Jamaica Plain Green House Demonstrates Passivhaus Rehab Construnction Techniques

6 December 2009 - 3:13am | jpgreenhouse

by Simon Hare, Declan Keefe, and Ken Ward (Advocate)

In the Bourne neighborhood of Jamaica Plain, Andrée Zaleska and Ken Ward, with their 3 boys, Simon 8, Eli 9, and Kuba 11, are rehabbing a 100 year old, abandoned, former corner store to serve as their new home, a demonstration of sustainable living & passivhaus design, community center and climate campaigning "hub" for Bill McKibben's 350.org. As the project nears completion of the first phase, Ken does a video walk-through with Simon Hare and Declan Keefe, of the design/build firm Placetailor, pointing out unique materials, design and passivhaus construction techniques that will reduce energy use by >90%. For more information, see the Grist special series on JP Green House, http://www.grist.org/article/series/jpgreenhouse/, JP Green House website,http://jpgreenhouse.org, and Placetailor website, http://www.placetailor.com.