BuildZeroConsulting

Check out this article featuring a unique passive building..."Passive house is an energy-efficient building approach focusing on airtightness and continuous insulation, says Ryan Abendroth, co-founder of BuildZeroConsulting and senior lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis. Abendroth, who has designed award-winning passive-certified buildings, now helps clients develop sustainable solutions for various building types. He notes that passive buildings benefit the local city and global climate by reducing energy use and associated pollutants, easing strain on power grids during peak times." #passivehouse #zeroenergy #buildingscience #zeroemissions

Thank you Phius for putting up an excellent new conference with the Phius Pro Forum in Providence, RI this week. 3 days of high quality deep technical passive building content! We enjoyed the knowledge exchange, meeting old friends and making new ones!

Why Combining Green Roofs and Photovoltaic Systems? ➡ Green roofs can increase the efficiency of PV systems by cooling the surrounding environment. The cooler temperature around the panels leads to higher performance since PV panels perform better at lower temperatures. ➡ By combining green roofs with PV systems, the space on a roof is used more effectively, achieving both energy production and environmental benefits. ➡ Subsoil provides the required weight to secure the PV System to avoid penetrations through the roof that could cause thermal bridging and water leakage. What are your experience with combining green roofs and PV Systems? For additional information: https://lnkd.in/g2i3t-wP Thank you Sempergreen Group for this quick interview at the Bau in Munich with Stefan Goebel. #NetZero #Passivehouse #greenroofs #PV

Thank you Jason Blush for the great discussion with Stefan Goebel at GlassBuild America about Guardian Industries's vacuum insulated glass (VIG) units. It's impressive how their VIG technology (coming back to market in 2025) achieves R-values of R13 (0.07 BTU/hft2F) and in hybrid use (VIG within standard IG) of up to R19 (0.052 BTU/hft2F), depending on configuration. ➡ Some key points: - VIG offers superior insulation compared to triple-pane insulated glass (R13 or higher vs. R9). - It uses less material (two panes vs. three), reducing both embodied and operational carbon. - Overall IG thickness 0.31" (8mm) compared to 1.26" (32mm) - Metallic spacers are hardly visible - Needed innovation for slimmer frame systems to support such slim IG's Sounds like a game-changer in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability! https://lnkd.in/g3qVUPjY #VIG #Highperformancebuilding #Phius #Passivehouse #NZE #embodiedcarbon #buildingscience

Window to Wall Joint Sealing done differently Part 2 - Install! Stefan Goebel (Build Zero Consulting) visits Hanno in Hanover, Germany to interview Philipp Staude (Hanno) and learn about expandable multi functional tape install. A good water control layer, insulation and acoustic control as well as vapor control depend on the installation and joint sealing between the window and wall. If these details are not solved with the necessary care, shed water and water vapor can cause mold growth and structure to rot, issues that affect indoor air quality, comfort, energy use and building durability immensely. Expandable multi-functional foam tapes hold great potential to conventional material such as caulk, spray foam or flashing tapes. Check out this video from Hanno's factory in Germany. #passivehouse #netzeroenergy #windowinstall #energyefficiency https://lnkd.in/gZkFNikA

Cooling & Resilience: The In's and Out's of Energy Modeling Listen in to this Passive House Accelerator episode on Cooling and Summer Resiliency series where Co-host Ilka Ilka Gronert Cassidy interviews Ryan Abendroth (BuildZeroConsulting), Prudence Ferreira, and Christina Snyder on the intricacies of cooling and resilience in building design. Hear from experts as they share their experiences, challenges, and strategies for predicting and mitigating overheating in buildings. Discover everything from foundational energy modeling to advanced methods for optimizing building performance. Join in to learn how these professionals ensure comfort and sustainability in Passive House projects across diverse climates. #passivehouse #netzeroenergy #energymodel #buildingsience

What it's like to work in an office building that was designed with the Passive Building principles in mind and why this German company chose to build it that way. ➡ Listen in as Stefan Goebel interviews Volker Brock (CEO) of Hanno Werk GmbH & Co. KG on what encouraged the company to go the extra mile to provide a healthy, comfortable and energy efficient office building for their employees and listen to Philipp Staude (R&D) and Andreas Rissmann (International Key Accounts) on what it's like to work in such a building. The company manufactures expandable multi-functional tapes for window to wall joint sealing and supports project teams that aim to achieve water and air tight building joints. Stay tuned for an install video from our visit in Hanover. Follow BuildZeroConsulting for more Passive House and Net Zero Energy content. #PassiveHouse #Healthybuilding #sustainabledesign #officebuilding #germany #buildingscience https://wix.to/CVUoF7G

