Building your own Passive House comes with tremendous advantages, but also comes with unique demands, like setting (and keeping to) a budget. How can you know if you can afford the home of your dreams if you can’t figure out what it’s likely to cost?
To help with this all-important part of the process, we offer a set of sample total costs for a custom home here. Click here for a comparison of annual running costs for a code-built house compared to our Passive Homes.
Sample home: EkoBuilt’s Foxglove PassiveHouse design
Foxglove, 1424 sq ft, $121,730 for EkoBuilt kit
The Foxglove PassiveHouse materials kit from EkoBuilt is for a home that is 1424 square feet, has 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. Download plans: FOXGLOVE
Total cost to build finished home: $337,130.
Click to view all Eko PassiveHouse plans.
House Specific Costs (updated 2016)
Foundation
- Concrete footings
- Weeping tile (drainage) to dry well
- 11 ¼” ICF (R-20 Insulated Concrete Form) foundation wall system
- Additional 7.5” EPS (R-30 expanded Polystyrene) on interior of ICF
- 5” EPS (R48 beneath concrete slab)
Total Foundation: $34,225
Concrete Floor
- Concrete floor cleaning and finishing
Total Subfloor: $3,750
Weather-Tight Shell Materials (Foxglove plan)
- Eko PassiveHouse weather-tight material package
Total Weather-tight Shell Materials: $88,167
Weather-Tight Shell Installation, (Foxglove plan)
- Installation of complete Weather-tight Material Package
Total Weather-tight Shell Installation: $33,563
Roofing
- Ideal Wakefield bridge steel shingles ($12,000)
- Aluminum vented soffit and facia ($3,500)
Total Roofing: $15,500
Siding & Trim
- Natural and maintenance free siding
Total Siding & Trim: $13,500
Insulation
-
Procell Blue (by Thermocell) dense-pack cellulose insulation
Total Insulation: $12,500
Plumbing
- ABS, Pex pipe & fittings to all fixtures
- 2 exterior hose taps
- Hot water tank hookup
- Valves on all accessible fixtures
Total Plumbing: $7,250
Electrical
- 200 amp underground service
- All wiring to plugs, switches & mechanicals
- 2 exterior plugs
- Telephone & cable wiring
Total Electrical: $9,750
HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning)
- Heating & Air Conditioning – Mitsubishi Zuba air-to-air heat pump
- HRV – Zehnder ComfoAir 200
Total HVAC: $15,000
Drywall
- Drywall for dormers, interior partitions, & main ceiling
- All surfaces painted
Total Drywall: $18,425
Plumbing & Electrical Fixtures
Total Plumbing & Electrical Fixtures Allowance: $4,500
Interior Finishes, including installation
- Kitchen & vanities including stone counters ($24k allowance)
- Pine interior doors, door & window trim including baseboard ($12k allowance)
- Tile-work in washrooms ($7.5k allowance)
Total Interior Finishes: $43,500
TOTAL ‘HOUSE SPECIFIC’ COSTS: $299,630
Land Specific Costs
- Laneway (gravel) 60 feet
- Excavation for foundation walls
- Foundation Backfill (sand)
- Septic System
- Drilled well
Total Land Specific Costs: $37,500
Total Project Costs
The total price tag, including house and land elements, came to $337,130.
You can download the full cost analysis in a four-page document [PDF].