Professional Documents
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Passive
heating season. During construction after the
insulation was installed the outdoor temps
hovered around zero for several weeks, but
inside it never got below 60F with no heat.
This geometry provides an opportunity for
the students to study solar aspects through
the seasons. A common exercise is to
School,
measure the depth of sun penetration in the
classroom at different times and seasons.
ACTIVE SAVINGS
B Y D A V I D E LY, A I A , A N D J O R D A N G O L D M A N
AT THE HOLLIS MONTESSORI SCHOOL in southern New Hampshire, the school environment
is a teaching tool. So, to create the best possible environment for students, it made sense to build
the first Passive House certified elementary school in the U.S. It made financial sense, too. For a
10% increase in construction costs to reach certification status, the payback was only three years.
T
he campus is comprised of is maintained by students as a busi- to other K-12 schools. The annual
three energy-efficient build- ness teaching model. Well water, sep- energy savings are on pace to pay off
ings, the crowning jewel tic, and stormwater are all managed the roughly 10% additional construc-
being the Passive House on site. The electric utility provides tion cost within three years.
certified New Classroom Building: all of the energy consumed; no fossil In the future, Hollis Montessori
11,000 ft2 with four classrooms for fuels are consumed on site. School plans to offset all of its energy
primary and elementary students and consumption with photovoltaic (PV)
teachers. The school is located in a Energy Efficiency panels, thereby achieving net zero
cold climate (6,950 heating degree This efficient building has a mea- energy performance. A 27 kW PV sys-
days, 3F outdoor heating design tem- sured energy use intensity (EUI) of tem would offset 100% of the 35,000
perature) on a repurposed 9.5 acre 10.8 kBtu/ft2yr, compared to the kWh/yr annual energy consumption.
apple orchard. The site is fairly level ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 EUI In comparison, a K-12 building of the
with excellent solar access. A large of 70 kBtu/ft2yr for a K12 school. same size built to ASHRAE Standard
portion of the orchard remains, and it Thats an 85% reduction compared 90.1-2004 would require 175 kW
22 H I G H P E R F O R M I N G B U I L D I N G S Fa l l 2 0 1 5
This article was published in High Performing Buildings, Fall 2015. Copyright 2015 ASHRAE. Reprinted by permission at www.hpbmagazine.org. This article may not be copied
and/or distributed electronically or in paper form without permission of ASHRAE. For more information about High Performing Buildings, visit www.hpbmagazine.org.
CASE STUDY HENRY COUNTY
Fa l l 2 0 1 5 H I G H PERFORMING BUILDINGS 23
CASE STUDY HOLLIS MONTESSORI SCHOOL
Name Hollis Montessori School Annual Energy Use Intensity Water Conservation Waterless urinals,
(EUI) (Site) (kBtu/ft2) 10.80 1.2 GPF toilets, low flow faucets and shower.
Location Hollis, N.H. Electricity (Grid Purchase) 10.80
Daylighting All classrooms have large south-
Miles from nearest major city Annual Net Energy Use
Intensity 10.8 kBtu/ft2 facing windows.
5 miles west of Nashua, N.H.
Annual Source (Primary) Individual Controls Daylight, occupancy and
Owner Hollis Montessori School
Energy 33.912 kBtu/ft2 vacancy sensors for all lighting.
Principal Use Elementary and Pre-school Annual Energy Cost Index Carbon Reduction Strategies Extremely low
(ECI) $0.59/ft2
Employees/Occupants112 energy use for heating and lighting. South-
Savings vs. Standard facing roof is solar panel ready.
Expected (Design) Occupancy112 90.1-2004 Design
Percent Occupied100% Building 84% Other Major Sustainable Features
Heating Degree Days Passive House Certified. Natural materials
Gross Square Footage11,000 (Base 65F) 6,950 include wool carpets, zero VOC finishes,
Conditioned Space11,000 linoleum flooring, dedicated exhaust from
Annual Hours Occupied 1,800
Distinctions/Awards print room, CO2 sensor controlled HRVs,
Passive House Certified daylight, occupancy and vacancy sensor light-
ing controls.
