Mike Maines and Dan Kolbert discuss the Pretty Good House

[Martin Holladay]

Does it make any sense to aim for the Passivhaus standard? Maybe it makes more sense to come up with different criteria, and build something that Mike Maines and Dan Kolbert call the "pretty good house." Read more here:
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...tty-good-house

[Ted S.]

That's a great blog and I look forward to reading Dans article. I'm convinced architects are going to need to start taking a Steve Jobs approach and start delivering that type of product because the average home dweller in this country has no idea what they need. They are convinced they need a ridiculous amount of sf with a flat screen TV over a fireplace in every room and 12' ceilings.

[Dancing Dan]

It is a great blog. My article is on the discussion group in general, not this topic in particular. Send me an e-mail if you want a copy.

[mike maines]

I'd like to point out that I'm just reporting on Dan's idea for the Pretty Good House.

[Ted S.]

I really love Passivhaus; I really hate Passivhaus Certification (and all the uptight people and their stupid politics).

I'd much rather see every production home turned into a Pretty [Damn] Good House then a One Hit Certified Wonder in the middle of the woods. A concept that's completely doable.

[kfc510]

Good blog. One question re: the owner's manual suggestion- wasn't it John Abrams who wrote/talked about that? Maybe I'm confused.
kevin

[Dancing Dan]

Kevin - I can assure you there's not a single original idea in our discussion. John Abrams did indeed write about this, back in the Feb/March 1998 issue of FH. It's an excellent article, not surprisingly. I bet he didn't think of it either, though.

[kfc510]

Kevin - I can assure you there's not a single original idea in our discussion. John Abrams did indeed write about this, back in the Feb/March 1998 issue of FH. It's an excellent article, not surprisingly. I bet he didn't think of it either, though.

heh.

I wasn't calling anyone out, just fact-checking my own memory. (And my memory is weird enough, believe me...)

Originality is overrated, anyway.
k

[Ted S.]

I always thought a great business concept was to deliver a completed project, major renovation, new home, etc., then give the homeowner a Owner's Manual on an iPad.

Then.......you wire yourself into every component, every system, every piece of the house. So all they need to do when they need a chimney sweep is hit some app, and you get the call. Time for new sealant in the tile shower, you get the call. Time to clean the ducts, you get the call. Time to clean the gutters, you get the call. You get the picture. There's a business in that somewhere.

Of course it could become and Endless Bummer where the guy is pinging you all night long to fix the siding.

[BBBUILDER]

Good stuff on the blog with lots of posts (havent finished reading) but 'Pretty Good House' doesn't have a marketable ring to its name. There's good, better and best. To my ear 'Pretty Good' although folksie, occupies a spot below good, and good is not good enough for most of the consuming populace.
I completely agree about the need for a synthesis of these standards for residential that considers regional differences but unifies us as a whole. LEED does this well for commercial but seems to not fit residential as well. The passive haus stuff is cool and fun to geek out on, especially when it gets into feedback monitoring but will not adapt to all climates and will not enter into the market in any meaningful way. Net Zero seems to be a better goal overall to me regarding energy because it can balance kinetic activity (energy generation) with defensive or passive activity (energy conservation).
Builders need to be part of the conversation otherwise we'll have something impractical, given to us by conservationist that aren't in touch with the market or the practicalities of home building.

[Dancing Dan]

Mike wrote about Part 2 of our on-going discussion, posted earlier this week. I wore a nicer shirt that time.

And if our biggest problem is the name, well be doing pretty well.

[BBBUILDER]

Hi Dan, very admirable work you are doing there. You are tackling the one of the biggest issues of leadership and organization. The name is the thing in the end for public at large. I'm a reformed Mainiac, born and bred and understand the colloquialism pretty good myself but it wont translate nationally. It sounds just fine but not wicked good like it should.
I'm working through the various standards, went to passive haus conference recently, following a net zero project closely, will be building a Platinum or gold LEED-H this year and have been building our regional standard Built Green 4 and 5 star and Energy Star V3 homes for a few years. I want to be a part of the integration solution but need more experience in the various standards. In the end it could be a very complicated solution but needs to be easily digestible to average homeowner with a clear value proposition and perhaps a 'part of the solution' overarching ethos.

[Dancing Dan]

Do you know Dan Whitmore? He and I went to college together.

I am more and more a fan of net zero as a new construction goal. I've built 5 LEED rated homes, and have mixed, but mostly positive, feelings about that system. It's all a tough nut to crack, and I am very grateful for all the groups, from Energy Star to Passive House, trying to figure it out.

And I'll defend PGH to the Death! Well, not really. It was just a stupid idea for a discussion group topic that's gotten out of hand.

[Overbuilders]

...and understand the colloquialism pretty good myself but it wont translate nationally.

Whatcha think, we're a bunch of ignant idjits out here upstream?

[BBBUILDER]

I don't know Whitmore personally a although I know he is well regarded in the local eco-conscious building community and loosely follow his house that saved the world blog. I'll meet him here one day. Is he a Mainer?
I agree with net zero. Even in gloomy seattle solar is becoming a solution that pencils out. I think we'll see exponential growth in this technology (double edge sword for homeowners to buy into a rapidly evolving tech though).