Listed for $4.995 million in May and reduced to $4.695 million in June, the listing for the 4,600-square-foot ‘Passive House’ at 2127 Castro Street was withdrawn from the MLS in July without a reported sale.
But this morning, 2127 Castro was listed anew with an official “1” day on the market and an “original” list price (according to all industry stats and reports) of $4.499 million, or roughly $972 per square foot.
Despite its size and swagger, along with its adjacent sister home at 2123 Castro, 2127 Castro Street was designed to be certified as one of the first Net-Zero Energy (NZE) buildings in the city, a super-insulated structure with an air-tight building shell which primarily derives its heat from the sun and people inside, the very plans for which we first revealed a few years ago.
And of course, the two-car garage is equipped with two charging stations.
Tilted up solar panels you can see from almost every angle…. ick.
Serious? A sealed box with no fresh air? And is that really astroturf in the tiny yard?
It has heat exchanging vents. But this house seems to me to be a cynical take on the passivehaus ethos. I doubt they even qualify by the literal standards of the certifications they claim. There seems to be a gas range for starters, which isn’t allowed under NZE. And there aren’t enough solar panels to actually charge two electric cars that are driven any significant distance.
“And there aren’t enough solar panels to actually charge two electric cars that are driven any significant distance”
Can you explain that? how so? Distance factors in how?
If you don’t drive them, you don’t need to charge them. If you drive them 10 miles you need to charge them 10 times more than if you’d only driven it 1 mile.
This roof can support at most something like 7500W of peak power, which isn’t enough to power this house and charge cars that are driven daily.
Let’s see, the payback will be 3,125 years given the premium for the property cause its passive.
I like it. Passive bottom house looking for a top buyer?
Better phrased as “passive house looking for active buyer.”
bingo!
beautiful home, but utterly laughable to build a gigantic mansion with all manner of imported/expensive pieces (including slabs of marble) and try to make yourself feel better by being green. please….
Well… less so if it’s built so well that it could still be in use 300 years from now.
Don’t be ridiculous, this is a house built of sticks and OSB just like all the other ones. In all likelihood the lack of air exchange will hasten the rotting.
People who actually want their houses to stand build them out of concrete and stone. You never ever see that in America, though.
Except that masonry construction is extra expensive in earthquake country and used only when there’s no other choice, for example buildings taller than five stories.
Yes, I understand it isn’t built to last. I was agreeing that the “green” aspect is more than a bit disingenuous.
Yes, there is a good TED talk that addresses environmental folklore vs life cycle analysis. This is just greenwashing.
I’ve toured this house. It has an HRV, so there is fresh air. The biggest flaw I saw had to do with siting – there’s a ton of east-facing glass, and no matter how efficient it is, you’re going to pick up a lot of heat. The heat in the master bed and bath was obvious during an afternoon open house. The complicating factor was no recessed boxes for an automated blind system. If you can afford a $4m house, wouldn’t you expect window coverings?
Beyond that, the layout has a few oddities. The square footage got run up by excavating all the area under the garage.
I know it seems like green washing to market a house this big as NZE or whatever, but at least it drives some adoption of the technologies/products involved, as opposed to the similarly large house two doors down the hill.
UPDATE: The sister property at 2123 Castro Street has just hit the market listed for $4.399 million or $918 per square foot versus $972 per square foot for 2127 Castro at its reduced list price.
Yeah a lot of the space is down low. A haircut on price was definitely appropriate. Location is also not A+.
UPDATE: Pair of Noe Valley Passive Homes Fetch under $1,000 per Foot