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.
Please note that all pricing is in Canadian dollars, although we work across North America.
Sample home: EkoBuilt’s Foxglove PassiveHouse design
Foxglove, 1424 sq ft, $129,494 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, including land related costs: $357,494.
Click to view all Eko PassiveHouse plans.
House Specific Costs (updated June 2019)
Foundation
- Compacted Base, 6 ‐ 12” granular material
- Styrofoam Tray Slab‐on‐grade system
Total Foundation: $35k
Weather-Tight Shell Materials (Foxglove plan)
- Eko PassiveHouse material package
Total PassiveHouse Shell Materials: $92,575
Weather-Tight Shell Installation, (Foxglove plan)
- Installation of complete material Package
Total PassiveHouse Shell Installation: $36,919
Roofing
- Ideal Wakefield Bridge steel shingles ($14,000)
- Aluminum vented soffit and fascia ($5,000)
Total Roofing: $19k
Siding & Trim
- Exterior siding, Goodfellow engineered wood maintenance‐free siding
- Exterior Window / Door Trim, Goodfellow
Total Siding & Trim: $18k
Insulation
- Exterior Shell Walls ‐ 20” (R‐75) blown Cellulose
- Roof – 30” (R‐110) blown Cellulose
Total Insulation: $16k
Plumbing
- ABS, Pex pipe & fittings to all fixtures
- 2 exterior hose taps
- Heat-pump water heater
- Valves on all accessible fixtures
Total Plumbing: $9k
Electrical
- 200 amp underground service
- All wiring to plugs, switches & mechanicals
- 2 exterior plugs
- Telephone & cable wiring
Total Electrical: $12k
HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning)
- Heating – Radiant floors
- HRV & Air Conditioning – Minotair
Total HVAC: $18k
Drywall
- Drywall for all walls and ceilings, ready for paint
Total Drywall: $12k
Plumbing & Electrical Fixtures
Total Plumbing & Electrical Fixtures Allowance: $7,500
Interior Finishes, including installation
- Kitchen & vanities including stone counters ($16k allowance)
- Carpentry – interior doors, door & window trim including baseboard ($13.5k allowance)
- Tiling in washrooms ($5k allowance)
Total Interior Finishes: $51,500
TOTAL ‘HOUSE SPECIFIC’ COSTS: $319,994
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 $357,494.
You can download the full cost analysis in a four-page document [PDF].