Building Better Together

How do you build a Passive House?

The construction of a Passive House requires specific processes and knowledge. Learn what it takes to build the Owl Woods Passive House Project in my interview with Stuart Lee.

SHOW NOTES:

In this episode, we meet Stuart Lee of Craftsmen Quality Builders.

Stuart is the builder for the Owl Woods Passive House, and if you listened to my interview with David Rhind, the client and owner, you may recall that it was when they met Stuart, that they got interested in making this home a Passive House, and dived into this whole process.

Stuart is a fantastic advocate for the building industry, as he really demonstrates what quality building, client collaboration and teamwork looks like.

Even if you don’t want to build or renovate a Passive House, I really encourage you to listen to this episode and learn what to look for when choosing your own builder. Stuart provides some great advice to support you in your selection.

Introducing Stuart Lee, Craftsmen Quality Builders

Stuart is a builder and Qualified Carpenter, and he’s also a Certified PassivHaus Tradesman and Accredited Green Living Builder.

Stuart has worked in the building industry for over 15 years and is very passionate about building energy efficient and PassivHaus homes. He feels the best way he can support the environment is to build homes that hug the land rather than sit on it.

When Stuart learned of the passivhaus standard - and he talks about this in our interview - he felt compelled to focus his business on implementing the key principles it uses.

Stuart and the Craftsmen Quality Builders team love what they do, which in turn infuses the structure with love and laughter. Stuart believe this makes their homes feel very special.

In this episode, Stuart tells us what is involved in the construction of a Certified Passive House home.

These are the questions Stuart and I discuss in this episode ...

• Why do you believe homeowners should build a passive house (you have a great rundown on this on your website)?
• What made you commit to being certified as a Passive House Tradesperson?
• When we look at home construction, how does a Passive House differ to mainstream home construction ... what are you doing differently and how much harder is it?
• Tell us about your involvement in the Owl Woods Passive House - because I understand you were the one initially that proposed making it a passive house?
• Is building a Passive House more expensive?
• How do you suggest homeowners on a budget build a Passive House?
• It appears to me that a Passive House actually demands a really high level of attention, detail, care and quality from the builder ... and because it needs to be certified at completion to a performance level (with the blower test etc), this is a really good way of getting certainty, as a homeowner, that your home is getting built the way it should. That you’re getting what you’re paying for. Do you see homeowners feeling this way?
• How do you generally suggest people work well with their builder to get a good result?
• And do you have key tips for homeowners planning to build a Passive House? How should they start? What should they ask builders they’re speaking to?

Even if you are not building a Passive House, I really recommend listening to this episode, as Stuart helps demonstrate the standard to strive for in your renovation or building project. There’s an energy that comes from a great team working well together in a quality, focussed and committed way, that can bring total joy to your life and home in the long term. I think you’ll really hear that in Stuart’s own passion for what he does, and hopefully it inspires you to keep looking until you find a team to support you in the same way for your home.

Listen to the episode now.

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