Category: passive home

One of the most important, and often over-looked, comfort factors in any home is protection from unwanted noise. Sound energy created within and outside of the house can infiltrate your home environment, creating a noisy, uncomfortable atmosphere for you and your family. Unfortunately, today’s standard homes are incredibly susceptible to sound penetration. The truth is, if you’re building a new custom home, you should consider implementing some strategic building practices that protect your home environment from unwanted noise. The following Passive Home building practices demonstrate...


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If you’re thinking about building a new custom home, you’ve probably spent a lot of time weighing your options. And if you haven’t already considered high-performance home building practices, you may be surprised at how the numbers add up. The truth is, the energy and cost savings realized in a green, high performance home mean an incredible return on your initial construction investment. Energy efficiency systems that minimize your reliance on utilities, conserve water, and foster a healthy home environment can create an annual return of 7% on your high-performance home. And, according...


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If you’re planning to build a custom home or renovate your current abode, you have an amazing opportunity to transform the way you live. There are an incredible array of energy-efficient home systems available today, and if you’re planning a new custom home, you should think high-performance from the start. At present, there is no universal definition of a “high-performing home” in the construction industry. However, there is some consensus in the way the term is used. At Clarum, we believe high-performing homes incorporate the principles of passive home construction, including: Lighter...


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When you’re planning to build a new custom home, it’s easy to focus on your upfront expenses and costs of construction without thinking about your ongoing costs once the home is built. These operating costs of your home are equally important, and have huge effects on the lifetime return on your investment and on the health of the planet. Today, anyone planning a new custom home should think high-performance from the start. You have an incredible array of options including eco-friendly construction materials, solar electric power systems, energy efficient windows, and on-demand tankless...


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Sustainability at each and every step A home is only as sustainable as the materials used in its construction and the components on which it runs. At Clarum Homes, we care deeply about sustainability. In fact, our core purpose is to transform the way you live by creating greater comfort, greater health, and greater environmental sustainability. Our passive homes and high-performance, passive inspired homes do just that. Conservation in our components Passive homes are, by definition, energy-efficient; to attain certification, a passive home must meet the efficiency criteria defined by the International...


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Harnessing the Sun Solar electric technology is fairly ingenious. With your rooftop tiled in solar panels, you can harness the sun’s radiation to power your home, charge a battery, and even earn a profit. Compared to the conventional alternative, a solar-powered home is not only more ecologically responsible; it’s also more financially savvy. Smart, Economical, Responsible Originally, solar electric was mainly used for spacecraft and satellites, and in the beginning, it was expensive. But that’s changed. With advanced technology, greater demand, and more efficient manufacturing techniques,...


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What does it mean to build a green home? What’s the future of passive building? How does Clarum Home fit into the overall picture of home construction? Meet John Suppes (Clarum’s President) and Sean Misskelley (Director of Construction), discussing these and other questions. Clarum Homes is different than other home builders. Our difference is rooted in our core purpose: we work to transform the way you live. While the majority of the building industry continues to do just what it’s done for the last 40 years, Clarum Homes maintains a relentless commitment to lead the way in home...


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What is Embodied Energy? Look at your house... your computer... the snack on your plate. How much did it cost? Now look deeper. For each of the goods (and services) that we purchase – from automobiles to groceries – there’s an invisible price tag behind the one that we can see. It’s the cost of embodied energy. Embodied energy is the sum total of the energy that went into the production of any good or service. Extraction of raw materials, transportation, manufacturing, installation – it all contributes to embodied energy, because without those things, the final product couldn’t...


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Come see the Palo Alto Passive Home! October is a busy month for Passive Homes! Please join us at one of our several upcoming events. All events include our newest Palo Alto Passive Home, 1510 Portola Avenue. Please note that parking is limited; please consider parking at Palo Alto High School on Churchill Avenue. All events are free and open to the community! We hope to see you there! 2012 Solar Homes Tour: The Road to Net-Zero Energy Hosted by Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet October 13th from 1pm – 5pm You are invited to take a self-guided tour of five local homes including...


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What Does a High-Performance Home Cost? Of course, it’s impossible to estimate the cost of any home without knowing all the variables, such as size and style. However, there are general patterns. "People are often surprised to learn that a high-performance home only costs 5-10% more than its conventionally-built equivalent," says Clarum president John Suppes. After several years, the high-performance home catches up, offsetting the difference in initial construction costs, and begins to pay for itself. How? By costing up to 90% less, month to month. At Clarum Homes, we build our high-performance...


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