Page 58 - Hillview_book

Western’s Passive House Instructional Facility was made possible through a unique community partnership. It is located on the former Hillview Greenhouse site and serves as a living laboratory for students and a model for energy efficiency for the region.
placed to allow sunlight in during the cold months while eliminating heat loss. Once the passive house is at the temperature desired by the homeowner, the temperature is easy to maintain because there is very little infiltration due to the special construction of the build- ing. The placement of the house on a lot also contributes to energy efficiency.
A passive house, on average, results in 80 percent reduction
in total energy consumption, 90 percent less heating and cooling energy consumption. Western’s Passive House Instructional Facil- ity will initially come with a solar hot water heater. If a future home- owner desires, the roof is also designed for solar panel instal- lation to offset electrical needs. Additionally, a passive house is durable. Because less energy is required to maintain comfortable living conditions, heating and cooling equipment is smaller. This reduces equipment costs as well as equipment maintenance and service costs. Most importantly,
a passive house is comfortable, efficiently maintaining optimal indoor temperatures for its occupants. Heat recovery ventila- tion is used to provide excellent indoor air quality, while saving energy in the process.
In Western’s new Horticulture Education Center, Hillview will make use of a large public room and other work space to provide community education and ex- pand its collaborative efforts and outreach. The building design will give people, including the elderly and individuals with physical limitations, easy access to Hill- view, where they can learn about growing, preparing and preserving nutritious foods.
PASSIVE HOUSES: SUSTAINABLE BUILDING AND DESIGN
By definition, a passive house is a model for reduced building energy use. General contractor Fowler
& Hammer built the first passive house, and Western students test and monitor the strict airtight- ness and energy use requirements. During and after the construction phase, the first house will be used as a living laboratory for course curriculum by students in West- ern’s Building Systems Technol- ogy associate’s degree program,
as well as students in Wood Technics, Architectural Technol- ogy, Landscape Horticulture, and
Heating/Ventilation/Air Condition- ing and Refrigeration Technician programs.
What makes a passive house? Simply put, its construction materials and structural form.
A passive house in our climate zone requires 21-inch-thick walls, maximizing gains and minimizing losses because of extra insula- tion. It relies on being air tight, which means no greater than 0.6 air changes per hour at 50 pas- cals. Heating bills are extremely low due to high performance, triple-glazed windows strategically
THE LA CROSSE AREA’S GROWING EXPERIENCE past | present | future
A NEW HOME FOR THE BIRDS
When the old Hillview
Greenhouse was deconstructed,
a small migratory bird, the chimney swift, lost its habitat in Hillview’s chimney, a popular nesting site in the La Crosse area. The birds were spotted in the chimneys of Aquinas High School, but people wanted the birds to have their old habitat. In re- sponse, Western students designed a new chimney swift habitat on the old lot by the Passive House Instructional Facility.
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PHOTO: Vicki Miller
PHOTO: Bruce Defries Photography
PHOTO: Bruce Defries Photography