Nevils Creek Passive House

contact: www.insightarch.com | kheld@insightarch.com

We connected with the client in fall 2020. The client wanted a completely off the grid passive house that would aesthetically give a nod to a traditional North Carolina tobacco barn. The client is a Yacht designer and builder, and so incorporated this knowledge into the build. Yachts use DC power to operate appliances and lights, so we included this into the house design as well. The refrigerator and freezer, ceiling fans and lights are all directly powered from the solar panels. This way energy isn’t lost in converting from DC to AC and back. Since this home is surrounded by nature, and bears have been known to roam the property, the bedroom and living space would be elevated to the second floor. The car garage and boat storage are in the first floor together with the main entrance, small bathroom, office and mechanical room.
The long axis of the house is oriented east to west, so the long facades face south and north. To preserve the views and shade the south facing windows, a southern shading façade and catwalk have been used. The wood façade allows for views and creates an abstract version of the tobacco barn that the client fell in love with. The roof angles are optimized so the south oriented solar panels can catch the most sun. The north façade has beautiful views of the property and doesn’t require any shading. A covered and screened open space on the second floor is an extension of the living room.
Passive House elements consist of a tightly air sealed envelope (required airtightness. maximum of 0.6 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals pressure), well insulated envelope, triple glazed windows and glass doors, heat pump water heater, dehumidifier, an ERV and mini split system. The windows and glass doors have been imported from Germany (Schueco) and are either fixed of tilt-turn. Tilt turn windows seal the window shut tight and don’t allow any air leakage. Similarly with the lift and slide door on the east. The ERV system is balanced separately from the heating and cooling and allows for constant fresh air intake that is preconditioned and filtered. This way the heating or cooling doesn’t have to work as hard, because the energy stays inside the envelope. The house operates on a small solar array and a battery system.