Acton Passive House Featured on NBC Boston

Owner Philippe Lam talks to the NBC Boston crew about his new net zero home.

ZED’s Acton Passive House was featured on NBC Boston, providing an inside look at the benefits of a net zero, Passive House Certified home. The piece includes interviews with ZED’s Stephanie Horowitz, Contractor Adams & Beasley’s Dave Wittig, and Owner Philippe Lam.

Take a look at the video that gives an overview of the home’s many high performance features, such as rooftop solar panels that produce more energy than it uses over the course of a year, making it net positive energy. The environmental benefits to the owner include remarkable thermal comfort, excellent indoor air quality, low operational cost, a durable, long-lasting structure, low embodied carbon materials, and most importantly, a happy client enjoying his beautiful new home.

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Acton Passive House Awarded at Phius Passive House Design Competition

ZED’s Acton Passive House was a winner in the Source Zero Category of the 2022 Phius Passive Projects Design Competition. To even be considered, projects had to be Passive House Certified by Phius, and competed against the best of the best in passive design. In addition to being PHIUS+ 2018 Certified, the Acton Passive House also attained Source Zero certification, an additional designation indicating that the home produces any remainder of energy demand with on-site renewable energy.

The Source Zero category was one of 8 medals awarded at ‘PhiusCon’ 2022, held in Chicago’s historic Palmer House Hotel. This recognition is testament to the Acton Passive House’s incredible performance. With rooftop solar panels, the home is projected to produce more energy than it uses over the course of a year, making it net positive energy as reflected in the negative pEUI (-3.81kBtu/sf/yr).

The 8th Annual Phius Passive Projects Design Competition Awards Ceremony recognized a winner and honorable mention in each category, with submissions from throughout the United States and Canada. Categories were: Single-Family, High-Rise Multifamily, Low-Rise Multifamily, Commercial/Institutional, Retrofit, Source Zero, Best Project by a Young Professional, and Best Overall Project. All awardees pushed the boundaries of passive building design.

MORE: ARCHINECT NEWS PUBLISHES WINNERS

MORE: PHIUS PROJECT DATA

List of Winners:

Phius Project Data:

ZED WINS SILVER IN 2022 PRISM AWARDS

ZeroEnergy Design’s Acton Passive House was awarded a Silver medal for Best High Performance/Energy Efficient Home at the 2022 PRISM Awards, held annually to celebrate the best of the best in the local residential building industry. A record 370 PRISM entries were received this year with 12 judges from across the country choosing Gold and Silver crystal award winners who were announced at the gala.

Acton Passive House. This custom home was designed as a primary residence for a client who desired high performance as well as a respite from urban life. His vision was a home nestled in the woods and right-sized for his lifestyle, nothing more, nothing less. The result is a sleek house with a simple shed roof, designed to the PHIUS+ 2018 performance standard, which offers energy efficiency and exceptional comfort. In order to help ensure low operational cost, the roof is outfitted with a solar (PV) array and has also achieved Source Zero Certification.

The Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston (BRAGB) is one of the leading trade associations in New England since its inception in 1944. The PRISM Awards Gala is the BRAGB’s flagship event of the year and winning an award is considered a sign of excellence and superior achievement. Each entry submitted in the PRISM awards competition is judged on its own merit by a national panel of distinguished industry professionals.

Acton Passive House Achieves PHIUS+ Certification

ZED’s new home in Acton is now officially a PHIUS+ 2018 & Source Zero Certified Project! This 1,650 SF residence was constructed for small operational impact, vastly reduced embodied energy, and energy efficiency. In addition, rooftop solar panels will produce enough energy to arrive at net zero or net positive energy.

Passive Home certification requires very precise and tighter construction than what is used for typical built-to-code homes. The result is an exceptionally tranquil living space that is comfortable year-round, provides excellent air quality, and has extremely low energy use. ZED and contractor Adams & Beasley are incredibly proud of this achievement.

Source Zero is an additional recognition that advances community goals of carbon neutrality and climate resilience at the project level. Achieving PHIUS+ means dramatically reducing demand; achieving PHIUS+ Source Zero means meeting the small remainder with on-site renewable energy.

The Passive House Building Energy Standard is the most rigorous building energy standard in the world

In Progress: Acton Passive House

New Home Targeting Passive House Certification. This newly constructed home nestled in the Acton woods is an exercise in restraint, simplicity and form, all working together to create a stylish, environmentally sensitive residence. The home is Passive House (PHIUS) pre-certified and is on its way to receiving full Passive House certification. As construction nears completion, we take a look at the blend of features that were carefully balanced to create a tranquil indoor environment with an efficient footprint. 

Designed for Respite from the City. ZED was engaged to design this custom home as a primary residence for the client, who desired quiet and respite from urban life. The client envisioned a combined living/kitchen/dining room as the home’s nexus, which we designed with a wall of continuous glass that wraps the southeast corner of the house, connecting the interior to the natural surroundings. The rest of the home’s 1,650 SF rectangular footprint is composed of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office and mechanical/laundry room, all of which follow a simple, modern aesthetic – polished concrete floors, minimalist fixtures, and glazed so as not to have to turn on a single light during the day.

Constructed for Small Operational Impact. Adhering to the Passive House standard means that this Acton home will have incredibly low operational energy. A floating raft of insulation beneath the concrete foundation, known as a mono form EZ slab, creates a thermal break as well as a form for the concrete slab. To complete the airtight foundation, Stego Wrap was installed as a vapor barrier before the concrete was poured. Construction wasn’t easy, interrupted more than once by major snowstorms and high winds, but contractor Adams + Beasley was up to the task, weathering the challenging elements without compromising on the super insulated envelope or energy features.

This Acton residence is a Pre-Certified Passive House (PHIUS+) and will target Passive House Certification once completed

Vastly Reduced Embodied Energy. For the home’s walls, wood fiber continuous exterior insulation, combined with dense pack cellulose in the wall cavities, was used - not only is wood fiber 100% compostable at the end of its life, but also exceptional for acoustic insulation and fire safety. Air tightness was achieved through a continuous exterior air/water barrier. An 18-inch truss of dense pack cellulose was used to insulate the top-vented shed roof, minimizing the use of foam. Since there is no basement, there was far less concrete used to construct the foundation, meaning less embodied energy. The home also faces due south, so there will be exceptional solar access for the photovoltaic panels, which will produce enough electricity to arrive at net zero or net positive energy.

Check out More Construction Imagery and Time Lapse Video from Adams + Beasley’s Portfolio Page.