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.

To avoid condensation problems, the air barrier of a well insulated building must be located near the interior conditioned space. The outside wall must be allowed to breathe. One of the ironies of constructing a Passive House in the current timeframe is that permeable fiberboard, once a commonplace building material, has become difficult to obtain since the wide adoption of oriented strand board. Fiberboard is specified as the external surface of our home’s 12 inch insulation layer.

Michael located a supplier of fiberboard in northern Minnesota and, being a builder of uncommon dedication, flew there himself to purchase the materials and drive them to the building site. A short but consequential dialog occurred at the Superior, Wisconsin weigh station at the beginning of the return trip.

DOT officer: “Good afternoon. May I see your logbook?”

Michael: Blank look. “Logbook?”

DOT officer: Pause. “You’re not going to like me.”

After several hours, Michael was back on US-2 with a warning, a heightened familiarity with interstate commercial regulations, and a logbook.

Roof and wall progress