Passive House Retrofit Details Case Studies in North American Climates

Introduction: Why Retrofit?

Part 1: Understanding Retrofits

1. Retrofit Context and Considerations

2. Retrofit Principles and Practices

Part 2: Retrofit Case Studies

3. Pre-1950 Masonry

3.1.      Carroll Gardens Passive House

3.2.      King's Block

3.3.      Tiny Queens Passive House

3.4.      The Compound Rowhomes

3.5.      Flatbush Apartment Retrofit

3.6.      Bank Lofts

3.7.      West Woodlawn Two-Flat

3.8.      Citylight Church

3.9.      Passive House Office

3.10 Rubin Hall

4. Pre-1950 Wood Frame

4.1       Falkland Street Retrofit

4.2       Ditmas Park Victorian

4.3       Wallace Street Passive House

4.4       17th Street Passive House

4.5       Ravenswood Retrofit

4.6       Boston Triple Decker

4.7       The Alcove Workspace

5. Post-1950

5.1.      Sunnyvale Bungalow

5.2.      Silicon Valley Mid-Century Modern

5.3.      Calgary Larsen Truss Retrofit

5.4.      Gateway Ranch House

5.5.      Hemp House

5.6.      Hotel Marcel

5.7.      Ken Soble Tower

5.8.      Syracuse Integrated Overclad + Pod

5.9.      East 79th Street Rainscreen

6. The Present and Future of Retrofits: A Roundtable Discussion

Participants: Bronwyn Barry, Tony Daniels, Michael Ingui, Graeme Stewart, Kim Walton

Biography

Gabrielle Brainard is an architect specializing in the design of high-performance enclosures for new and existing buildings. She is skilled in the application of building science principles to create comfortable, durable, and energy-efficient buildings. Gabrielle is an Associate Principal at Skidmore Owings & Merrill in New York. She teaches façade design at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and is a trainer for The Passive House Network.

Nina Wilson is an architectural scientist and Assistant Professor of Architectural Technology at the Syracuse University School of Architecture. She leads interdisciplinary research in the development of novel building enclosure technologies, demonstration and testing of deep energy retrofit approaches, integration of active flow control systems, and the design and deployment of low-carbon biomaterial systems for new construction and retrofit applications.

"To maintain the usability of existing buildings for decades, they must be designed to be more resilient, structurally improved, retrofitted for comfort, and heated and cooled with reasonable effort – while simultaneously ensuring good air quality and minimal environmental impact. The documented examples illustrate concrete implementation details for a wide variety of existing building types."

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Feist, Founder, Passive House Institute

 

"By bringing together clear guidance, practical insight, and richly illustrated examples, this book does something profoundly important: it enables us to learn from one another, distilling successes, demystifying complexity, and showcasing exemplar projects that can accelerate progress sector-wide, delivering comfort, health, and durable construction for present and future generations."

Marion Baeli, Principal, Sustainability Transformation at 10 Design and Author, “Residential Retrofits: 24 Case Studies”

 

"The devil is in the details, which is exactly what this book delivers: more than two dozen case studies brought to life with photography, architectural drawings, and extraordinary open-wall images, delivering deep energy retrofits with lessons capped by a candid roundtable in a single indispensable volume."

Ian Shapiro, PE, Co-author, Green Building Illustrated and Founder, Taitem Engineering, Ithaca, NY

 

"The world of design and construction desperately needs a compendium of Passive House retrofit practices in buildings of all shapes and sizes. This book acknowledges the numerous challenges of deep energy retrofits and shows how they were overcome. It is an excellent resource for designers and builders."

Steven Winter, FAIA. Chairman, Steven Winter Associates

 

"There is a pressing need to have modern enclosure details for retrofit projects – that is, details that provide high levels of insulation, clear airtightness strategies, and realistic rain penetration control. Here, finally, is a book that is filled with these details for Passive House retrofit projects and more!"

Dr. John Straube, P.Eng., Associate Professor, University of Waterloo