2q_x t1_j6moymi wrote
It's not a certified passive house, but Vermod makes a modular style home that can be customized to look more architectural. They're very affordable and there are multiple programs making them more accessible to people of limited income with grants and special rates.
Ecocor, in Maine, also sells a number of prefab panelized passive homes that can cut out some design/labor costs.
Everyone says it's expensive to build a house in VT because of costs or labor, but...
A super-insulated mechanically ventilated home is much more feasible to operate under it's own power, from PV and Batteries.
In the next 30 years, it's probably going to become much more obvious that a home must continue to remain habitable on a 105 degree day under it's own power, even when the grid fails.
EDIT:
Even focusing on the financial aspect beyond home safety, a lot of cursory financial analysis is somewhat flawed.
A mortgage is likely a fixed expense, paying down equity, at an interest rate near inflation, without being subject to inflation.
A performant home has equity. But there is no point, without chopping a lot of wood, where a traditional home heating supply is paid for. Home owners can't sell electricity they consumed over the years along with their home. They can't take out a mortgage to refinance high interest loans against home heating/cooling costs they paid. So owned equity verses a consumed commodity is completely different.
Second, it's a fixed cost at interest near inflation. So if someone built a home with better thermal performance, at no point in the next 30 years would they see their mortgage rates jump 50% in a year because of inflation or a war. If inflation wasn't transitory, they would not only not be harmed, they'd benefit from a lower effective payment. If there were new players in the energy market driving prices higher, they wouldn't be exposed.
So anyone who would say that a Passive House is not cost effective today, is implicitly saying they know with as much certainty as a mortgage contract what inflation and energy markets will be for the next 30 years.
Germany has built so much living space to Passive House spec that the cost has actually dropped lower than traditional housing, and they're still having energy problems at a regional level.
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