Building Forward in the Face of Fires
Building Forward in the Face of Fires
While Passive House buildings are rightly touted for their comfort, health, and energy savings, they bring another benefit that is often overlooked but can be critical in the western United States and other arid climates—their inherent survivability in wildfire events. Author Andrew Michler details the advantages of Passive House design, such as simplified form factors, triple-pane windows, and fire-resilient insulation materials like mineral wool and cellulose, in mitigating risks from firebrands and extreme heat. The article also discusses the RESTORE Passive House, a project designed for a community in Superior, Colorado, that lost nearly 200 homes in the Marshall Fire, showcasing a practical application of these fire-resilient principles.
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i expected to learn about deep highly evolved technology that is the context for passive houses, but was surprised it amounted to a series of small, iterative and thoughtful design changes that end up giving houses an outsized chance of surviving a neighborhood fire.
i am unsurprised by the fact that the increased costs of such improvements are enough for builders and individuals to pass up on.
investing in an unknown future is a tricky calculus if one believes that optimizing early is the goal.
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