Local architecture firm designs zero-carbon ‘passive’ house
Residents of Olympia’s east side may have noticed a new house pop up last week, seemingly out of nowhere.
The home on the 1700 block of Fifth Avenue was prefabricated off-site and assembled in less than a week. It’s an example of an emerging and more sustainable type of construction embraced by the local architecture firm Artisans Group.
As city planners confront the challenges posed by climate change, increasing energy efficiency will be key to reducing carbon emissions. Washington state’s energy code sets a target date of 2031 for all new homes to be carbon-zero.
According to co-principal architect Tessa Bradley, this Fifth Avenue house will join between 20 to 30 other Artisans’-designed houses in Olympia and throughout Washington that meet the standards of a “passive house,” which means it will produce more energy than it uses.
The Passive House concept originated in Germany and is defined by the lack of traditional heating system. Instead, passive houses are heavily insulated and outfitted with features such as triple-pane windows to reduce energy consumption.
Roussa Cassel, a co-principal architect at the Artisans Group who designed the home for herself, described it as a passion project. The house is being built on a narrow urban infill lot in front of a much smaller home where Cassel has lived for 15 years, which she was able to convert into an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU).
Last Friday, the firm held an event displaying the unfinished home’s skeleton. Standing in front of a staircase leading to a lofted upstairs, Cassel noted the vaulted ceiling and motioned towards a long gap in the front where a sliding glass door will go.
Bradley contrasted passive houses with traditional open floor plan homes, in which heat can rise to the upper floors, leaving the bottom floor cold.
“In a passive house, because there’s no cold air to displace the warm air to rise, and there’s no radiant asymmetry to create cold and warm spots in the building, all of the building is the same temperature,” Bradley said.
This house will use 75% less energy than a typical house, Bradley said.
“The ability to live so comfortably in a home that is actually good for the environment is quite an opportunity,” Bradley said.
In 2020, the firm designed a batch of free, pre-approved plans for ADUs for the cities of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater to offer to homeowners interested in adding density.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
.jpg)