ᐅ About Passive Houses, Plastic Bags, and Styrofoam Cladding

We did not change the floor plan.
Some electrical work.
We only contracted trades where warranty was important to us. So heating/plumbing/electrical/2 windows.

It was difficult to find companies that had the time and willingness.

The problem is all too familiar. There is a shortage of skilled tradespeople.

Nordlys schrieb:
Tego, I have a problem with those styrofoam panels. I have asthma and react very strongly to overly dry air. In some houses with controlled mechanical ventilation, I feel very uncomfortable and have difficulty breathing.
Strangely enough, never in old houses with drafty windows. That’s also one reason why we chose window frame vents.
Then there are these styrofoam façades. Often, but not always, they are done so poorly that you can see the block structure when light hits at an angle. Often they get moldy. They break easily. It’s also annoying to, for example, drill into something like that to attach a mailbox. This also produces huge amounts of hazardous waste. I consider the whole thing a dead end. We live in the North, where heating has always been necessary and will remain so. Instead of focusing so much on buildings and burning/CO2 emissions, it would be more effective to target traffic and, for example, phase out SUVs. If people find it too rigid to drive a Golf, Astra, or Focus, they should work on their flexibility. I would also find speed limits acceptable. That would remove the incentive to order large engines. Transport costs would rise, reducing truck traffic, and free shipping would simply not be an option. And so on.
Again, I find living in passive houses unhealthy.

We have just moved from a drafty old building from 1902 into a KfW 70 house with decentralized ventilation and no styrofoam (36 cm (14 inches) Poroton masonry), and the living quality is worlds better.
Surely there are good humidifiers that help against dryness with controlled mechanical ventilation?
And by the way, it is the outstanding long-distance capability that justifies the rising market share of SUVs. The problem is less the fuel consumption. I was just in a well-known ski resort in Austria. Wonderful air when you leave the hotel in the morning. Unfortunately, that good air is repeatedly spoiled for a short time on the local roads by diesel vehicles from a well-known German car manufacturer. An American V8 gasoline naturally aspirated engine with a proper catalytic converter is much more "environmentally friendly" in this case.

Marvinius II schrieb:
We recently moved from a drafty old building from 1902 to a KfW 70 house with decentralized ventilation and no polystyrene insulation (36cm (14 inches) Poroton masonry), and the living quality is worlds better.
Surely there are good humidifiers that help with the dryness caused by controlled ventilation?
By the way, it is the superior long-distance capability that justifies the growing market share of SUVs. The real issue is less about fuel consumption. I was just in a well-known ski resort in Austria. The air is wonderful when you step outside the hotel in the morning. Unfortunately, that clean air is repeatedly spoiled briefly on local roads by diesel vehicles from a well-known German car manufacturer. An American V8 gasoline naturally aspirated engine with a proper catalytic converter is much more "environmentally friendly" in this case.

Hmm, I don’t know any statistics, but I believe the majority of kilometers driven with SUVs are short trips. And a 1.2l 4-cylinder engine is certainly more environmentally friendly than a 3l V8 engine. I also find driving my Touran very comfortable on long trips, every day, sometimes with two children in child seats (one rear-facing). Even at 100–120 km/h (60–75 mph) and not at full throttle on the highway or motorway, whether in an A4, SUV, or other vehicle. Unfortunately, it’s not an electric car or gas-powered...
You can rationalize anything.
Driving a car is rarely sensible, and whether insulation mania is sensible...
How someone builds their house—whether insulated with polystyrene or wood fiber, whether using controlled ventilation or, like Nordlys, regular air exchange with decentralized exhaust—should be everyone’s own decision. Both are possible. There is certainly no single truth.
Regards

Daniel-Sp schrieb:
Hmm, I don’t know any statistics, but I believe the majority of mileage driven with SUVs is also on short trips. And a 1.2-liter 4-cylinder is certainly more environmentally friendly than a 3-liter V8 engine. I also find my Touran very comfortable for long-distance driving, every day, sometimes with two children in car seats (one being a rear-facing seat). Even at 100-120 km/h (60-75 mph), not driven flat out, in an A4, SUV, or similar. Unfortunately, it’s neither an electric car nor powered by gas….

You can rationalize anything.
Driving a car is rarely reasonable, and whether extreme insulation is reasonable…
How someone builds their house—whether insulated with polystyrene or wood fiber, using controlled mechanical ventilation or, like Nordlys, regelair with decentralized exhaust—should be a personal choice. Both options work. There’s definitely no single truth.
Regards

Hmm, I recently read a review about a well-known mid-size sedan with a short-stroke 4-cylinder engine. The result: fuel consumption was around 10 liters (2.6 gallons) per 100 km (62 miles) during spirited driving on the highway.
Years ago, I already achieved that with a 2.5-liter V6 naturally aspirated petrol engine and significantly lower particulate emissions. The main point optimized here is obviously the manufacturer’s profit. They now save two cylinders in production….

Combustion engines should be optimized so that only the natural products CO2 and water come out of the exhaust… (These two substances your body also emits daily for biological reasons, truly!)

That’s certainly technically easier to solve than a battery for electric cars with a real range of 500 km (310 miles), weighing 50 kilograms (110 pounds), and a charging time of up to 5 minutes….

But now we’re getting far away from the original topic of plastic bags.

Not exactly. My point isn’t that Passive Houses are like plastic bags, but that it’s clearly a legislative goal to make this type of house mandatory for new builds in order to reduce CO₂ emissions. Mandatory! I don’t care if tego, haydee, or anyone else likes it and wants to build one. But making it compulsory for everyone, while at the same time not banning the Touareg or BMW with its massive engine, that’s outrageous. Our Golf with three cylinders and 110 hp can reach about 180 km/h (112 mph), consumes between 5 and 7 liters (1.3 to 1.8 gallons), seats four comfortably, and emits around 110 g of CO₂. That’s more than enough.

Now then. I’m not trying to tell everyone what car they must drive. If someone wants a big vehicle, fine. But I could live with speed limits and tax incentives favoring smaller cars. I can also live with Passive Houses. I just don’t want anyone forcing me to live in one. It’s also about freedom and rejecting social-engineering laws and nanny policies. Karsten