Be Prepared

Remember when people were so obsessed with Y2K and the “Millennium bug?” The fear that all computer-controlled systems would shut down at the beginning of 2000. Although that event never materialized, the northeast regional blackout in August 2003 taught us that multiple systems can be affected when the electricity goes out for any reason. It’s a good idea to have certain emergency preparations in place at all times, to stave off hunger and cold in case our power, water, or other support systems are interrupted for an extended period. The first step is to consider alternatives to our usual ways of doing things.

Many of us have gone without power (and natural gas, for that matter,) for several days after a winter storm. Most boilers and furnaces will not function without electricity. An alternative power source, such as a portable 5000-to-8000 watt generator, can keep the heat going (so long as you have fuel for the generator,) plus power the refrigerator and some lights. There are switching panels that can be installed in the main service box by a licensed electrician, which will allow the house wiring to distribute output from the generator. For many people, however, the cost of this system will be prohibitive; a small generator and panel will run well over $2000.

One low-tech and fairly low-cost method for heating is the living room fireplace. (Not to mention those lucky folks who have a fireplace in the bedroom, too). The heat will be localized, but you’ll have at least one warm room. If you’ll be using this source of heat, have the chimney checked and cleaned, if necessary, before winter. Make sure the damper is in good condition, too. Stock up on firewood early enough to allow it to season properly.

If you do not have a fireplace, in an emergency you will probably be looking for other ways to keep warm. One common misconception is that you can use a gas range oven as a source of heat. That’s not a good idea – the stove can add a lot of carbon monoxide to the air, and the heat can melt the control handles of the appliance. Similarly, kerosene heaters and ventless (natural gas or propane) space heaters can pose dangers. My hometown city fire and building departments prefer to see vented units that minimize the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, and units that are fastened to the wall or floor and can’t be knocked over. If you are forced to use a portable unit in an emergency situation, be sure to keep all combustibles well away from the heater, provide ventilation (such as a slightly-opened window), secure the heater to the floor (with nails or screws, for example), and follow all instructions from the manufacturer for its use.

Emergency lighting is important, but it’s a good idea to avoid items that burn to provide light, such as candles, hurricane oil lamps, or propane lanterns. Consider battery-powered lanterns and flashlights to prevent accidental fires. There are LED flashlights use less power to make light, running for a longer period of time on that set of batteries.

Provisions need to be purchased in advance, and stored. Choose alkaline over the regular or “heavy-duty” batteries, as the alkaline models can be stored for a longer period of time – check the expiration date on the package when you purchase them – or buy alkaline batteries that can be recharged. Another battery-powered item to have on hand is a portable radio. Besides some entertaining diversion, it can warn you of emergencies (like school closings) and incoming weather.

Jugs of distilled drinking water can be purchased and stored for long periods of time. We’re normally urged to drink 8 glasses of water daily (in addition to all those cups of coffee!) Plan for the amount your entire household will need for one or two weeks – pets, too. Another source of drinking water you might consider is a small water purification unit, carried by camping supply and some sporting goods stores. Melted snow (make sure it’s not “yellow”) or collected rainwater can be made “potable” for cooking, washing, and drinking with a purification unit.

As for eating, that propane grill stored all winter out in the garage can roast, grill, or even boil foods for you. A small portable propane camp stove can be useful, as well. Both must be used outdoors to prevent problems, but either one can heat water for washing, as well as for cooking. Keep your pantry stocked with pre-cooked canned goods (i.e., vegetables, meats, soups, ravioli, and spaghetti,) to eliminate the need to keep a lot of food refrigerated during a prolonged power outage. (Don’t forget that you’ll need a hand-powered can opener!) A 48- or 60-quart picnic cooler can keep milk and fresh produce chilled, so long as you have ice.

Another thing to keep on hand is a supply of essential medications. If you must take prescription drugs, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about how long they can be stored, and under what conditions.

If the heat is off for an extended period of time in winter and you will have to go elsewhere to be warm, it will be important to prevent frozen pipes and damaged fixtures. Shut off the water at the meter, and then open all the faucets to drain out as much water as possible. Use nontoxic RV antifreeze to put in all sink and tub traps (2 cups per trap).  Toilets will need the tank emptied, sop out any remaining water with an old towel. Pour about a half gallon of nontoxic RV antifreeze into the bowl.


The last item of concern – and the one some people may consider the most important – is the toilet. Even if there is no water service, there will still be a need to eliminate body wastes. Short of digging a primitive latrine in your back yard (you’ll find directions for that in an old scouting manual), water already used for washing or cooking (called “gray water”) can be stored for re-use to flush a toilet. 1-1/2 gallons will flush through solid wastes when poured quickly into the bowl; keep a bucket on hand to hold the water.

Even though the millennium came without complicating our lives, sooner or later we’ll almost certainly have to deal with a winter power outage of some sort. Preparations like these can make our lives easier during such times, but the most important thing is to PLAN AHEAD.

Can't you hear me knocking?

