PHLA+) receives the AIA Award.
9/2019 ENERGY EFFICIENCY AWARD – German Innovation in US Buildings. Partners: AIA San Francisco, USGBC Northern California, DGNB, AHK German American Chamber of Commerce.
10/2019 California Advanced Homes.
See more details about this project
https://passivehouse-database.org/index.php?lang=en#d_5769Photo credit
Fraser Almeida
Contractor
Construction Manager
Stakeholders
Certification company
Certiphiers, Tad Everhart, Christina Snyder & teamOthers
Troyski EngineeringOthers
KNB AssociatesOthers
Avery Colter, Fard Engineers Inc.Others
Dav CamrasOthers
CPHBA, Cyril PetitOwner approach of sustainability
- VOC absorbing drywall through the home.
- Water based exterior metal façade paint.
- White TPO roofing membrane with cool roof / high reflective
- Low water consumption appliances (washing machine, dish washer) and fixtures (faucets, shower heads, toilets).
- Motion activated hot water recirculation pump / loop.
- Drip Irrigation with smart sprinkler controller (weather sensor to avoid irrigation on rainy days).
- Drought tolerant landscape and low water use plant selection.
Architectural description
This residence is a 4x bed room / 3x bath home for a family of 3 three. One bedroom used as a permanent home-office. The project stays significantly below the maximum allowable combined FAR for this site. This new Passive House single family residence is located in the rear portion of the property. The existing front unit is used as a rental property.
Energy consumption
- 32,00 kWhpe/m2.year
Envelope performance
- 0,48
Systems
- Heat pump
- Heat pump
- Others
- Double flow heat exchanger
- Solar photovoltaic
Author of the page
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