Hammer and Hand is a Portland, Oregon-based contractor specializing in high performance residential construction. Sam Hagerman, Skylar Swinford and Dan Whitmore, three of the green building experts at Hammer and Hand, put together their predictions for high performance residential construction in 2014. The entire article is worth the read.
Here is a summary:
- Focus will move beyond Net Zero Energy to Net Positive Energy buildings.
- Market mechanisms that reward energy conservation and renewable energy production will flourish.
- Building energy codes will move away from prescriptive rules toward performance-based measures.
- CO2 heat pumps will help transform heating and cooling performance.
- US-made high performance windows will continue to make high performance building easier here.
- Builders and designers of high performance homes will design ventilation systems with a focus on quality of ventilation rather than just quantity.
- The US-led move to make Passive House more climate-specific will improve performance at both micro and macro levels.
- Passive House competition will result in better software tools for high performance building practitioners.
- Europe’s push to eliminate thermal bridges in buildings will make high performance building more mainstream in the US, too.
- China’s interest in high performance building will propel US market.
Source: Hammer and Hand, via Regenerative Homes’ Stephen Bolling
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