"America's drafty building methods account for as much as 40 percent of its primary energy use, 70 percent of its electricity consumption and nearly 40 percent of its carbon-dioxide emissions. A so-called passive home... Its orientation toward the sun and superthick insulation to its algorithmic design and virtually unbroken air envelope — that it requires minimal heating...The additional cost for a passive house, versus a more conventional home, is... a minimum of 10 percent. "
Can We Build in a Brighter Shade of Green?
Advocates of the passive-house standard for home design say it could greatly improve on America's drafty houses. But it has caught on only in Europe.
http://nyti.ms/9amLkL
American houses drafty? NO! Drafty were the houses I grew up in in the UK: brick walls made of two layers of brick with a cavity between them: NO insulation. Drafty windows with no padding between the brick wall and the window frame - and of course, single glazing. Heating by coal fire in an open grate with free access to the chimney ... Green? Anything is greener than this! -TNE
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