DOE Tour of Zero: Pumpkin Ridge Passive House by Hammer and Hand
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Hammer and Hand built this 3,599-square-foot home near Portland, Oregon, to the performance criteria of the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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This high-performance two-story home has been certified to the criteria of the DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home program, the Passive House Institute U.S., and the Pacific Northwest’s Earth Advantage program platinum level.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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The 10-kW solar electric system on this highly efficient home contributes to a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score of 5. In other words, this home has virtually no net annual energy consumption.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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Sliding cedar panels on the south side of the home allow the homeowners to manage solar heat gain in the natural comfort home.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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The ultra-efficient windows feature triple-pane glass with argon fill, insulated wood frames, and advanced low-emissivity coatings on two of the glass surfaces to minimize unwanted heat gain and loss.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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High-efficiency appliances including an ENERGY STAR-rated refrigerator, dishwasher, and clothes washer help to reduce energy and water usage. One high-efficiency mini-split heat pump was ducted with the balanced fresh air system heat recovery ventilator to deliver heat and cooling throughout the home.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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The home’s stained concrete floors provide natural comfort balancing by absorbing heat during the day to avoid excessively high temperatures and releasing it at night when the rooms need heating. Heat gain is controlled using exterior cedar panels that can be slid in front of windows to block out unwanted sunlight on hot summer days.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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Under the attic rafters, an OSB air sealing layer was installed and all seams were sealed with an air sealing tape. A second drywall ceiling was installed below this providing a mechanical cavity in between the two layers for wiring or ducts while minimizing holes into the attic.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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A second wall cavity was created on the outside of the exterior walls by first constructing 2-by-6, 24-inch on-center walls with plywood sheathing then attaching 8-inch engineered truss joists to the outside of the plywood and installing a second wood-and-resin sheathing over that. The 5.5-inch and 9.5-inch wall cavities were then filled with dense-packed cellulose for a total wall insulation value of R-60.
Photo courtesy of Hammer and Hand
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The exterior walls with their double wall cavities were filled with a total of 15 inches of blown cellulose, providing an ultra-efficient, continuous thermal blanket of quiet comfort around the house.