Question re: floorplans - passivhaus/sustainable building

[Beauvine]

Heelo there!

We've been wanting to downsize out home. I'm intrested in the "passivhaus" and green/sustainable/*highly-insulated* ideas, and what I'm wondering is this: Beyond the fact bump-outs and corners and do-dads create problem with sealing and insulating (and just generally add expense), are there specific types of floor-plan/room layouts, or whather it can be pretty much any layout?

((I also would want to try to cluster the plumbing as much as posible, which doesn't seem like it ought to be so difficult for one kitchen, one laundry room, and 1.5 baths...but again, I haven't seen anything online that I really like.))

Most of what I want tends to be very simple, but I have yet to see a room layout that suits me. So I'm wondering whether there is something special about "passivhaus"/etc. layouts, or whether basically any cube/rectanlge shape can be adapted?

Thanks in Advance!

- Kris K.

[Beauvine]

OH!, also, I forgot to add: WHy don't I ever read about the "passivhaus" or similar in houses down south? With gas heat, the killer bill is always the air conditioning, but there seems to be this insane notion that places in hot climates somehow don't "need" much (if any) insulation, so does anyone know what's up with that...?

Thanks again!

- Kris

[Iggy]

replying to Beauvine, Iggy wrote: Passivhaus was Passive-logic and didn't factor-in many things and was quite laughable, like most "sustainable" building today. Very old ventilation designs that help but aren't comfortable AND Radiant Barriers weren't considered AND new short-lived insulations were embraced AND they promoted garbage materials AND they were highly reliant upon solar hypocrisy.

Natural convection or updraft is okay, but in the Eastern half of the U.S. from Florida to the tip of Maine you won't ever find "comfort" from the sticky humidity...you NEED a/c. By not deflecting Solar Gain, you're fighting a losing battle daily. By using insulations other than Mineral wool, you're getting only

20-years of designed efficiency. By using anything but Cement, Copper, Aluminum or Stainless Steel, you're getting just a 50-year building. Having lots of windows means losing lots of energy and Solar Cells are only good for 20-years and are then landfill.

But yes, it just takes the right planning and materials to do any house right. Plumbing-rooms should be back-to-back or stacked from one story to the next. Laundry should be part of the kitchen or bath or thrown down into the basement. Most century-old homes had this concept down to a template and didn't have a separate Master Bath. "Architectural Character Elements" can be insulated on the exterior to prevent any previously normal efficiency detriments.

[Iggy]

replying to Beauvine, Iggy wrote: The theory was to not trap heat, which is what insulation does. Homes were basically intended to be fancy sheds. As soon as any temperature drop occurred outside, it was felt in the entire building. In fact, most people today with good insulation still don't manage their home correctly.

Most people leave for work (or leave work for home) and turn the heating or cooling off or turn it way down during heating season and way up for cooling season, to then play catch-up when they return home or back to work. If you actually have decent insulation, it's much more cost effective and efficient to just raise or lower the HVAC by 5-degrees and have the building maintain a steady temperature.