BUILDING PERFORMANCE MONITORING: Web Energy Logger (WEL) from OurCoolHouse, www.welserver.com
AIR-VELOCITY SENSORS: FXP-10 from Kele, www.kele.com
DAYLIGHTING CONTROLS: LightSaver LS-301 Dimming Photosensor from WattStopper, www.wattstopper.com
HAGERMAN SAYS THE PROJECT CAME IN AT JUST $15 MORE PER SQUARE FOOT AND TOOK ABOUT THREE WEEKS LONGER THAN A TYPICAL RETROFIT PROJECT OF ITS SIZE.
nine people and their computers, printers and server adds up, especially in a superin- sulated and airtight building. With the heat- pump water heater, we are able to use this excess heat to effi ciently produce hot water with the added benefi t of cooling down the offi ce space. But the opposite will happen during winter, so we will be monitoring per- formance as the temperatures outside start to drop and switching the water heater to resistance-only heating mode.” Hagerman says the project came in
at just $15 more per square foot and took about three weeks longer than a typical ret- rofi t project of its size. “The additional time was due to installation of the interior air barrier to satisfy the airtightness require- ment,” he explains. “Some other unique requirements, like some additional roof framing to accommodate the insulation strategy, also took a bit longer than normal.” Hammer & Hand monitors every
Passive House it builds. Glasswood’s HRV and domestic-hot-water performance are being monitored with temperature sensors and fl ow meters. Indoor air quality and temperatures are also being logged. Every electrical circuit is independently monitored for energy consumption. This is important in a plug-load-heavy offi ce environment. The monitoring system currently has been operating for six weeks.
MOVE IN The six members of Hammer & Hand’s home performance and building science division have been in their new offi ce space for about three months. Hagerman, who thinks we often take our workspaces for granted, says his staff and visitors comment about how comfortable the Passive House space is. “The fi rst thing people recognize about
a Passive House is if you walk in on a hot day it’s cool, and on a cold day it’s warm; it’s the same temperature everywhere—no hot or
46 RETROFIT // November-December 2012
cold spots,” he says. “Once the door is shut, the space is so quiet people always remark about it.” And, he adds, the airtightness of a Passive House does not allow smells to penetrate, and the fresh-air intake is fi ltered, so his staff won’t be enticed by hunger- inducing aromas from Xico. One of Hagerman’s goals with Glass-
wood is to demonstrate that achieving the Passive House standard—especially on a commercial retrofi t—is easier than one might think. He explains: “One of the keys to Passive House is that it was developed in a heating climate, so the model really wants to lower the heating load to almost nothing. In a commercial building, any architect will tell you, your interior free heat gains from occupants and equipment are many times higher than they are in a residence. Passive House can use those internal heat gains instead of a heating system and instead of solar gains from expensive window systems, allowing the walls to be skinnier and the windows to be more affordable. You don’t have to take as many steps up the diffi culty ladder to get to Passive House in a large commercial building.”
Hammer & Hand showcases a se- ries of videos about the Glasswood
project on its website: hammerandhand.com/ glasswood-passive-house-retrofi t.