Posts in retrofit

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab confirms Passive House Standard's Efficacy

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Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has been monitoring our Sonoma retrofit since the beginning and their preliminary findings show that our house is kicking butt!  Please visit this website to download the PDF of the PowerPoint presentation showing a comparison of deep retrofits (using a variety of techniques) in Northern California.  Ours is Project P3.

Rain Delay

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We got a lot of rain early this year resulting in some slow going.  We were able to get the addition poured, formed and ready for framing.  We exposed the perimeters of the existing foundations for waterproofing, perimeter insulation and French drains.  We also moved the last obstacle to the front porch, a great big Chinese Pistache tree.  It was relocated on the property and I am hopeful of its survival.

PHPP: Modeling for Efficiency

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The rest of August and September were pretty typical for a sustainable renovation.  We removed, salvaged, and recycled everything possible.  The patio concrete was made into pavers and rubble for later use in the landscape design. Graham and I have worked out the final wall assemblies and the new building is on its 60th version in PHPP – this can be a slow form of torture.

Before We Start

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Before we start,  I will answer your question – why didn't you level the old buildings and start over?  It was in fact going to cost more to build this house new.  The soils engineer wanted 5 ft.