Total Cost $2,000,000
Cost per Square Foot $181.82 WATER AT A GLANCE
Substantial Completion/Occupancy BUILDING TEAM
April 1, 2013 Annual Water Use Water meter not
installed.
Building Owner/Representative
Hollis Montessori School
BUILDING ENVELOPE Architect Windy Hill Associates, David Ely, AIA
Location
Latitude 42.7 N
Orientation N/S long sides
Eric Roth Photography
24 HIGH PERFORMING B U I L D I N G S Fa l l 2 0 1 5
CASE STUDY HOLLIS MONTESSORI SCHOOL
Fa l l 2 0 1 5 H I G H PERFORMING BUILDINGS 25
CASE STUDY HOLLIS MONTESSORI SCHOOL
that no one on the construction team heat pumps (ASHPs), without any The super-insulated envelope and
had prior experience with the Passive backup heat source, provide 100% triple-paned windows make point-
House standard, they took an immense of the buildings heating and cool- source heating viable and allow for the
interest in the buildings performance, ing needs. This might seem a strange elimination of a ducted distribution
which fostered a sense of accountabil- choice in a cold climate; however, system. The R-10 glazing maintains
ity and pride. On-the-job training for a they are incredibly well-suited for the a warm interior surface temperature
thermally excellent building became a Hollis Montessori school. The installed and eliminates the need to supply heat
normal part of construction administra- systems are rated down to 13F, well at the windows. The entry, circulation
tion and everybody benefited from the below the design temperature. areas, and offices are served by a sin-
experience. At the end of the process The relatively small heat output of gle ducted indoor mini-split unit com-
they all had a much greater respect a mini-split ASHP pairs well with the bined with its corresponding outdoor
and understanding for what was ini- greatly reduced peak heat demand of unit. The ducted unit was selected, in
tially mysterious. the Passive House certified school. The this case, to provide a heat supply in
school requires less than 4 Btu/hft2 at each of several separate rooms.
Heating and Cooling peak conditions, about 90% less than A ground-source heat pump (GSHP)
Given the exceptionally well insulated a code complaint school of the same was not selected due to its high
and air-sealed building envelope, size. Each of the four classrooms has installation cost for drilling, piping,
the heating and cooling systems are its own mini-split system which pairs and distribution systems. Given the
smaller and simpler than they would an outdoor heat pump unit with a wall- extremely small heating requirement,
be ordinarily. Mini-split air-source mounted indoor unit. the increase in efficiency from an
ASHP to a GSHP (COP 2.5 and COP
3.5, respectively) could not offset the
higher first costs.
Table 1 ENERGY COMPARISON TO CODE MINIMUMS (2009 IECC) Heat recovery ventilators (HRVs)
(84% sensible efficiency, 0.4 W/cfm)
Element Code Hollis Montessori School
distribute fresh air to the classrooms
Slab R-15 for 24 in. Below R-54 Continuous
and offices and exhaust stale air from
Walls R-13 + R-3.8 ci R-41
the kitchenettes and bathrooms. Each
Roof R-20 ci R-111 (R-30 ci)
HRV is controlled by a CO2 sensor as
Windows U-0.35 U-0.15
part of a demand-controlled ventilation
Window Air Leakage 0.3 cfm/ft2 0.03 cfm/ft2
system; the interior CO2 concentration
Door Air Leakage 1 cfm/ft2 0.03 cfm/ft2
acts as a proxy for occupancy. When
45 80
40 70
$/year (in thousands)
35 60
kWh/year (in thousands)
30 50
25 40
30
20
20
15
10
10
0
5
Hollis 201314
School Year
Hollis 201415
School Year
Comparable Standard
90.12004 School
Average Annual
Utility Savings
0
Jun 2013
Jul 2013
Aug 2013
Sep 2013
Oct 2013
Nov 2013
Dec 2013
Jan 2014
Feb 2014
Mar 2014
Apr 2014
May 2014
Jun 2014
Jul 2014
Aug 2014
Sep 2014
Oct 2014
Nov 2014
Dec 2014
Jan 2015
Feb 2015
Mar 2015
Apr 2015
May 2015
Jun 2015
Jul 2015
26 HIGH PERFORMING B U I L D I N G S Fa l l 2 0 1 5
HPB.hotims.com/54440-7
CASE STUDY HO L L I S M ONT E S S OR I S C H OOL
28 HIGH PERFORMING B U I L D I N G S Fa l l 2 0 1 5
CASE STUDY HOLLIS MONTESSORI SCHOOL
Passive House
Certification Lessons
Learned The designers specified energy monitor-
ing from the beginning, but for the next
Passive House is a voluntary inter- project, they intend to break it down more
national building standard composed of Automatic lighting controls were problem- granularly, circuit-by-circuit, and have a
several strict performance requirements atic; commissioning should have been post-construction review program to iden-
for new building construction: annual heat- required in the initial contract documents, tify problemareas.
