More than 40 percent of energy generated in the United States is used to power buildings, from heating and lighting to igniting gas-powered stoves. Decarbonizing buildings could put a serious dent in overall energy consumption, but it’s not an easy task. Bronwyn Barry, the board president of the North American Passive House Network, thinks passive houses could be part of the solution. Passive houses are airtight structures built to achieve both energy efficiency and, according to Barry, a comfortable, quiet indoor environment. For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/building-decarbonization-with-bronwyn-barry/
For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/building-decarbonization-with-bronwyn-barry/
Ethan: This is Ethan Elkind of Climate Break. How do we design buildings to use less energy? One promising solution is “energy efficient passive houses.” To understand how they work, I spoke to Bronwyn Barry, the board president of the North American Passive House Network. She told me the first passive house was built in the 1990s by two European scientists.
Ms. Barry: These two geeky physicists who decided that’s really what we want to aim for. It’s not a super energy efficient building, but this building that can have 100% outdoor fresh air supply to it and not lose a bunch of energy or be uncomfortable.
Ethan: In other words, it’s airtight.
Ms. Barry: It's just using basic building science to be able to create the most healthy, comfortable building which happens to also deliver amazing energy efficiency.
Ethan: Passive house methods can be applied to lots of buildings--like hospitals and even skyscrapers.
Ms. Barry: These are actually a lot of passive house swimming pools now. Because they have such a high energy footprint and applying passive house methodology to them has been just a massive reduction in energy use.
Ethan: Barry says residents of these houses feel the difference right away.
Ms. Barry: The primary benefit that all my clients always remark on once they move in, is this amazing, quiet peacefulness.
Ethan: If you’re interested in constructing your own passive house or just want to learn more, we’ve got resources and advice, including more on Barry’s work, at climatebreak.org.