For the Cal LEED class, a classmate and I visited a Passive House under construction in Point Reyes. Passive House is a standard started in Europe to create extremely energy efficient buildings through high levels of insulation and extremely tight air sealing of the envelope.
In addition to the energy savings associated with the Passive House standard the builder utilizes Advanced Framing. Advanced framing saves 25% on wood compared with conventional framing by doing away with redundant framing members. In advanced framing rafters must be located directly above studs which are placed 24" apart as opposed to 16" in standard framing and does away with a double top plate. The Jack Studs used to support headers are done away with.
Advanced framing allows more insulation to be placed in walls. Advanced framing is in the code books but buildings using it must be assed by an engineer.
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