After realizing that we may not need a fireplace, we quickly learned that any hole the in the house is bad. That includes dryer vents. This becomes compromise #2 of a passive house. Fortunately, ventless dryers have come a long way and there isn’t too much concern. First, condenser dryers use water, and their biggest knock is that a water tank has to be emptied. Heat pump dryers seem to be preferred since they use less energy and create no moisture, but they do take longer to dry clothes. Head on over to GreeenBuildingAdvisor for more on the topic.

The idea of limiting vents leads to the understanding that all holes in the envelope should be minimized. In addition to venting, this leads to a complete rethink of electric, low voltage, and plumbing. We’ll continue to update this as we understand the strategies for all of these concerns.