The First Passive House in New York

Perhaps you’ve seen renderings of the Hudson Passive Project among trees in the middle of a scenic green field.  The project was designed by New York-based Dennis Wedlick Architect LLC, and it just so happens that construction is all complete.  Certification paperwork is all in order, and this is officially the first certified Passive House in the state of New York.  It’s also one of the highest performing homes in the country.

Hudson Passive Project was built by Bill Stratton Building Company in the Hudson Valley a few hours north of New York City.  It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and 1,650 square feet of space.  It doesn’t have all kinds of add-on gadgets — photovoltaics, wind turbines, or solar thermal — because its performance follows from the design.

Specifically, the project set a record for air tightness with a score of 0.149 ACH at 50 Pascals.  It’s also performing according to the required 90% energy use reduction associated with heating.  At the same time, a Zehnder ComfoAir heat recovery ventilator keeps the air fresh, circulated, and warm while still using just a tiny amount of energy.

In terms of construction (some of which is shown below), HPP has walls of 12 1/4″ EPS SIPs (R50), a roof of 12 1/4″ Neopor SIPs (R53), and an insulated concrete slab on layers of gravel, EPS, and XPS (R60).  The vertical windows are by Serious Windows (725 Series) and the roof windows are by Fakro (FPL PreSelect).

For heating, the Hudson Passive Project relies on two Mitsubishi Mr. Slim heat pumps (SEER 23 and 26) and three Cadet electronic baseboard heaters.  The appliances are all Energy Star or better, and, with the savings from the high performance mechanical setup, this home really isn’t more expensive than a similar custom home.  Dennis Wedlick pegs the cost of construction at about $250-$300 per square foot.

Credits: Elliott Kaufman; Michael Fredericks (SIPs roof).