HOUSE ASKEW

This 3-story, 2300 sf brick rowhouse helped pioneer the deep energy retrofit movement in Philadelphia. Foregoing the toxicity and underperformance of spray foam, the project leaned into Building Biology and Passive House principles to guide this gut-job renovation. Hygrothermal modeling in WUFI Passive helped inform the bi-directional vapor diffusion of accumulated moisture, working alongside the vapor-variable air barrier and dense packed cellulose insulation to greatly reduce the home’s annual energy bill and in turn, its contribution to climate change. This electric-only, "frack-free" house is solar-ready to push its operation closer to net-zero energy, and as a bonus will not support the hydraulic fracturing industry.