The Karuna House

Seeking Passive House, Minergie-P-ECO & LEED Platinum certification
Designed by Holst Architecture
Built by Hammer & Hand

High performance meets high design.

Hammer & Hand has joined forces with Holst Architecture to build the Karuna House, an ambitious high performance building project in Yamhill County, Oregon that aims to meet the world's most demanding green building certifications, including Passive House, Minergie-P-ECO, & LEED for Homes Platinum.

The Karuna House's client, a leading proponent of smart climate policy and sound land use, is pursuing the project as a case study to shed light on the ways that the leading green building certifications and standards complement one another, and the ways that they may conflict.

"It's a great challenge," says Hammer & Hand’s Sam Hagerman, who also serves as President of the national Passive House Alliance. "When you line up the various aims of the standards, like the superior energy performance of Passive House, the sustainable materials requirements of LEED, and the lifecycle concerns of Minergie-P-ECO, you're left with a fairly narrow path to navigate through in design and construction. It'll be an interesting journey, one with pretty exciting environmental rewards… and lessons."

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Learn about Karuna's High Performance Systems:

Foundation System //

Built on geofoam, Karuna's foundation plays a key role in the home's performance. more »

Wall Assembly //

Super-insulated and airtight, Karuna's wall system carefully manages heat, air & moisture. more »

Windows & Doors //

Karuna's fenestration enables the house to meld high design with high performance. more »

Video from the Site

Latest News:

Karuna Passive House Has Blitz of Video Content

Thursday, May 30, 2013

8 new videos from the Karuna Passive House highlight mechanical systems, solar PV system, and much more... more...

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A quick, Karuna House-inspired reflection on Passive House building and the power of simplicity

Friday, May 24, 2013

As high design project wraps up, a thought on high performance elegance. more...

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Karuna House site photos show a beautiful design taking shape

Friday, May 17, 2013

High performance home builder Hammer & Hand joined forces with high design firm Holst Architecture. more...

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High performance meets high design: ultra modern staircase in Passive House new home

Monday, March 25, 2013

Portland Passive House new home showcases sleek and modern details in new video. more...

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Hammer & Hand adds high performance doors to millwork arsenal – Passivhaus efficiency "made in the USA"

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

New door at Karuna matches European-made rivals at lower cost, both in dollars and carbon. more...

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Preliminary airtightness test at Karuna House cruises past 0.60ACH50 threshold of Passive House and Minergie-P

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Initial blower door test of 0.42ACH50 a great starting point. more...

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Karuna House earns first Minergie pre-certification in the United States, receives official designation as "US-001-P-ECO"

Thursday, August 02, 2012

The green building showcase, designed by Holst Architecture and built by Hammer & Hand, reaches key milestone. more...

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Karuna House reaches 'topping out' construction milestone

Friday, May 04, 2012

The Passive House/Minergie/LEED Platinum project reaches key milestone. more...

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Cutting-edge framing is key to Karuna Passive House success

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Precision + Performance + Sustainability = Karuna Passive House more...

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Karuna House – airtight envelope and modernist aesthetic demand precise construction

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Passive House/Minergie-P standards combined with Holst's design mean tight tolerances. more...

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Karuna Passive House construction: phase one complete!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

We review Karuna House progress in this video essay about the Passive House, Minergie, and LEED Platinum project. more...

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Comments

Jay commented on 05-Jan-2012 10:22 AM

How do you protect your EPS foam from any petroleum products that are in the soil or accidently get in the soil in the future? Won't petroleum eat up the EPS and compromise the foundation?

