PASSIVE HOUSE DESIGN
LOUISVILLE, COLORADO
Louisville Passive House
This project is a Certified Passive House (Passive House Classic). It is a new house for a family who lost their home in the Marshall Fire, a devastating fire that burned more than a thousand homes in Boulder County, Colorado, on December 30, 2021.
The home is designed around sustainability and resilience, built with prefabricated 14-inch structurally insulated panels from B.Public that achieve high R-values (R-52 walls, R-59 roof). Its form highlights the thick walls, drawing inspiration from southwestern adobe architecture while balancing solidity with abundant natural light through clerestory windows and large glazed openings facing mountain views. The project relies on heat pumps for HVAC and water heating, an ERV for ventilation, and integrates solar PV and EV charging, with an emphasis on environmentally responsible materials and systems.
The Louisville Passive House has been widely recognized and shared across the high-performance building community. It officially achieved Passive House Classic certification from the Passive House Institute in February 2025 and has since been showcased in multiple professional and public forums, including the Colorado Green Building Guild Home Tours, the Passive House Network Conference, and various presentations by Baseline Design in 2022–2023. Following the Marshall Fire, the project gained additional visibility as an example of resilient, forward-thinking rebuilding—highlighted by events such as the Build Forward Workshop and a PBS feature on post-fire reconstruction.
Completed: 2024
General Contractor: Hammerwell
Energy Consultant: Home Energy Services
Mechanical Design: BrightSense
PHI Certifier: CertiPHIers
Pre-fab wall and roof systems: B. Public
Photography: Ethan Herrold Photography, Inc.
2000 Central Ave., Suite 100
Boulder, CO 80301
Phone: 720.515.2277
hello@baselinedesignco.com
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