Jung Haus Passive House

About This Project

The Jung Haus, recipient of Fine Homebuilding’s 2014 Best Energy-Smart Home, is a 2,300 square-foot, single-family residence with a detached garage and apartment, located in Holly, Michigan. The home has been designed to meet the Passive House standard, and is the first certified Passive House in the state. Utilizing a Larson truss wall assembly and innovative detailing developed by GO Logic, this house will consume 90% less energy for space heating than a new code-compliant home. GO Logic partnered with Michael Klinger of Energy-Wise Homes, a local contractor and Passive House consultant, to build the structures. GO Logic provided design services as well as critical construction components for the building shell to ensure the quality and performance of the final construction.

The site of the Jung Haus is a beautiful, rolling mix of fields and forest whose focal point is a pond. The site’s topography and orientation allow for excellent solar exposure aligned with picturesque views. While the house siting allows for passive solar gain, the relatively cloudy skies of a Michigan winter require a balanced approach to the home’s passive solar strategy.

A building’s size and form directly impact its energy performance, use of materials, and disruption of the site. In order to optimize Jung Haus’ energy performance and long-term sustainability, a simple, compact building form was created, reducing the exterior surface area and resulting heat loss. This form also echoes the regional vernacular of southeastern Michigan, with spare, low-sloped, peaked roofed structures. The south facade does have an increased glazed area compared to the other elevations, but the openings are modulated in order to maintain the form and fenestration patterns consistent with the regional building typology.

The Jung Haus is designed to comfortably accommodate the evolving needs of a contemporary family of five, with a plan that has been optimized for maximum flexibility in a compact space. The Jung Haus is built on a fully insulated and air-sealed basement. The basement allows for additional storage and a shelter from storms. The building is heated and cooled with an air-source heat pump, which provides cooling and dehumidification during Michigan’s humid summers and an efficient heat source in winter. As with all GO Logic buildings, a ventilation system with energy recovery will ensure a fresh, healthy interior environment.

GO Logic uses energy modeling and the Passive House standard to assess the performance of all its buildings. The Passive House standard’s strict parameters for energy consumption based on the total energy demand for space heating per square foot of usable floor area provide us with an important tool to measure a building’s performance. When Passive House levels of efficiency are achieved, mechanical systems can be greatly reduced, operational costs become minimal, and renewable on-site resources can often offset energy demands.

You can read more about the Jung Haus construction progress on our blog.