1859 Sept | Oct 2018

Jen G. Pywell
David Paul Bayles
FROM LEFT The
“reading cave”
is one of the
Christiansons’
personal touches.
The home is a
Craftsman style.
The First Passive House in Corvallis
CHOOSING TO BUILD their first home was a nobrainer
for Carl and Julie Christianson. He runs G.
Christianson Construction, which was started by his
parents in Corvallis in 1986. Less obvious is that the
couple would make their home a certified Passive House.
Although Carl’s company had never built one, the
project suited his natural curiosity. “As someone who’s
into gadgets and being innovative, this is an innovative
way to build,” Julie Christianson said. “It’s a release for his
creativity, trying to figure out how to make it all work.”
Buildings, both residential and commercial, account
for 39 percent of energy use across the United States,
with most of that energy obtained from fossil fuels and
nuclear sources. Constructing to the Passive House
standard is a tried-and-true method to drastically reduce
a home’s energy consumption and thereby the carbon
emissions that result from the energy generated for the
structure. The Passive House model attains such energy
efficiency through a concert of components, including
continuous insulation and elimination of thermal bridges
for airtightness, high-performance windows and doors,
and controlled ventilation. Gaining experience with
Passive House construction, and becoming certified
in the approach, was a logical step for Christianson as
more customers seek to save energy. “As a builder in
town, that’s definitely the direction we wanted to go as a
company,” Christianson said.
Once the Christiansons found an empty lot in the
Brooklane neighborhood, they collaborated with Eugene
architect Jan Fillinger, a self-described “passive house
geek” and co-author of a book on the subject. Fillinger
and a team of consultants delivered the complex
modeling needed for Christianson’s crew to achieve
such high levels of airtightness, while the couple pored
over the home’s details. The Christiansons knew they
wanted a Craftsman-style home from the beginning. “I
think a lot of people think a Passive House has to look
modern,” Julie Christianson said.
Now, quality finishes and a thoughtful use of space
govern the home, from the gracious front porch to the
classic interior trim and generous windows. The house
brims with personal touches, such as the hickory floor
inlaid with a compass rose that recalls Julie Christianson’s
summers on a tall ship, and the “reading cave,” an
alcove under the stairs that reminds Carl Christianson
of a childhood spent reading books beside his father’s
rocking chair. Then there’s the intangible benefits, like a
stable internal air temperature from all the insulation, no
pesky drafts, and continuously filtered air free of pollens
and pollutants. “I think a lot of people look strictly at the
cost of the components,” Christianson said. “But what
they’re missing is that by putting all the pieces together,
you end up with a house that’s really comfortable.”
In 2017, the project became the first certified Passive
House in Corvallis, and with solar panels installed on
the garage, is nearly Net Zero. Yet as important as such
details are, the bigger picture is even more so. “Carl’s
house avoids 19 tons of CO 2
every year compared to a
code house,” Fillinger said. “If all houses throughout the
entire United States did that, it is possible to slow down
carbon emissions to the point that we can slow down
global warming and eventually, hopefully, reverse it.”
72 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018