Acorn Glade Passive House

DOWNERS GROVE, IL

This 1,800s.f. Passive House is designed to harmonize with its peaceful, wooded site. The interior is organized around a large south opening to a courtyard-like patio space; as a backdrop to this opening is a wall featuring walnut from trees harvested on site. As a Passive House, it uses about a tenth the heating energy of a built-to-code home. As a Source Zero house, monitored results show it uses 86% less energy overall including all household energy use and electric car charging. Indoor air quality and occupant health are a primary objective as well, so no-added-formaldehyde panel materials, no-VOC, non-toxic paints, and Greenguard certified sealants, caulks, and adhesives were used along with a continuous demand-controlled ventilation system to provide superior air quality.  

Completed
2017

 

General Contractor
Evolutionary Home Builders

 

Structural Engineer
Goodfriend Magruder Structure

 

Civil Engineer
Haeger Engineering

 

Third-party Testing and Verification
Eco Achievers

 

Photography
Hausman Photography

 

Energy Use per Architecture 2030
EUI = 7, 86% reduction

 

Awards
Winner, Single-Family, PHIUS Passive House Projects Competition, 2019
Winner, Source Zero, PHIUS Passive House Projects Competition, 2019

 

Press
Green Building and Design, 2020, “Meet the Winners of the 2019 PHIUS Passive House Projects Competition”
BuildWithRise.com, January 25, 2021, “Acorn Glade: Chicago Area’s Third Passive House”