south slope townhouse

This gut renovation of a two family townhouse in Brooklyn provided an opportunity to implement a deep energy retrofit following Passive House principles. Air tight construction, good insulation, energy recovery ventilation and careful attention to thermal bridges make up the energy strategy. The air sealing was done utilizing a continuous Intello membrane sealed with high performance tapes on the inside of the front and rear walls and across the underside of the roof. The final blower door test measured below one air change per hour at 50pascals negative pressure which meets EnerPhit – the Passive House standard for retrofit construction. The insulation strategy utilized dense packed cellulose insulation in the exterior walls and roof while paying careful attention to vapor drive and condensation issues. The windows are high performance triple pane tilt and turn which provide excellent sound attenuation in addition to thermal performance. The result is an extremely comfortable, quiet living environment with filtered fresh air and low energy bills.