Happy 2021! As the new year ticks over, some may feel hopeful that 2021 presents a fresh slate, although we would do well to remember that actual life doesn’t work like that. I have to say that it’s been difficult to compartmentalize house project updates when so much crazy sh*t has been happening all around us, although I also have to acknowledge that my readers don’t necessarily want to hear my opinions on the state of US politics, sexism, racism, unchecked capitalism, the wanton destruction of our planet or any other intersecting problems that have boiled over in the past year. I’m no expert. I’ll just say that as difficult as many of last year’s stories have been, it’s about time the sh*t is hitting the fan.
OK back to compartmentalizing…
As we shimmy through the denouement of the project proper, here’s where we’re at and what’s to come…
Matt finished his workshop! He has wished for a workshop as long as I’ve known him (about 11 years for the record). He’s made do in our previous places, whether the ‘bike room’ or an uninsulated garage packed with garden tools and other random junk. Never a purpose built workshop. This is a big deal for a maker of things. He promised me he would sit on the floor and cry when it was done and I promised to collect photographic evidence.
Well I didn’t get the tears, but I got some celebratory posing:
Here it is again, starting to take shape:
Now that Matt has a proper place to work, we can move most of the stuff that’s currently in our downstairs flex/guest room and second bathroom into the workshop and finish up those spaces for their intended uses. Then Matt can pick away at our remaining millwork and whittle down this large pile of old house wood that is stacked in our living room:
Beyond the millwork (on Matt’s list), there is still plenty to do (on my list):
Certification: The Passive House Institute likes their documentation. I need to do a final model update and submit for certification, which will mean uploading all the evidence (calculations, photographs, product data sheets etc) and likely a few rounds of back and forth to get them everything they need to – hopefully – issue our official plaque.
Monitoring: I will start with some simple utility bill analysis of where we’re at with energy consumption compared to the model. However, I also want to do proper sub-metering, especially since we have the rental suite within our metered consumption, along with Matt’s workshop.
Solar PV: We only roughed in the conduit for solar PV in the original build to save on our initial costs. Our siting is not perfect for solar photovoltaics, mainly thanks to an enormous and beautiful Garry Oak tree in our neighbour’s yard that brings shade in the summer and also overhangs a good chunk of the south flat roof area. Our next step will be to have an analysis done to optimize the number and placement of panels. My current guess is that we won’t generate enough power given the available exposed roof area to fully offset our electricity consumption, but it will still make a healthy dent in it. And the longer we wait, the better the technology gets, right?
Stuff We’ve Noticed and Living in a Passive House updates: Readers may be interested in how it’s all working out and what’s it’s like living here. Posts on our ongoing observations are in the works. And if you have specific questions you would like answered, fire away.
Beyond this, we’ve been mulling over ideas for a next project. Given the especially eye opening nature of 2020, I’ve been thinking a lot about what a meaningful next project might look like. I’m sure I am not alone in pondering ‘what can I do’ beyond behaving like a proper human being among other human beings and respecting that we do not in fact live on a planet of infinite resources.
Matt made a plea that we wouldn’t start anything new for a year after finishing here. I think I convinced him that what made this project especially stressful was the multi-year disruption to our living situation, moving in and out and back into a construction site over a couple of years. Granted, he has a point. I would like to enjoy not being constantly stressed about it all for at least a few months. We have some ideas though…
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