Re:A 3°C world has no safe place
by bookofsand on Saturday July 24, 2021 @10:28AM
(#27941221)
This is an excellent answer.
The number of Passivhauser in the US is apparently in the thousands. What would it take to scale this up to 100-1000 times? What would it take to change the status from luxury good to mass adoption?
Re:A 3°C world has no safe place
by lotsofpulp on Saturday July 24, 2021 @01:00PM
(#27942525)
There is always a reason why <insert groundbreaking and game changing technology> has not been widely adopted.
If it was all upside, the established players, in this case home builders, would have already incorporated it to gain a competitive advantage.
I am guessing there are downsides such as cost of materials, expertise, mold, or something that keeps this from being an economical solution.
Re:A 3°C world has no safe place
by throw0101a on Saturday July 24, 2021 @07:01PM
(#27945091)
Passive house is a very high standard, and I do not think it is very practical to do it at large scale.
Aiming for something that can be net zero is probably more practical: building stringently up to a certain point, and then throw some PV panels to offset whatever expected energy use is remaining.
For one, net zero houses look pretty comfortable:
* https://www.chba.ca/CHBA/BuyingNew/Net-Zero-Homes.aspx
If you go further toward "passive house" you can have 5000 sq. ft. (500 sq. m.) of living area and only need 1500W (a hairdryer) to heat it:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vul4vMFdkA
Residential energy use accounts for roughly 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States:
* https://www.pnas.org/content/117/32/19122
IMHO there's still plenty of low-hanging fruit in just efficiencies that can be plucked before lifestyle sacrifices would need to be made.