The Pretty Good House

There are many standards for building a sustainable house currently available. And all of them are terrible. Passivehaus, Net Zero, LEED, etc. As a professional with significant interest in advancing aims of sustainability in my practice, it may sound inconsistent to criticize these programs as they are the gold star of sustainable design in the current zeitgeist. So, let me qualify what I mean by terrible: each of these are complex, expensive to implement, materials selection is a chore, and they are bureaucratic to get certified. This leaves many homeowners throwing up their hands, even if they have an interest in sustainability, and falling back on common building practices and easily available materials.

Enter the Pretty Good House, written by Kolbert, Mottram, Maines, and Briley. The purpose of this book is to break down many of the principles the expensive certification programs promote into no nonsense and easily implementable building practices with an eye on cost effectiveness. Some of the concepts contained in the book are making their way into building codes nationwide (such as blower door tests), but many of them still go above and beyond what the code requires. Sadly, the minimum is the maximum when it comes to energy efficiency and wellness in the built environment unless you specifically choose to go beyond.

Here in Utah our code is regressive so that minimum is even lower than many other states in the country. In 2023, the Utah legislature approved use of the 2021 building codes, but specifically excluded chapter 11 of the IRC. Since the legislature only considers updates to the code each 6 years (disregarding the 3 year update cycle nationwide), this means that Utah is a dozen years behind the rest of the country in the required energy efficiency in new homes.

Understanding this makes it even more important to have conversations with owners up front to understand what their goals may be for the efficiency of their homes, disregarding the code as any kind of acceptable baseline when setting design goals.

Throughout the book the authors details scenarios and details for use in economical building that will vastly improve efficiency without being budget busters. It is worth noting that some systems/strategies will require a greater cost investment, but others are no cost solutions with careful planning. To highlight just a few of their points: upgraded windows, airtight/vapor open assemblies, efficiency minded mechanical systems, and passive solar heating take center stage.

Though property appraisers may not recognize all of the elements of a well built home in their evaluations taking the approach of building a Pretty Good House can lead to far greater enjoyment of your new home without leading to ballooning budgets or the headache of a certification committee.