When the doorbell doesn't work, I usually can't hear folks knocking at my front door unless I'm on the first floor of the house. Rather than hang up a “Doorbell out of order, wake the dog” sign, most bell problems are pretty easy to diagnose and fix.

The first place I like to check is the transformer to see if there is power to the system. The transformer reduces the 120-volt house current to the 10 or 16 volts AC needed to run the doorbell system. In some old houses it may be a small black box attached to a beam or to a junction box in the basement. It may be attached directly to the electric service panel. I use a multimeter to check for power, if don't you have one, you can use a low-volt circuit tester. If you don't get an indication of power, it's time to replace the transformer.

The most common problem is in the doorbell button or switch. It's exposed to the weather even under a porch roof and the contact points in it will eventually become corroded. A simple enough test, you just unscrew the doorbell button to get to the two wires that are fastened to the back. Touch those two wires together and the bell rings, you'll know the button is bad. If you just get a faint spark without a ring when touching the wires together, it's time to look at the bell.

While the bell unit isn't the cause of most doorbell problems, it can fail on occasion – especially if it is mounted in the kitchen.  Dust, tobacco smoke, spider webs and grease can collect in the electromagnetic striker mechanism and gum it up.       

Take the cover off the chime unit and have someone try the door button.  If the striker moves but doesn't hit the chime, you will have to clean the striker(s).

The chime bar rests on rubber grommets mounted on plastic posts. Gently pull up the bar and pull out the hammer. Spray a light lubrication oil (like WD-40) on a soft cloth and clean the striker. Use a cotton swab to clean out any crud from the electromagnet coil tube. Then wipe off any excess oil which may collect dust. 

Put the striker back its place, press it down all the way to its stop, then slip your finger off the top to see if it pops up freely. Replace the chime bar onto the grommets and try the button outside.

If the striker hits the first chime, but the not second chime, pull the striker out again and stretch the spring to give it more tension and replace the striker in the mechanism. Try the button to see if you get a "ding-dong."

 

Sometimes there's just no fixing the chime unit and you'll have to replace it.  Before you disassemble the unit, mark the wires so that you know which one goes to the front door, backdoor and common terminals. Especially important if they are all the same color.
 

My buddy Russ always reminds me that anything man-made is doomed to failure. Wiring can go bad too, but if this is indeed the problem, it will take some tracking to find where the wire is broken. The wires are a little larger than thick fishing line, and you should be able to see them in your basement ceiling. However, breaks are usually found behind one of the door trim pieces. Locksmiths and door installers can cut the wires with screws or nails when they do their work because the wires are hidden from view.

Once you've found the location of the break, you don't have to replace the whole length of wire – just the part that is broken. Twist the new portion together with the unbroken length and tape with electrical tape.

Plywood vs. Oriented Strand Board

Several years ago, Sid and I were stripping the roofing material from a leaking flat porch roof when he launched into his ritual diatribe about how little I was paying him (he was being paid as much as I was). I was just about to reply in my customary string of profanities that he should get busy with the job, when I disappeared through the roof. All that Sid had seen was the column of dust rising where I had been just a moment before. I had landed unhurt but angry on the porch floor below. When I got back on the roof, I found that a previous contractor had used Oriented Strand Board (OSB) for a section of the roof deck. It had swollen and disintegrated due to the water damage. Thus began my hatred of the use of OSB for roofs.

On most old flat porch roofs you would find what is called “one-by” pine planking (1”X 8”, 1”X 10”, etc.) used for the decking. Planking is the costlier choice for a roof deck nowadays. Plywood first appeared around the turn of the 20th. century, but did not become a common decking material until the late 1940’s. Plywood is constructed of thick layers of veneer oriented at right angles to one another for strength and stiffness. OSB came onto the market in the late 1970’s and is made from 3- to 4-inch wood strands that are applied in layers and pressed together with adhesive. Like plywood the layers are oriented at right angles and weighs 10 percent to 15 percent more.

OSB costs about $5-6 less per panel than plywood, which is a significant savings when 16 or more panels may be used for a two-car garage roof, for example. Georgia-Pacific (a major producer of OSB) states in a 2003 research paper that CDX plywood holds up better under excessive wettings, has an all-wood surface that results in better glue adhesion. The ‘C’ and ‘D’ are the finish ratings of the panel surfaces and the ‘X’ means it’s rated for exterior humidity.

Plywood is 15 percent lighter and flexes less than OSB. They further state that their tests indicate that plywood holds nails better, too. Personally, I have no problem using OSB for wall sheathing, but I’d never use it for a walk-on roof deck and am loathed to use it on a gable roof--especially with the snow loads that we get in our area (the Northeast Ohio snowbelt). Several Ohio communities and several states including the state of Florida have banned it for roof decks due to swelling caused by high humidity along the edges.

