In this residential development of Lomener, a stone's throw from the ocean, it goes almost unnoticed. However, this house has nothing to do with its neighbors. Already, because it is made of wood, unlike the others made of concrete blocks, and above all because it is passive.
“We lived in thermal sieves for a long time”
It was Pierre Vivet and his partner Florence Delord who embarked on this somewhat crazy bet at the end of the 2000s, when they discovered the concept of passive houses. “It is a home which, to maintain a comfortable temperature all year round, has an energy requirement of less than 15 kWh per m2 per year,” defines Pierre Vivet, a 59-year-old sound engineer. Knowing that a classic house is ten times more.”
By embarking on this project, the couple was looking for a new home “that made sense” and that would reduce their bills. “We lived for a long time renting in extremely poorly insulated thermal colanders with huge heating bills,” recalls Florence Delord, sales assistant.
A “simple” house
In its design, “it’s a simple house”, Pierre Vivet repeats over and over again. His house is made of a wooden frame, airtight “like a thermos bottle”, he imagines. For insulation, the walls and roof contain 26 cm of wood wool. The slab is separated from the foundations and insulated with 15 cm of extruded polystyrene. The large bay window in the living room faces south with double glazing, with triple glazing having been placed on the northern parts of the house. And an essential ingredient of the passive house: double-flow ventilation renews the air in the house every two hours.
Even temperature
The heat produced by the couple's daily activities and their son – cooking, working on a computer, taking a shower, etc. – contributes to heating the 150 m2 house. However, additional heating is occasionally necessary in winter, so the couple purchased three oil-filled radiators. When we visited at the beginning of December, they were all off for a thermometer which showed 19.3°C inside. A uniform temperature whether you are on the ground floor or the third floor.
In terms of energy bills, the couple pays €210 for electricity every two months for an average consumption of 860 kWh, a figure much lower than the French average*. For water, the couple saves money because the toilet water is supplied by a rainwater recovery tank. Result: 66 m3 of drinking water consumed in 2023 for three people, a far cry from the 54 m3 per year per French person on average.
The passive wooden house provides incredible living comfort
“Building something new without making a liability is an aberration”
After thirteen years spent in this house, the results are more than positive. “The passive wooden house provides incredible living comfort,” summarizes Florence Delord. For his companion, “building something new today, without making a liability, is an aberration”. What about the construction price? The couple preferred to remain discreet on the subject, arguing, rightly, that prices have exploded since then. According to a professional in the sector, the price of a passive house is generally 20 to 25% more expensive than a classic new construction.
To those who would like to embark on the passive adventure, the couple gives advice: “be extremely careful” during construction to hunt for air holes. At the risk of leaving one and destroying all the interest in the passive house.
