Demand is rising sharply for high-efficiency homes called passive houses. They're created by design principles that seek extreme energy efficiency.
When Maine builder Jesper Kruse began marketing a type of high-efficiency home called a passive house a dozen years ago, the dwellings appealed mainly to a small cohort of committed environmentalists.
"We have probably gotten 10 times the amount of inquiries in the last couple of years than we've received before," says Kruse, owner of Maine Passive House. Katrin Klingenberg is executive director and co-founder of Passive House Institute US, a nonprofit that trains passive home builders and certifies buildings. She says that from 2011 to 2021, 16 million square feet of construction — single family homes, apartment complexes and commercial structures — was submitted for certification. The institute projects builders will seek approval of an additional 11 million square feet in 2022.
"It gets nerdy pretty quick," says Kruse."Rather than just building the building, you're actually putting in a whole lot of information and then you're evaluating how the house is going to perform before starting construction." Passive single-family homes often cost about 10% more than conventional ones, but multifamily buildings are on par because of apartments' shared walls and floors. Klingenberg says that state incentives that subsidize the training of passive house builders and qualify the buildings for tax breaks are lowering construction costs and spurring demand.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
GOP senators demand that U.S. help transfer fighter jets to UkraineMore than 40 Senate Republicans call on the Biden administration to assist in the transfer Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine.
Les mer »
Metro sees demand in $1 'Micro' rideshare serviceNo, it's not a typo. Metro's 'Micro' rideshare service, which offers rides in LA County for $1, is seeing more demand as gas prices continue to increase.
Les mer »
Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD may surpass $2,000 on steadfast Russian demand for Ukraine surrenderGold Price Forecast: XAU/USD may surpass $2,000 on steadfast Russian demand for Ukraine surrender By Sagar_Dua24 Gold DollarIndex InterestRate Inflation Ukraine
Les mer »
Two Years Into Pandemic, Die-Ins Will Demand End to Big Pharma's Grip on Vaccine PatentsOrganizers of Friday's EndCOVIDMonopolies protests are calling for waiving intellectual property rules, sharing vaccine recipes, and funding regional hubs to make more doses.
Les mer »
The risk management experts now in high demandCovid-19 and now Ukraine have seen firms rush to hire experts in planning for crisis.
Les mer »