It may look just like any home on your block. You have normal looking paneling, windows, a two car garage — but it's not what we are seeing that has us excited about this home.
It's how the home is made, that could potentially save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on your utility bill. And that sounds nice especially as we enter the summer months of North Texas.
Two North Texas home builders — a father and son duo — have built the first of its kind energy efficient home in Dallas. It’s a home Kyle and Connor Fagin call "a green home on steroids."
It has 14-inch-thick walls, an 18-inch thick roof and even when we have a sharp temperature change outside, it takes about 24-hours for the heating or cooling system to have to turn on inside. That’s how insulated this home is.
This is the first certified international “Passive House” in Texas.
So what does that mean?
A “Passive House” is a building standard in most countries in Europe today and is about 90 percent more efficient than the current building standards in Texas and across the country.
From top to bottom, there are a number of sustainable features in this three bed, three-and-a-half bathroom home, which includes a 3,500 gallon rainwater collection tank.
It also has extremely high air quality because of the filtration system and incoming fresh air.
“A passive house if perfect for people who suffer from seasonal allergies, from asthma, any sort of respiratory illness, anything like that. So really it ensures that the air quality inside is really as good as possible that you can get in a residential home,” said Connor Fagin.
“Passive House is truly one of the most efficient homes available today,” said Kyle Fagin.
The two say they did face a few challenges building an the energy efficient home.
For one, their architects are passive house certified architects out of New York, so they have never built a house in our Texas climate. So designing it to withstand the heat and humidity was a challenge. That took a little extra time to make it work.
So, how much does a home like this cost? It’s on the market right now for $1.1 million. It’s important to factor in massive savings on energy costs, too.
A second passive house is already in the works about a mile away from the first home.
