According to Aurimas Sabulis, managing director of Intus Windows (http://www.intuswindows.com/), a worldwide leader in the manufacture of energy efficient window products, a new Passivhaus designed by Chris Corson of Belfast, Maine, is a virtual replica of the well-publicized Passivhaus that Corson built in Knox, Maine, and uses energy-efficient Intus windows.

“The house sits on a slab-on-grade raft slab foundation that includes 12 inches (about R-50) of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam,” Sabulis says. “The house features 14-inch-thick walls, with 2x4 bearing walls sheathed with OSB and vertical TJIs attached to the exterior side of the OSB sheathing. The TJI bays were insulated with densely-packed cellulose, and the 2x4 bearing wall was insulated with 3.5 inches of Roxul mineral wool, for a total wall R-value of about R-52. The attic is insulated with about 36 inches of cellulose, boasting an R-value of around R-100 plus.”

According to Sabulis, the house features triple-glazed Intus windows with vinyl frames.

“Intus Windows is well known for its triple pane windows and doors that are widely used in energy efficient homes throughout the U.S. and Europe,” Sabulis says. “In addition to the air tightness of the Intus windows, the windows have Ug Rating of 0.106, making them extremely energy efficient.”

Like the house that Corson built in Knox, Maine, the Pikes’ house is designed to be heated with a single 12,000 BTU/h Mitsubishi ductless minisplit unit. The owners didn’t turn it on once last winter, Sabulis says. Instead, they heated the home with a Morso 3112 wood stove, using no more than a 1/2 cord of firewood for the entire winter. The stove has a very small firebox that takes 12-inch firewood.

“A cord of seasoned hardwood contains about 24 million BTU, so a 1/2 cord contains about 12 million BTU,” explains Sabulis. “The wood stove has an efficiency of 65%, and the house required about 7 million BTU of heat last winter. To get the same amount of heat from an oil heating system with an efficiency of 85%, you would need about 59 gallons of fuel oil.”

Intus Windows (http://www.intuswindows.com/) is a pioneer in manufacturing and distributing super energy-efficient windows and doors in the United States. Driven by technology, innovation, and continuous progress Intus Windows energy-efficient windows, doors, and curtain walls lines will fit any commercial, residential or industrial application, and they are Passive House Certified and suitable. For the past 21 years the company has manufactured and installed more than 800,000 windows and doors all over the world, with main export markets in Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe. Today, with a manufacturing facility in Lithuania, Intus has entered into the super energy-efficient window market here in the United States. For more information, call 1-888-380-9940.