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A new single-family home above Ramona, Calif.’s San Pasqual Valley is showing the possibilities of fire resistance.
After losing a home to a fire in 2007, the homeowners were determined to make their next build a fortress against fire damage. Code Watcher reports that the home is built from fire-resistant features such as stucco and concrete walls, stone and tile coverings, metal roofing, and high-impact windows. The design also protects against the power outages that often come with fires, with energy-efficient construction, on-site wind and solar power generation and storage, and on-site water collection and recycling systems.
The incredibly efficient structure and tight envelope won the home certifications such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH), LEED platinum, and certification by the Passive House Institute.
The home’s performance testing included blower door testing, which revealed an extremely tight building envelope with only 0.32 air changes per hour at 50 pascals pressure difference (ACH 50), nearly twice as tight as the 0.6 ACH 50 required by Passive House.
