Certified passive house consultant Steven Rhodes put his money where his mouth is by getting his certification while working on his own passive house in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Monthly reported.
It started in 2011, when Rhodes first learned about energy efficiency from the book Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air by David J. C. MacKay. In 2018, when he started planning his own home based on those principles, he heard about Phius, originally named from an acronym standing for the Passive House Institute United States, though Phius and the institute are now fully separate entities.
Passive houses are designed to use much less energy than a standard home, as little as half. They're extremely well insulated, holding onto heat in winter and cool air in the summer, and they also have excellent air quality inside. The heavy insulation blocks noise, which makes them extra comfortable — and of course, the energy saved makes them cheaper to live in, all without substantially raising building costs.
Meanwhile, this mode of building is better for the planet. More energy efficiency equals less air pollution, and an energy-efficient home can be operated using solar panels instead of grid energy to make it even cleaner and save even more money, just like Rhodes chose to do.
Rhodes designed the home himself from the ground up, and he and his wife Becca completed the labor with their own hands, taking the property from an empty lot to a full-fledged home.
Many friends and family members jumped in to help, from both spouses' parents to a man named John He, who just happened to be passing by.
The finished product is the first certified passive house in Central Ohio. It also supplies all its own energy with solar panels.
"A personal triumph," Rhodes told Columbus Monthly.
Now, Rhodes is a building designer and construction consultant for similar homes, ensuring a more affordable and cleaner future for Ohio residents.
If you want to run your home using solar panels, now is the time to find a local installer through EnergySage. Its free online tools will help you find vetted local installers and can help you save up to $10,000 on your installation.
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