Englewood duplex becomes Colorado's first multifamily certified Passive House

The multi-family home on South Ogden Street in Englewood is a duplex; each unit has four bedrooms and five baths. The homes are each 2,854 square feet. They’re listed for $1,375,000 each.

“Comfort, durability and efficiency are achieved through an air-tight building envelope, super insulation, and continuously ventilated indoor air,” the listing reads.

Though expensive — the median list price in Englewood was $569,000 in September — the future owners of these duplex units will save some money on the back end, as Passive House buildings allow for heating and cooling related energy savings of up to 90% compared with typical building stock and over 75% compared with average new builds.

There are also some more affordable options to reach Passive House standards. Andrew Michler, the owner of the first certified Passive House in Colorado, recently teamed up with architect Rob Harrison to create the “Restore Passive House.” The duo designed the home especially for Marshall Fire victims and say it can be built for $550,000 (that price includes incentives from the Colorado Energy Office and/or Xcel Energy).

[Related: Meet the man behind Colorado's first Passive House]

“Building the principles of Passive Houses into every single building that’s built today should be a thing,” said Peter Stuart, a certified Passive House builder and realtor who listed the Englewood duplex.

Stuart said we’re at a potential turning point when it comes to building energy-efficient homes.

“Every car has seat belts, and at one point in time people argued whether or not seat belts were necessary — we’re at that point in the construction world,” he said.

However, high construction prices combined with underinsured Marshall Fire victims has resulted in a slow, frustrating rebuilding process in Boulder County. To date, only about 10% of victims have received a permit to start rebuilding. Still, a record number of those people — more than 40%, according to Boulder County officials — are building to standards that qualify them for energy rebates and incentives.

If customer demand makes it so that more builders and contractors are interested in building to Passive House standards, then Riseman is hopeful that these energy-efficient homes will become more accessible.

As for Stuart, meeting those standards is a "no-brainer."