Through cost effective passive solar design strategies and carefully chosen building materials, the Prescott Passive House answers the too often unanswered question, "How can we live lightly?".
Studio 804 is a design/build program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design. In their last semester of study, students use the critical knowledge they have gained to design and build an innovative home in the midwest region of the United States. The program focuses on efforts to reclaim blighted areas within the urban core by creating structures that are affordable, environmentally sensitive, aesthetically pleasing and consciously engaging the pre-existing context of the neighborhood.
This year's project, the Prescott Passive House, is located in Kansas City, Kansas. This project marks the eleventh home completed through the Studio 804 program. It will be the third Studio 804 project to receive LEED Platinum Certification and the first of only a handful of homes in the United States to receive the Passive House certification. A system that began in Germany, Passive House seeks to reduce building energy consumption for heating and cooling by 90% through passive design strategies. The heating load is drastically reduced by means of a super-insulated, virtually airtight building shell, broad Southern exposure and an energy recovery ventilator that provides constant fresh air and even distribution of heat. Additionally, Studio 804 addresses affordability in a very direct way by targeting prospective homeowners earning 80% or less of the area median income (AMI). From the beginning of the project, the group teamed with Community Housing of Wyandotte County (CHWC) and the Prescott Neighborhood Group (PNG) in order to work directly for and with the community.
