How do you define high performance? If you build to code and accidently end up with a super tight enclosure, are you high performance? (I’ve tested a code-built house that ended up at .33ACH50.) Or do you need to build above code in all four of the control layers, water, air, vapor and thermal to reach the high-performance accolades? To tell you the truth, I don’t particularly like the term high performance. If you are shooting for a certification, then you are building to “Zero Energy” or to “Passive House” or whatever model you are trying to achieve. If you are not going for a certification, then you are simply building above code, or building better, but for clarity with this blog post, we’ll call it high performance.
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