Thank you for joining us on our 2024 “Behind the Scenes” Cereza Passive House Tour Palo Alto!
The Ceresa Passive House was opened for a tour on April 20, 2024. Over 150 people, including architects, builders homeowners and people who want to know more about the future of homebuilding descended upon the Palo Alto house for a day of exciting education.
We had Eco Cohen who described their straw panels and talked about the benefits of low body carbon and high insulation in the carbon-negative, waste product-produced building panels. We also had Ram Earthworks visit us and tell us about their amazing panels made of cement and dirt that formed an incredibly beautiful product that is also durable and long lasting. Zola Windows came out and described the benefits of airtight high-efficiency windows to make homes more comfortable, long-lasting, and smoke-tight, protecting human health and providing environmental conservation. David Arkin, Arkin Tilt architects, was there to talk about the design of the series of Passive Houses, and Anthony Dente from Verdent Structural Engineers, describes the effort to foil, the big Bad Wolf and design a strong resilient home made of straw and earthquake country.
Lastly, David Edwards with Earth Bound Homes, talked about the goals of the house being LEED Platinum, Passive House, and Living Building Challenge focused design and construction.
Passive House “behind-the-scenes” Tour: April 20th, 2024
During this unique opportunity, you will have the chance to see a Passive House under construction and get a first-hand look into the unique framing, materials, and products that make this one of the most efficient, comfortable, quiet, and healthy homes in the Bay Area.
If you would like to see the future of healthy, carbon-sequestering, energy-efficient, and resilient construction here in the Bay Area, please join us for a tour of the project led by Architects, David Arkin and Annie Tilt, as they explain to us the benefits of this evolution of home building.
Project Tour: BABSC (Bay Area Building Science Collaborative), the Cereza Passive House, in Palo Alto.
Designed by Arkin-Tilt Architects and built by Earth Bound Homes, this home will achieve the following Building Science/Green Building criteria with the following materials:
1. All Electric
2. Zero Operational Carbon
3. Zero Energy / Net Energy Positive (excluding car charging)
4. Super Energy Efficient
5. LEED Platinum (qualifying but project is not pursuing certification)
6. Passive House
7. Living Building Challenge CORE and Pedals for Carbon, Energy and Materials (qualifying but project is not pursuing certification)
8. EcoCocon Straw-Based Structural Panels (Think SIPs and Strawbale construction combined)
9. Rammed Earth Panels
If you are interested in learning more about this project before the tour, visit our YouTube Channel, “Building A Better Way”, and look for Videos on the “Cereza Passive House”.
Our goal is to provide you with a fun, informative, and relaxed opportunity to learn more about the Passive House construction process, as we share the excitement of this ground-breaking Passive House and ADU.
This event is free to attend, though registration is required. The Tour will start at 9:00am with coffee and light bites before we embark on an educational tour.
Once registered, you will receive email confirmation which includes the exact address the week before the Home Tour.