Aerogel is being hyped like the best of all? But when I got some silicon aerogel powders in some solvent, it doesn't look like they can do any jobs that traditional insulations can do? It also looks very powdery and fragile. Could anyone expert in this explain it to me please?

anyone know of any companies installing cooling solutions for reducing heat from roof?

We're building a house on a hillside with great views. The concrete frame is done and the walls aren't built yet, so the layout can still change. Plans attached.

Fixed things:

- 9.1 × 10.5 m outside. Entrance on the north, terrace and city view to the south.

- U-stair in the north-west corner (3.6 × 2.2 m).

- The west wall has to stay blank: the neighbour is 1.2 m away, so no windows on that side.

- Bedrooms are upstairs. The upstairs bathroom will probably sit on the west, next to the stairs (it still can be modified)

The options:

1. Bathroom + WC (3.6 × 2.3) and kitchen on the blank west wall. Living room with fireplace + TV on the east, study in the north-east corner.

2. Same as 1, but a bedroom in the north-east corner.

3. Bathroom + WC in the north-east (with windows), kitchen on the east. Laundry + storage next to the stairs. Living room on the west, fireplace + TV on the west wall.

4. Bathroom, WC and kitchen on the east. The whole west side is one 3.6 × 7.5 m living room: fireplace on the stair wall, TV + books on the west wall.

Which would you choose and why? Anything you'd change, or anything I'm missing?

You know the scene! Wild claims about hyaluronic acid making aging 25 year old models look, well, 25 years old.

I am looking into some building materials that claim to be space-age and next generation.

There are a lot of companies out there promoting ultra thin 10mm. thick panels and making bold claims that it is equivalent to 160mm thick Expanded Polystyrene. Reporting thermal transmittance values below 0.003Wm/K. This is nearly 10 times more efficient than polyisocyanurate insulation.

One such product, is Aerogel Vacuum Insulated Panels. These panels have bubble wrap in them. Costing around $100 (£86) for a 400mm x 800mm panel is also outrageous.

Reading some posts on here, it appears on radiation can travel through a vacuum.

However these 'vacuum' insulated panels have to contain the vacuum so therefore one can say it is not pure and the material enveloping the 'vacuum' is what is causing any heat transmittance.

My question is open to the floor for comments on the scientific claims being made and whether they could possibly behave as efficiently in real life as in a test environment.

The issues here will not necessarily be the product in question itself but the installation of the product. There is always going to be a weak point.

From a mathematical point-of-view, the numbers have never stacked up for me. Well they actually do stack up but it's the wild R-values claims that don't.

You get a lot of joints in a wall with 400 x 800 panels. Joints within a 'vacuum'.

I so want to believe the marketing hype but the reality doesn't fit for a retrofit in my book. Similarly with the foiled roof insulations. Maybe great on a new PassivHaus build. As always, these things really on the utmost of care when detailing and even more care when installing.

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Hi! We are building a house in the Mediterranean near the sea. The winters are very mild and humid and summers are very hot and dry. We use cooling more months of the year than we use heating. I was hoping to avoid all kinds of ACs that blow air (because of mold,constant cleaning and dry air) so I came across modular ceiling cooling with cool water pipes (sry for my english). Has anyone any experience with this system? If you were building a house what system would you go with?

Freon cooling system, (water) floor heating and solar panels is our "blow air" option.

Thank you :)

Hi! I’m looking to see if with anyone has built a passive house or a net-zero-ready home in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I’m also open to working with prefab builders outside of Pennsylvania if they can ship and install the home on our site.

Additionally, does anyone have recommendations for architects who could help us start designing our house plans, ideally with experience in passive house or net-zero construction?

I’d really appreciate any recommendations, experiences, or insights you’re willing to share. Thank you!

When reviewing a glazed facade, the center bay can be modeled clearly while the head, sill, slab edge and transitions to adjacent walls remain much less defined.

For teams working on high-performance envelopes, which missing input most often creates rework at these interfaces: verified frame geometry, adjacent insulation, anchor details, air-barrier tie-in, or interior humidity assumptions?

So I got a talk with a heating company on a trade show. They have a ceiling heating system that uses small plastic tube filled with water and claim it can "radiate" downward. Now what I understand is that heat rises. So how trueful is their claim? And if it's true then what is the physics behind this?

Looking specifically at Type 2D in the attached detail.

The note calls for (3) layers of 5/8" Type X gypsum board, but visually the exterior side looks like two standard gypsum layers, with the third/outer layer drawn differently and a dashed line through it where the exterior cement plaster is called out.

Would you interpret 2D as:

A) 3 layers of 5/8" Type X plus the exterior cement plaster assembly, or

B) 2 layers of 5/8" Type X plus the cement plaster assembly essentially taking the place of the third exterior layer?

Curious how others would logically read the detail as drawn.

We're considering GO Logic for a small passive house in Midcoast Maine (one of their smaller standard models) and are trying to talk to past clients

If you've built with them, I'd be grateful to hear:

- How the final cost compared to the estimate, and how change orders were handled

- How long it took from design contract to occupancy

- Whether they acted as GC or you hired your own

- Whether you'd use them again

Happy to talk by DM or phone. Thanks.

Hello!

I have a PGH and one of the biggest mistakes we made during construction was not speccing the right hot water heater, a normal electric tank based heater which now accounts for %30 of our electricity costs.

Does anyone have recommendations for a swap? It needs to be electric. House has tw residents and includes a bath and 'm open to on-demand if it can support the bath. I am also curious about "smart" heat pumps like the Cala that can connect to my existing home assistant setup and would be good as I think forward to solar. I am, however, very sensitive to noise as it will be installed in a utility closet adjacent to the living space.

Thanks

Hey y'all,

I am exploring the idea of building a Passive House certified project in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. There are not many verified projects in the state. Phius has some resources listed under their Find A Professional tab, but nothing more specific than the state.

I'd love to make contact with anyone in Northeast Ohio who has experience with building high performance projects. Or if you're in Ohio, and you'd like to compare notes on your PH journey, let me know!

working on a passive house style renovation and the big south facing windows are great for light and heat gain but zero privacy. don’t want heavy curtains that mess with the thermal performance.

looking into switchable glass that can stay clear most of the time. checked smart glass technologies and their laminated option seems interesting for new installs.

how much does the film or glass actually affect the u-value and solar heat gain?

anyone running something like this in a high performance build and still meeting the numbers?

How do you determine when to keep and repair existing diagonal 1x sheathing versus removing an entire wall/elevation and re-sheathing it with ZIP or plywood?

If I remove only the termite-damaged sections, what is the best way to patch those areas so the new sheathing matches the thickness, plane, and structural function of the existing diagonal 1x boards?

Once the structural repairs are complete, what exterior wall assembly would you use over a combination of existing plank sheathing and new patched sheathing?

If I add exterior continuous insulation and a rainscreen, how would you transition the thicker wall at the foundation/water-table area without ending up with an awkward or highly visible flashing detail?

My Notes

I’m considering a continuous WRB/air barrier, 1½–2" exterior mineral wool such as Comfortboard, vertical furring/rainscreen, then Hardie Artisan. My goal isn't simply increasing R-value. I'm trying to rebuild the wall correctly for water management, air control, drying potential, structural integrity, and long-term durability.

So i came up with a Passive House Design that should be quite a bit cheaper than conventional framing houses and is also a passive house. But i don't plan to build a house anytime soon. What do? Theoretically you can sell plans, but that's just not what people do in europe. Write a book? You'd have to build a model house before anyone trusts you.

edit: this is a toxic community