How to cut cooling loads in all glass buildings - ACT Facade Stefan Goebel & Micha Pawelka with Priedemann Facade Experts – North America / Priedemann Facade Experts / Facade-Lab discuss current energy code changes in the U.S. and well suited facade solutions to address these changes. Check out this video that dives into the ACT facade which tackles cooling load issues in buildings with high window to wall ratios. Reducing cooling load on all glass buildings is a common challenge. Double skin facades tackle this issue but are costly and carbon intense. Check out the ACT facade (by Priedemann, Frauenhofer, Schueco, Transolar and Warema), a lower cost and carbon solution that works well on new construction and refurbishment. In architecture maximum transparency of the façade has always been an ideal. From gothic churches to modernist designs still today architects strive for highly transparent envelopes. With contemporary regulations and energy efficiency demands this goal is again hard to achieve. A classical façade solution would react by reflecting unwanted solar radiation by exterior shading. The ACT (Active Cavity Transition) Façade in contrast works on the principle of absorbing the solar radiation, reducing heat reflection into the urban context and extracting it for further use within the building. The ACT Facade consists of an interior blind that creates a cavity between the textile and the exterior glass layer. This interstitial space becomes the first part of the exhaust air ducts through which the spent office air is extracted. In this way, the space acts as a buffer – heat from the sun is absorbed by the inside solar screen and routed up through the cavity. This extracted heat energy can for example be used for heat recovery or to support dehumidification. At the same time, the low mass and room side low-e coating of the blind provides lower surface temperatures and improved user comfort though low heat radiation. The inner glare protection screen is rail-guided, and operates dependent upon the quantity of solar exposure in the space. The transparency of the screen material is graded according to the requirements, thus helping to provide filtered daylight with low glare. Through simply re-arranging conventional components, the system results in a highly efficient façade especially suitable for high-rise buildings. Creating a pure and transparent exterior aesthetic with lower installation and maintenance costs. This design’s minimal built-up raises the internally usable space compared to double-skin or closed-cavity facades. Priedemann implemented The ACT Facade already in several projects including the Festo high-rise, a DGNB Platinum (similar to LEED Platinum) certified all glass office building. #lowcarbonrefurbishment #energyefficiency #passivebuildings #wgpg #facadeexperts #bzc https://lnkd.in/gNtyRuRr

Join our Passive House Q&A Office Hour on September 4th at 11.30am CT / 12.30pm ET and get your general and project specific PH questions answered. Meet our Certified Passive House Consultants: Ryan has worked exclusively on passive house and net zero energy projects since 2009. He was the Phius certification manager from 2009-20013, has been a Passive House instructor (CPHC, WUFI advanced multifamily modeling etc.) since 2011 and is a member of the Phius Technical Committee. Stefan has been a Certified Passive House Consultant since 2017 and worked on projects across the U.S.. He is a Building Science Principle and has over a decade of experience in consulting on high performance building projects. RSVP via email to stefan@buildzeroconsulting.com BuildZeroConsulting #bzc #passivehouse #netzeroenergy #sustainablearchitecture

The insulation R-Value from a data sheet is only half the truth! Is a 2x6 wood stud wall really R22 at R4/inch (thermal performance) as stated on manufacturer data sheets? No, its about 19% lower (R17.9) due to thermal bridging from the wood studs. How does this impact the buildings energy performance? ➡ When looking at a 38,000 sq. ft. multifamily in U.S. climate zone 5: - De-rated R-Value: R17.9 compared to assumed R22 without Thermal Bridging - Heating Demand Delta: 23,800 kBTU/yr - Heating Load Delta: 9,000 BTU/h - Source Energy Delta: 4,678 kWh/yr Stay tuned as we are showing you the shocking results when replacing wood studs with aluminum studs. The de-rated (or adjusted) insulation value of a wall due to thermal bridging through wood studs is calculated by accounting for the proportion of the wall area occupied by the studs and the lower thermal resistance of the studs compared to the insulation. Follow @BuildZeroConsulting for building sciene, net zero energy and passive building content. #passivebuilding #passivehouse #buildingsience #insulation #energyefficiency #bzc https://wix.to/Blx2CWv