Category Archives: passive-house

Written By: Marco Bacaloni – owner and developer of the Rose Passive House (Ref. 1) Concrete slabs are fundamental components in various construction projects, ranging from residential homes to commercial buildings and industrial facilities. While concrete is renowned for its strength and durability, it is not impervious to moisture-related issues. A vapor barrier plays a […]

With our choice on using a metal structure, including steel studs, and with the stringent Passive House requirements, the selection of using continuous exterior insulation was an obvious one. Steel studs are excellent thermal conductors, and they act as thermal bridges by conducting the heat (energy) from the inside to the outside during the cold […]

The last few months have been really busy in converging to a final design. By design I am referring to the floor plan (that by itself would require many articles to describe), the exterior wall, with its architectural elements, windows and doors, staircase, roof deck, solar panel locations, and, of course, all of the elements […]

Manny at work.  No distraction please, he is working on my project! If you are reading this, you likely already know that we are building using the Passive House design standards, which comes with its unique challenges. To add to these challenges, the building will be constructed utilizing structural steel. Yes, you read it correctly […]

Building a house from scratch is no easy task. It takes a lot of reflection, imagination, inspiration and mostly it takes a solid marriage, as it tends to open a can of warms. When we sat down with our architect for the first time, he asked us to come up with a wishlist. It sounds […]

After acquiring a plot of land in Los Angeles, which had a small house dating back to the 1950s, we debated on how to convert it into a dream house, while being on a budget.We explored remodeling, prefabs and erecting a new house.We discussed wood versus steel structure; two on a lot for income building […]

Meet Christian Kienapfel. While Marco was researching passive houses, trying to familiarize himself with the types of windows, doors, equipment, and numerous other details, he came across PARAVANT Architects. As he was reading about the architects of the firm, he was soon impressed after reading Christian Kienapfel’s resume, featuring his 20 year experience of projects […]

A bit of history… In 2009, when the housing market in the US took a plunge, we decided, like many hopefuls, to buy an old house in Los Angeles, with the dream of turning it into our dream home. The market at that time was very hot, and many people with cash, would come and […]