Article Tags: CERV, Passive House
Don't forget to visit Ben and Alex from Build Equinox at the 11th North American Passive House Conference in Philadelphia! Learn about our CERV, the world’s smartest ventilation system.
Build Equinox is celebrating many years of participation at the North American Passive House conference beginning with Ty’s presentation in 2007 of the University of Illinois Solar Decathlon’s “elementhouse” (winner of the comfort conditioning category) and Ben’s presentation at the 2008 NAPH conference in Duluth with early CERV test results. Since that time, we have been to many more passive house conferences.
It is fitting that the very first production CERV was installed in a certified Passive House (the first in metropolitan Denver) in 2013. Since that time, CERVs have been installed in several Passive Houses and other high performance homes. A sampling of some of these fantastic homes are described. The CERV’s intelligence automatically maintains a healthy indoor environment in an energy efficient manner in all climatic regions.
One of the earliest PH certified homes in the US, Gable House is an award winning 2009 University of Illinois Solar Decathlon home that placed 2nd overall while capturing 1st place awards in three decathlon events. Gable House has been one of our early CERV test bed sites in Urbana Illinois. Gable House can be visited anytime you’re passing through town.
The first certified Passive House in metropolitan Denver installed our first production CERV in 2013, just after we received Underwriters Laboratory certification. Native draught resistant landscape, two electric cars, and a solar PV system in addition to exceptional house energy performance. This home demonstrates that luxury and sustainable living can go together.
The Quinlivan House (Garrett Quinlivan, owner, pictured above) in Gainesville Florida is an elegant, simple-to-live-in Passive House designed by University of Florida Architecture Professor Bradley Walters. Ductless mini-splits coupled with CERV smart ventilation will keep the home healthy and comfortable in a hot, humid climate.
The German Passive House Cottage designed by David Bitter (Solera Studios) is the first Passive House in South Carolina. Fresh air indoors and outdoors guaranteed all year long with CERV and wonderful outdoor space.
(photo by JandDImages, Atlanta)
Cation Construction Company built an affordable, certified Passive House that blends into the neighborhood in Springfield IL...except the energy bills are much lower and healthy air is much better than neighboring homes. This simple-to-live-in, barrier-free home is great for young children and elderly. Comfort is maintained with a single ductless mini-split heat pump with CERV smart ventilation system for excellent air quality.
This beautiful Tom Bassett-Dilley designed home with CERV fresh air system is in River Forest, Illinois, Frank Lloyd Wright’s backyard. Evolutionary Builders built Chicagoland’s first Passive House.
Dozens of high performance Vermod homes with CERVs are now spread across Vermont. These homes use 9kWh/ft2-year energy (less than PHI standard of 11kWh/ft2-year) and a very low 3650kWh/occupant-year (less than current PHIUS 6200kWh/occupant-year and future target of 4200kWh/occupant-year). See our July newsletter for more details on Vermod homes and download our report on health, comfort and energy in these high quality homes.
Another Tom Bassett-Dilley designed, Evolutionary Builders constructed Passive House in Hinsdale Illinois. The home features CertainTeed’s AIRRENEW® drywall that captures and binds VOCs. This new home registers exceptionally low VOC levels.
CERVs are manufactured in our 4500sqft, 100% solar powered facility in Urbana Illinois. Don’t let the looks of our building fool you. Our super-insulated, CERV smart-ventilated workplace with geothermal conditioning is also a Plus Zero building with 8.7kW of solar PV. A Geo-Boost™ heat exchanger with a 300ft geoloop (42” depth) converts the CERV heat pump into a hybrid geothermal-air source system. Visit us anytime and take a look at this unexceptional, exceptional building!
