Unity Homes Combines Prefab with Energy Efficiency

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Bensonwood has launched a divison selling prefab homes designed to meet the Passivhaus airtightness standard of 0.6 ach50

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Like many builders, Tedd Benson and his team at [Bensonwood Homes](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/product-guide/prod/bensonwood-homes) have taken an active interest in the emerging market for energy-efficient homes. In addition to developing [panelized construction techniques](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/bensonwood-reinventing-house) and producing many custom timber frame commercial and residential buildings since its founding in 1974, Bensonwood built a home in Norwich, Vermont, to the PassivhausA residential building construction standard requiring very low levels of air leakage, very high levels of insulation, and windows with a very low U-factor. Developed in the early 1990s by Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist, the standard is now promoted by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany. To meet the standard, a home must have an infiltration rate no greater than 0.60 AC/H @ 50 pascals, a maximum annual heating energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (4,755 Btu per square foot), a maximum annual cooling energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (1.39 kWh per square foot), and maximum source energy use for all purposes of 120 kWh per square meter (11.1 kWh per square foot). The standard recommends, but does not require, a maximum design heating load of 10 W per square meter and windows with a maximum U-factor of 0.14. The Passivhaus standard was developed for buildings in central and northern Europe; efforts are underway to clarify the best techniques to achieve the standard for buildings in hot climates. standard.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/unity-homes-combines-prefab-energy-efficiency