A lot of design work had already been done before the decision to go passive. At first the house was literally two pavilions connected with a mud room. I loved it. It would have a concrete floor with radiant heat, highly efficient doors and windows strategically placed to maximize solar gain and minimize heat loss, and also take advantage of views to the northwest and south.

Looked great, but resulted in far too much exterior wall surface for the 1200 square feet of interior space. Too much money to make the highly efficient building envelope we were looking for. And so the decision was made to simplify the form.