Skylar Swinford commented on 24-Jan-2012 10:46 AM

Jay, Good question. The project is located near the top of the watershed in a rural location. Contamination from petroleum is not likely. If we were building on a brownfield site with the potential for petroleum contamination, we would have no choice but
to install the EPS foam over a chemical resistant vapor barrier or other appropriate geotextile system. I do not think a traditional polyethylene vapor barrier would be up to the task of protecting the EPS from groundwater or soil contaminated with petroleum
hydrocarbons or solvents. -Skylar

Jay commented on 27-Jan-2012 09:17 AM

Thanks for the response Skylar I think most fuel and oil containers are made from polyethylene. My reason for asking is I live in an area that was developed in the 1940's and 1950's with most homes using oil for heat. As I was buying my house in 2009,
I actively went looking for oil tank and had the tank located even though the house was switched over to natural gas in 1980. After the tank was removed, contamination was found underneath it but just below the threshhold for manditory state ecology clean
up. So the contaminated soil is still there about 5 feet underground. I am planning to protect my future passive house slab on grade foundation by using three layers of 15 to 20 mil polyethylene. One layer on the bottom of the excavation, one layer on the
top of the fill and one layer on the top of the EPS Foam. All of this will be seamless pieces and brough up above ground level. I can't imaging how you would fix a sink foundation caused by the EPS foam eroding from petroleum contamination. I enjoy read your
blog. Jay

Cory commented on 01-Feb-2012 05:49 PM

You should check out Liquid Boot, a product made specifically for sealing over contaminated soil. http://www.radata.com/pdfs/CETCO%20Liquid%20Boot%20Brochure.pdf

Karuna House concrete detailing and pour shown in site photos

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Passive House, Minergie-P-ECO, LEED Platinum project is now officially "out of the dirt." more...

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Karuna House's concrete on foam: Passive House innovation and simplicity

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Photos document Hammer & Hand's straight-forward approach to a cutting-edge aspect of Passive House construction. more...

Comments (4)

Comments

viveik commented on 13-Dec-2011 01:42 PM

Hello ! Can you please explain the function of the compressible felt, or link to an explaination online. If we cannot get this felt, what are simpler options ? Viveik

Skylar Swinford commented on 23-Dec-2011 01:52 PM

Viveik, I just spoke with project lead Scott Gunter about the compressible felt and he referred me to a great passage in Lstiburek's Builder's Guide to a Mixed Climate that states, "Concrete cracks. Concrete has always cracked. Concrete will always crack."
Lstiburek goes on to explain the importance of using control joints to encourage cracks to occur in a more controlled and predictable manner. The compressible felt gives the concrete some much needed wiggle room and helps bring order to the chaos of cracking.
As for sourcing the felt, in Oregon it is readily available at masonry supply houses. If felt isn't available in your area there are foam, cork, and rubber alternatives that will serve the same purpose.

Kevin commented on 22-Nov-2012 07:58 AM

can you tell me the details of the materials you used for the capillary break and the wall waterproofing for green concrete

thanks

Scott commented on 14-Jan-2013 10:24 PM

Hi Kevin,

We used Tremco GC250 as our waterproofing and capillary break. This product is moisture cured and can be applied 24 hrs after a pour. It is applied with a 1/2" nap paint roller on a pole extension.

Once we poured our footings we coated the top with the Tremco waterproofing. This prevented any moisture from migrating through the footing into the stem wall. After the walls were poured we used the same product on the exterior face of the wall. Its good practice to fill any voids left from snap tie cones before applying Tremco. This method along with Delta Drain drainboard as the primary drainage assures us
a waterproof basement.

Scott

Do the three green building standards at Karuna House conflict or complement?

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Navigating through Passive House, LEED, and Minergie-P-ECO territory. more...

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Karuna House excavation: the Passive House, Minergie, LEED Platinum project is underway

Friday, October 07, 2011

Site photos offer a glimpse of the project's green building design and construction strategies. more...

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Passive House showcase: Holst Architecture and Hammer & Hand team-up to build the Karuna House.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Ambitious project aims for Passive House, Minergie, & LEED certifications. more...

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Inquire about the
Karuna House and
other Passive Houses
by Hammer & Hand.
503-232-2447

The Karuna House

High performance meets high design.

Learn about Karuna's High Performance Systems:

Foundation System //

Wall Assembly //

Windows & Doors //

Video from the Site

Latest News:

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... click here to view all "Karuna House" posts.