"Passive houses" - House crosses the million square meter threshold

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Part science part architecture... an architect friend posted this on Facebook and I thought it was really cool!

"Passive houses" have no heating nor cooling, so their energy costs are extremely low.  Some cities are testing them out as low-income housing alternatives which I think is awesome since utility costs are the breaking point for some families.

Recently a house in California over 1 million square meters was deemed a passive house.  

What amazes me is there are some of these heating-free houses in places like New York and Finland!

It seems that they move the heat around the house to make the whole place a comfortable temperature.. I have no idea how they accomplish this in the Winter, since I would think the whole house would be too cold with any kind of heating.  They must have some amazing insulation.

http://www.dwell.com/great-idea/article/passivhaus-institut-crosses...

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have to read this later but it is a topic of great interest to me.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think these homes must not only use solar heating but that they must have heat pumps using heat and cold from the earth. It would be nice to know how they achieved their goal. Sadly none of them tickled my architectural fancy.

[Donna K & Quincy]

So as far as I can understand it all boils down to being extremely well insulated and using a ventilation system that circulates air very slowly and heats the air as it moves through the building. Apparently most of the heat is generated by the activities of daily living and the use of a heat recovery system. Since all of our appliances and electronics emit heat I guess it kind of makes sense. God help you if you burn your toast and need to open a window. :>)