Building Performance
Passive House
Passive vs. Conventional Floor Planning + Passive House Sample Design
About this course
If you don't floor plan properly, you will fail. In this 1-hour lecture, Mike Duclos, Principal and Founder of DEAP Energy Group describes how passive floor planning differs from conventional floor planning. Mike provides a background on the Passive House movement, presents examples of Passive House designs and floor plans, and explains why floor planning is critical for cutting costs, energy efficiency, and meeting the rigorous Passive House criteria.
Passive House is justifiably regarded as the most energy efficient building standard in the world, as well as being the most challenging to meet. It seems that ‘every trick in the book,’ with some ‘inventions’ for good measure is often necessary to meet the challenging (and non-negotiable) Passive House Space Heat Demand and Primary Energy criteria. Thoughtful floor plan design can make the experience of living in the home much more enjoyable, reduce construction costs, and be a substantial asset in ‘making the numbers.’
This lecture covers:
- Why orienting the long axis of the home to face South will save you money
- Why plumbing layout impacts DHW quality of service, Primary Energy use, recovery, and the challenges to optimization and implementation
- Some not-so-obvious reasons for orienting rooms with respect to the sun
- Alternatives to the suggestions in the floor plan to adapt the implementation of the ‘physics’ to the aesthetics and desires of your clients
- How to think ‘outside of the box’ with respect to floor planning
Download:
The Passive House Sample Design is an as-built for a floor plan created by Mike Duclos. Enroll and download it for free.
Course outline
3 modules
1 - 2 hours to complete
1:00 hours
of video lectures
Module 1 • 3 assignments
Passive vs. Conventional Floor Planning
Module 1 • 3 assignments
Passive vs. Conventional Floor Planning
In this module, you'll review two Passive House floor plans, watch the lecture video, and download the presentation slides.
- Lecture slides (.pdf)
- Passive vs. Conventional Floor Planning with Mike Duclos (1 hour) (01:00:47 hours)
- Passive House Floor Planning
Module 2 • 1 assignments
Download the Passive House Sample Design
Module 2 • 1 assignments
Download the Passive House Sample Design
Download Mike Duclos' free Passive House Sample Design
- Passive House Sample Design (.pdf)
Author
Mike Duclos
Retired
Mike Duclos is a principal and founder of The DEAP Energy Group, LLC, a consultancy providing a wide variety of Deep Energy Retrofit, Zero Net Energy and Passive House related consulting services. Mike was an energy consultant on the Transformations, Inc. Zero Energy Challenge entry, and has worked on a variety of Zero Net Energy, DER and Passive House projects,...
Frequently asked questions
Full FAQHow does this course work?
This is a free course. Enroll today and get access to all of the materials instantly. The lecture video and other materials are available any time.
How long do I have access to the materials?
For free courses there is no guarantee for how long the course materials will be available.
Is there a certificate of completion?
Certificates of completion are only provided to HeatSpring Membership subscribers. This course has not been approved by any credentialing organizations (NABCEP, AIA, USGBC etc) for Continuing Education Credits (CEUs). This course is for self education purposes only and completion does not indicate a level of professional expertise or credential.
Can I register multiple people?
Yes, this is a free course so you can share this page with other people from your group.