Here we share some observations about and snapshots of the Passive House we had built in Oakland County, Michigan. All photographs were taken by us unless otherwise noted.

The second floor walls were delivered and placed today. We’re able to walk around and get sense of the views from the upper story.

On a different note, we have decided to forego the wood stove for our home. As related earlier, many details about how well wood stoves can work in a Passive House are lacking. Some unknowns are

• how the draft impacts the finely balanced air-to-air heat exchanger ventilation system
• how to balance the various factors concerning stove air intake, for example the risk of backdrafts
• how tightly the various stove and flue components can be fitted to prevent infiltration
• how to address condensation concerns where the flue has to be placed behind walls and where code requires the chimney damper to be at the stove rather than the insulation interface where it makes good thermodynamic sense
• the apparent inability to stoke a very hot, clean, efficient fire since the thermal requirements of a Passive House are so low

We plan on constructing an outdoor hearth instead. For makeup heat, we will consider solar thermal collectors or an outdoor wood burner that can be stoked very hot for an efficient, clean fire.