by Root Design Build
Author Archives: Bjorn Nelson
Posted on December 20, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
Here is a continuation of our global survey of houses that are both high performance and high design. See the previous blog entry for the introduction. Stroh Haus, Eschenz, Switzerland Designer: Felix Jerusalem, Zürich, Switzerland Completed: 2006 Construction: Compressed Straw … Continue reading →
Posted on December 20, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
We enjoy hearing about buildings with impressive performance data or interesting wall assemblies. However, what gets us far more excited are high performance buildings that are simply beautiful. In their early stages, green building movements such as Passive House tend to … Continue reading →
Posted on November 22, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
Our cedar siding, which we acquired from Enyeart Cedar, has finally arrived on site for our Passive House, and is in the process of being installed. We are using 4″ tongue and groove boards in a horizontal rainscreen application. Our … Continue reading →
Posted in Building envelope, Passive House, Shift House
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Tagged cedar siding, construction, green building, hood river, oregon, Passive House, sustainable design, vapor barrier
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3 Comments
Posted on November 18, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
In order to protect the decks below the balconies from water we opted to detail our two balconies as closed assemblies with tiled surfaces and built-in gutters. The balcony surface slopes away from the glass doors toward a linear gutter … Continue reading →
Posted in Building envelope, Passive House, Shift House, Waterproofing
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Tagged construction, details, drainage, green building, hood river, oregon, Passive House, sustainable design, tiles, water proofing
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5 Comments
Posted on November 16, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
Prior to applying the siding, we had several more layers to add. All necessary penetrations for wiring were made for exterior lighting and to power the sunshade motors. All of these penetrations were carefully sealed and gasketed in order to … Continue reading →
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
We would like to introduce our design for the Salamander House, the other custom home project of ours which we are designing to meet the Passive House standard. The Salamander House, currently in design development, is to be located on … Continue reading →
Posted in Design, Green Houses, Passive House, Salamander House
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Tagged columbia river gorge, green building, insulation, Passive House, saving energy, sustainable design, washington
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1 Comment
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
Understanding that generally the more local option is the more sustainable one, we initially struggled a little with our decision to order our windows from Europe. Our friends at Brute Force Collaborative recently posted a fascinating blog entry in which … Continue reading →
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Passive House, Shift House
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Tagged carbon footprint, green building, Passive House, saving energy, sustainable design, windows
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Posted on October 18, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
Super energy efficient building envelope design requires that each part of the system is optimized. Window need to be installed as close to the middle of the wall as possible for best thermal performance, which means that a typical flange installation can’t be utilized. On our Passive House project we had to make some tough choices related to waterproofing of windows. Continue reading →
Posted on October 6, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
Originally, as you can see in earlier renderings, the exterior was designed to be clad in white stucco with some highlights of dark-stained wood siding. We felt that this high contrast between the two materials, and the smooth continuous surface … Continue reading →
Posted in Passive House, Shift House
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Tagged cedar siding, drawings, green building, hood river, oregon, Passive House, saving energy, sustainable design
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1 Comment
Posted on October 4, 2010 by Bjorn Nelson
Last week our efforts in taping, sealing and detailing an airtight building envelope paid off when we conducted our first airtightness test and received a very encouraging result. Our friends at Hammer and Hand, green builders who also do home … Continue reading →
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Passive House, Shift House
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Tagged air tightness, blower door, construction, green building, hood river, oregon, Passive House, saving energy, sustainable design
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2 Comments
