A New Kind Of Passive Solar House Debuts In The Northeast

This winter a young family will move into an unusual house in northern Vermont. It will be heated mostly by the sun shining through windows and by only a tiny amount of electricity. It’s one of the first of its kind to be built in the region. As part of a collaboration with Northeast stations, Charlotte Albright reports.

On a blustery day in a scenic meadow, a giant crane is laying four thick-walled sections of a simple cape-style home on a foundation wrapped in weather-resistant foam.

“I guess I’m picturing parts of our day, in this space.”

That’s Katie Palmer, the young single mother who will soon move into this passive solar house built by Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte, Vermont. With two wide-eyed sons, ages 12 and seven, she’s taking a close look at what will be the kitchen area.

“There are two sets of three windows each and they are triple-paned glass. I’m thinking of pots of plants and herbs right in the window all winter long.”

If all goes as planned, those plants will stay warm when the temperature plummets, and so will Katie Palmer’s family, even though the house uses no oil or gas. On really cold days she can switch on a small electric heater. Water is heated by a small solar rooftop collector. Palmer expects her mortgage, insurance, and utility bills to be 20% lower than what she currently pays for rent alone in a draftier home.

Chet Pasho, the contractor for this house, is on site supervising every square inch of it.

“There’s nothing that sexy about it, it’s just a lot of small details you’ve got to do extremely well.”

Like using twelve-inch thick walls, and state-of-the art windows that let warmth in, but not out. The builders are also plugging every hole with insulation, including cellulose made from recycled newsprint.

“The product that we use is treated, it has a lifetime warranty against mold and mildew. We’ve not only got a thermally very efficient wall but we’ve got a wall that will never have a moisture problem inside it.”

This kind of super-insulation makes this construction as much as 75% more energy efficient than your 1970’s passive solar house. This home meets strict energy efficiency standards set by the Passive House Institute, which started in Europe and migrated to Illinois. There are only thirteen passive houses with that seal of approval in the United States—most are in the Midwest. Besides being one of the first in the Northeast, this house marks another milestone, according to architect J.B. Clancy.

“What’s exciting about this project is that it will be the first of its kind built in a modular fashion in this country.”

Pre-fab passive houses are less costly, eliminating architect fees. Still, it’s not cheap to build a house this air-tight. A house like this would cost about $50,000 more here than a comparable home built to standard construction codes. But a family would get the energy savings from day one. That’s why Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity Director David Mullen says passive houses are a good match for low-income clients, even if it means raising more money up front.

“And that’s a challenge for us. So we’ll need to reach out even further in the community and tell the story about Habitat and what a difference it makes in the lives of people in our own communities.”

Despite the costs Mullen says other Habitat chapters and commercial contractors want to check out the site. He says because this house, built in a frigid winter climate, costs so little to heat, it’s likely to set an example for other Northeasterners .

For WNPR, I’m Charlotte Albright.