New Tech Tries to Catastrophe-Proof Your Home
In December 2021, Mark Attard’s home survived the Marshall Fire—the most destructive forest fire in Colorado’s history—virtually unscathed, even as neighbors’ homes were rendered uninhabitable. The director of operations at a small home-building company, Attard hadn’t set out to make his house disaster-proof. But the energy-efficient upgrades he made over the years, including changes to make it airtight, sealed it against embers that ignited some of his neighbors’ homes from the inside and the smoke that inundated many others. Almost immediately after the fire, “we walked into our house and we didn’t even smell smoke,” he says.
Attard had stumbled onto a phenomenon that is at the forefront of cutting-edge construction techniques. As architects and contractors turn to green technologies to make homes healthier and more sustainable, they are also finding it makes them more resilient against extreme weather and increasingly common natural disasters. With innovations in insulation, heat pumps and prefabrication, they’re discovering that a home built to save the planet can also save itself from wildfires, high winds and deadly heat and cold.
The trend has roots in a movement called “passive house,” based on a design standard to make buildings use as little energy as possible. This type of construction is booming as consumers and builders seek to prevent climate change and protect against its effects. Three million square feet worth of passive-house have already been certified in 2024, from 1.8 million in 2021, according to Phius, which certifies such homes.
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Passive-house technology is constantly evolving, but its elements make it possible for structures to maintain ideal temperature and humidity, have the healthiest possible air quality, and minimize energy consumption, says Cody Fischer, president of Footprint Development, which builds ultra energy-efficient apartment buildings in Minneapolis.
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