Open House event at the House by the Lake - presentation of the Premium Passive House on timberframe structure

On November 25, the Lakeside House opened its doors to visitors. The event Open Doors - House by the lake was organized by Revista din Lemn in partnership with Litarh, home builder. It was a well attended meeting, despite the cold and rainy weather. And no wonder as the house is Passive Premium, being the first and only timber frame house in the country certified as such. The family Daniela and Ion Iosif were kind enough to open the house to those interested in building correctly and energy efficient, Ion generously sharing his experience as a real project manager, which you can find described in full here. The event was attended not only by the manufacturer but also by many of those who have contributed to this achievement. The relaxed and enjoyable meeting often took on the aspect of a real seminar, with the questions being well researched and the answers backed up with technical data and even graphs and sketches.

Who were invited to tell their stories and answer questions

To get to certify a Passive Premium home everyone involved needs to work together. The architect, the structural engineer, the builder, the material suppliers, the site manager, the inspector, the certifier must work together, collaborate and coordinate so that each stage of the work is carried out very well. That is why most of those who contributed to the construction were invited to the event:

• Raluca Munteanu (Arhimede Studio) - architectural design
• Cătălin Caraza (Creative Engineering) - structural design
• Vlad Liteanu (Litarh - wooden houses) - the builder
• Ovidiu Țifui (Ecoinstal IT Consult) - design/installation of heating installations
• Cătălin Pentre (Kulttur) - execution/installation windows/doors
• Stelian Stavarache (S.Y.S PRO Construct) - foundation, sheet metal cladding, photovoltaic system installation
• Horia Petran (INCERC) - Blower Door test
• Adriana Sîngeap (BIA-architect) - documentation and follow-up of works for certification

Unfortunately, Cătălin Caraza was unable to attend due to an overlap with an event in Brasov. In his place came Cristina Tarțău, an architect specialized in passive houses at Inginerie Creativă.

Challenges successfully overcome

We, as event organizers, had two big challenges: the event was held in an inhabited house and the weather. As the house is not very big we had to limit the number of participants. Because there were a lot of willing participants, there were two groups at different times. In order not to occupy the whole day and because Ovidiu Țifui was going to give a presentation in the second part of the day at nZEB Week at the Laminor Arena, starting time was 9. We scheduled the first group from 9.00 to 10.30 and the second from 10.30 to 12.00. Unfortunately, Ovid could not attend the second part. The guests were even more disappointed to discover that he was accompanied by George Buhnici, the first person to build a passive house in Romania and Ion's first inspiration. George couldn't stay either, also due to fair commitments.

The second challenge was the weather. Saturday, November 25, was a cold and rainy day. Although everyone had confirmed their attendance in the evening, we were convinced that many would not make it. Not only were they not, but some of them came with company, and the number of participants was higher than originally announced. Despite the rain, Joseph's house was attended by couples keen to build efficient homes, as well as architects and designers who came to learn as much as they could from the experience of the owner and those involved.

Lots of information in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere

The very welcoming hosts provided a pleasant setting for the discussions, allowed access to almost the entire house, answered all questions, including the awkward ones about costs. The enclosed and spacious family terrace was the place where the presentation started, with each of the guests talking about the challenges of the project, unique situations, collaboration with the rest of the team. There were many questions and documented answers. Ion was very open, even happy to be able to present the house he is more than happy with.

Next came the tour of the house, which is not only passive but smart. The attraction was the technical room, the real command center of the house. Everything can be adjusted and tracked from your phone, there is all kinds of backup to backup so the house runs in maximum safety. A visually striking element that everyone appreciated was the lighting of the staircase leading to the loft. The frosted light that appears somehow from under the staircase gradually turns on and off as you go up or down the stairs.

The marble-look epoxy flooring was also admired. The hosts recounted how they poured it themselves, despite having zero experience. It was the best choice as the heating is underfloor and resin has the best heat transfer coefficient. If the heat comes from below, the cold air comes from above, from the ceiling. But everything is so finely tuned that you don't feel any draughts, no temperature difference no matter where you are in the house.

Ion, master of ceremonies

Ion was always in high spirits, explaining, answering questions, justifying the choices made. He did it for both groups, always tireless, and the event lasted until after 2 pm, well beyond the announced time. I had the feeling that if there had been a third group, there would have been no problem, Ion becoming more and more voluble as the initial excitement wore off.

Despite her reserved and emotional manner, Daniela was continually in the midst of the guests, answering questions and telling how the experience was from her point of view. She was a perfect, attentive host, making us all feel very welcome.

Event Open Doors - House by the lake has been very much appreciated, both because of the openness and information shared by Ion, and because of the helpfulness of those who contributed to make the Joseph family's dream come true. Revista din Lemn documented the whole project over more than 2 years, making over 10 videos and numerous articles. You can find all the videos, from the installation of the house's footings, to the certification and moving into the house on roadulsprecasă.ro.