How we build — Steady State

The standard

The way a project is managed and the way it is built come from the same place: doing it right the first time.

Most homes are built to the minimum the code allows and then heated and cooled hard enough to cover for it. Steady State builds the other way — the envelope does the work, so the mechanical systems barely have to.

Passive House principles are applied to the extent that makes sense on every project. Full certification is right for some projects and not others, and you’ll get an honest answer about which yours is.

Section drawing through a high-performance wall assembly, showing cladding, rainscreen, exterior insulation, a continuous air barrier, sheathing, dense-pack cavity, vapor retarder and interior finish — Layer by layer, with the air barrier taped and unbroken from footing to roof.

What it looks like in practice

Every layer has a job, and none of them is decoration.

A wall like this costs more than a code-minimum assembly. You’ll see what the difference is and what it gets you in comfort and running cost, then decide — the same as every other decision on the project.

Six elements

What high performance actually means.

01A continuous envelope

Insulation that wraps the building without gaps or thermal bridges. This is what makes a house the same temperature in every room, floor to ceiling, in January and in August.

02Airtight, and tested

Air leakage is what makes a house drafty, dusty, loud, and expensive to run — and it carries moisture into walls where it does real damage. Testing happens with a blower door during construction, while it’s still cheap to fix, and again at completion.

03Fresh air by design

A tight house deserves deliberate ventilation. Filtered fresh air runs continuously to bedrooms and living spaces while stale, humid air leaves the kitchen and baths — with the energy already spent conditioning it recovered rather than thrown away.

04Windows that hold their own

This is usually the largest single comfort upgrade in a house. No cold glass, no condensation on the frame, no unused seat by the window in winter. Selecting high-performance windows is an investment that pays for itself in both enjoyment and efficiency.

05Assemblies that dry

Water always finds a way in. Wall and roof assemblies here are designed to keep water out and to dry effectively when they do let moisture in. It’s the difference between a house that lasts a century and one that fails quietly over time.

06Systems sized to the house

When the envelope does its job, the equipment can be small. Sized to a real load calculation instead of a rule of thumb, it runs quieter, costs less, and lasts longer.

Building on this coast

The same envelope that holds heat in keeps embers out.

Embers start most of the homes lost in a wildfire — not the fire front, but what lands hours ahead of it and finds a gap. An open eave, an unscreened vent, a seam in the cladding.

Fire-hardening and Passive House are not the same standard, but they ask for a great deal of the same work:

The air barrier. The continuous layer that stops heat escaping is the same layer that stops embers and smoke getting in. One detail, two reasons to do it properly.
Filtered ventilation. A tight house needs mechanical ventilation anyway. The result is a house that stays breathable with every window shut — which is exactly what you want when the air outside is full of smoke.
Unvented roof assemblies. Bringing the roof inside the thermal envelope is a performance decision. It also removes one of the most common ember entry points on a house.
Mineral wool insulation. Chosen for exterior insulation because it handles moisture and keeps its shape. It is also non-combustible, which foam is not.
Serious glazing. Multi-pane units in substantial frames are less likely to fail under radiant heat, and tempered glass satisfies the code requirement at the same time.

Where they diverge, the code governs. On a site in a high fire hazard severity zone that means Chapter 7A — a Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, enclosed eaves, ignition-resistant cladding and tempered glazing — plus California’s Zone 0 rules, which now cover the first five feet around the building on new construction. Passive House was never written as a fire standard and it is not one. But building to both costs far less than it sounds, because so much of it is the same work done once.

Lower energy bills and more responsible use of materials come with all of this. They are the result of building well rather than the only reason to do it.

Why high performance?