According to Aurimas Sabulis, managing director of Intus Windows (http://intuswindows.com/), a worldwide leader in the manufacture of high performance passive house compliant windows, David Bitter of Solera Studios out of Atlanta, Georgia, recently designed a Passive House that utilized Intus triple pane uPVC windows. The Passive House Consultant for the project, he says, was Jeff Dinkle of Eco Custom Homes.

“The home is located in South Carolina, which is located in a south-eastern Climate Zone 3A.,” explains Sabulis. “The homeowner is Deb Tucker and she is delighted in the way the home is performing and her energy costs are extremely low at around $58 per month. The standard for that area is several hundred dollars per month.”

Sabulis says that Passive House certified homes are built to the world’s most stringent energy standards. This can result in a reduction of annual heating and cooling energy consumption by an average of 80% to 90%.

“For this project, David Bitter used a program called ArchiCAD, which allowed him to model the Energy Recovery Ventilator to monitor both VOC and CO2 levels that are directly interfaced with the conditioned air ventilation requirements,” says Sabulis. “This approach provided excellent interior conditions and superior air quality, all of which are part of a Passive House design.”

He explains that the ventilation air for the home is filtered and the pollutants are removed prior to entering the home. In contrast, typical homes leak air through walls, windows and other areas, causing them to bring airborne contaminants into the home. Typical homes are also less energy efficient because of that air leakage.

According to Sabulis, contributing to the air quality of this South Carolina passive house are the Intus triple pane uPVC windows, which boast an Air Infiltration Rate of