Passive House Renovation in Los Angeles Brings this Family the Ultimate Home Comfort
Sylvia’s Passive House retrofit and extension is exactly the type of project that gets us excited! Using Passive House standards, she was able to dramatically improve her home’s comfort, efficiency, and quiet. Although the family loves the idea of lower power bills, it’s the added comfort from air quality and consistent temperature that they’re really excited about.
As an architect, Sylvia found working on her own home has inspired her to make sustainability and climate change a priority in her work moving forward.
Located in an older neighborhood of northeast Los Angeles, this single-family house retrofit and addition demonstrate energy efficiency and sustainability on an infill property within a limited budget. The design upgrades and expands a 1909 cottage to meet the Passive House Standard. The project pioneered the concept of Passive House in Southern California with construction beginning in 2010.
The retrofit and addition represent a shift in thinking, towards a healthier integration with the environment. While the original house is aligned with the street grid, the addition shifts angle to align with the topography, and is set low into the hillside to preserve views to the mountains.
It’s a shift, as well towards resilience, increased thermal comfort, and superior indoor air quality.
Some of the sustainable products and features:
- Passive House heat recovery ventilation
- Tilt/turn windows
- Tight air sealing
- Photovoltaic panels
- Energy monitoring
- Rainwater harvesting
- FSC wood
- Native landscaping
Building or renovating to Passive House standards is possible for any homeowner with the means and drive to improve their home’s performance and comfort. Some believe that these high standards should be the new building code standard, especially as we see more wildfires that cause dangerous air quality events. (“The air inside was fresh and clean, while the air outside was blue”.)
As some key areas of the United States face increasingly hot summers and deep winters, a tight envelop and thick insulation will provide comfort at a fraction of the monthly cost to the average home.
If you’re interested in learning more about Passive House Standards, check out this in-depth guide, or take a tour of the first Passive House in Los Angeles.
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