ing demand, annual cooling demand, total not an add-on with extra cost associated.
primary (source) energy demand, and build-
If the insulation under the slab is more
The contracts with subcontractors should than 4 in. thick it should be staggered
ing airtightness. The resulting performance
have included a requirement for air- in two layers to mitigate cupping and
represents a roughly 90% reduction in
sealing their own penetrations. improve the ease of installation.
heating and cooling energy usage and up
to a 75% reduction in primary energy usage
compared to building code. These mea-
sures are intended to aggressively meet
the climate change crisis by reducing car-
bon emissions while making a comfortable,
healthy and affordable built environment. the room is occupied, the CO2 sensor energy is being used per classroom,
The Passive House Standard for new
energizes the HRV into high speed. how their behavior affects consump-
buildings addresses energy usage and Once the CO2 concentration has fallen tion, and even compete against
building airtightness: below its defined threshold of 700 ppm, the other classrooms to minimize
Space Heating Energy Demand the HRV reverts to its lowest speed. consumption.
4.75 kBtu/ft2yr One classroom includes an exposed The building is currently not used
fabric duct that visibly inflates when during summer vacation. As such,
Space Cooling Energy Demand
4.75 kBtu/ft2yr the HRV is energized. This provides the mechanical systems are dormant
a learning opportunity; the students except the small amount of dehumidi-
Primary Energy Demand can see the air being distributed and fication necessary to keep the hard-
38.0 kBtu/ft2yr
understand how the system changes wood finishes from warping, meaning
Airtight Enclosure with fluctuations in occupancy. that almost no summertime air condi-
Allowable limit of 0.6 air changes per hour
at 50 Pa pressure (ach50) that is verified
Another learning opportunity comes tioning is required.
with an onsite blower door test (pressur- from the building-wide energy moni-
ized and depressurized). toring system. Students use mea- Conclusion
surements to understand how much Having a Passive House certi-
fied school, makes a big impact on
the budget. It only takes $5,000
Figure 3 INSULATION STRATEGY TO AVOID THERMAL BRIDGING to $6,000 annually to operate a
11,000 ft2 building with 112 people
(includes heating, cooling, lighting,
Insulation is continuous hot water and plug loads), which is
from under slab to wall to
roof. The double-stud wall a large enough savings that it has
covers the slab-edge insu- an effect on the whole organization.
lation. The parallel chord Another impact is the ease of running
roof has top chord bearing
allowing the interior non the building. Other than cleaning the
load-bearing stud to be filters a few times a year, not much
attached to the end of the adjustment is needed. And, finally,
bottom chord of the roof
truss forming a continu- the large amounts of daylighting and
ous insulation cavity. The comfortable environment contributes
rigid insulation on the roof to a sense of wellness for the occu-
keeps the dew point above
the roof deck thus avoid- pants.
ing a cold surface where
condensation could occur
Windy Hill Associates
Fa l l 2 0 1 5 H I G H PERFORMING BUILDINGS 29