Admittedly, OSB is better than it was ten years ago, I still will not allow it on any job that I'm involved in.  For a walk-on deck I specify 3/4” CDX plywood and 5/8” CDX for a roof that’s not walked on (though I prefer 3/4” CDX). On gabled roofs the building code specifies 1/2" four-ply CDX, I specify 5/8" for the snow loads we get. On shallow pitch roofs, I'd still would want 3/4" CDX. I would rather overbuild than have a roof deck collapse under snow

One last thing--if you ever do a roofing job with Sid, please smack him with a shovel for me.

Deck Story

I was going through some old magazines recently and found an article from 2003 about a deck collapsing and killing about a dozen people in Chicago. It was a third-story deck and it broke loose where the deck framing met the building wall. Granted, there were a lot of people on it, but a plank called a ‘ledger board’ was partially rotted and it split where the bolts attached it to the building causing the collapse.

While there are decks that fail because they are not built to code specifications, the most common problem is that they are not maintained well. Often when a deck is refinished; the joists, ledger board, and posts have not been coated with waterproofing. Joists can remain wet for a long period of time--unable to dry because of shading by the planking above and they will rot. So, it’s vital to do an annual inspection and maintenance to a wood deck, especially older decks on long posts. Homeowners can do most of the maintenance required, but if the deck is more than 6 years old (or if you don’t know the age), a professional should do an inspection that specializes in wood-frame construction. This keeps your deck attractive, protects your investment and prevents a deck failure.

When I have built decks, I tend to over-build. If the design load is for 40 pounds per square foot and the span chart calls for 2x8” joists, I’ll use 2x10s. Where some plans may have one support beam, I will add a second beam or more (see the beam near the house wall in the drawing above). Use bolts and nuts with washers that go through the rim joist instead of nails or lag screws to attach the ledger to the house. Having lived in the NE Ohio Snow Belt my entire life, I’ve seen enough structures collapse with 3-to-5 feet of wet snowfall (often at the ledger board) and I just don’t want that beggar to come down. 

It is important that railings are well secured and the spacing (4 inches) between balusters to prevent small children slipping through the railing. The stronger the deck is, the less likely Junior’s graduation party will bring it down, too.

So you may consider adding an extra beam under your deck to strengthen it.

Check the understructure to ensure the wood is solid. If you can push a screwdriver a quarter-inch into the wood, it’s time to replace it. Do the same test with the deck planks, too. If you replace any rotted planks, use galvanized or stainless steel screws instead nails to prevent the plank from pulling up.

You will need to clean the deck before refinishing a deck. A pressure washer alone will clean the deck to prepare it for refinishing if you do not wish to use chemicals. But if it is a long time between refinishes, a commercial deck cleaning solution with oxalic acid (wood bleach) may be necessary to remove the dirt, gray coloring, mildew, and stains. I found that using a garden sprayer to apply the cleaning solution and then using a scrub brush mounted on a broom handle to clean the surface works well. Grease stains (under an outdoor grill, for example) are tough to get out; a paste of TSP (Tri Sodium Phosphate) scrubbed into the stain will break up a lot of it. The pressure washer is then used to finish cleaning.

Let the wood dry for a few days before applying the finish. You can use a color stain water seal on the visible surfaces, but all the surfaces of the understructure should be treated with the clear water seal to prevent decay, especially the support beam and posts.

STRUCTURAL CLAY BLOCKS

When digging or planting in your yard along the house, you may have noticed a difference in the building materials, where the ground meets the foundation. Many homes that were built from about 1915 through to the 1950’s, used structural clay (tile) blocks for the foundation walls. Prior to 1915, cut stone blocks or bricks were often used to build the foundation. Clay blocks were less expensive than stone blocks and easier to handle because their light weight. Their larger size (approximately 8" x 12" or 8" x 16") provided a labor savings in erecting the foundation compared to brick and were usually found on the outside foundation wall, below the soil line (or “grade”) with several rows of the more costly bricks exposed above grade

Clay blocks were not fired long enough to have a hardened surface like brick, so they are vulnerable to the destructive effects of weather exposure. If the outside foundation walls become open to the elements, the blocks can become soft and porous, and will spall or deteriorate in a fairly short period of time. This can lead to voids in your foundation and water seeping into your basement. It’s important that you fill any voids where the block face may have broken away. Use some old bricks and mortar to fill the opening. You can use the same method to make a repair on the interior surface of the wall.

If your lawn has settled over the years, exposing the clay blocks, it is to your advantage to get it covered back up again as soon as possible. There are several ways to go about this. The easiest approach is to ‘ramp’ soil around the house so that the exposed blocks of your foundation are covered, sloping away from the house to the level of the rest of the lawn. The ramped soil will also direct surface water away from the foundation preventing water seepage into the wall. Another way would be to bring in a couple of loads of topsoil to raise the level of the lawn around the house to cover the clay tile. Then, you would have to plant new grass seed. This method involves a lot of labor—your own or paid help—and patience in tending the new grass. A third method would be to take some railroad ties or treated landscape timbers and enclose an area surrounding the foundation. The enclosed area, when filled with dirt high enough to cover the exposed blocks, will give you a raised bed perfect for planting shrubs or flowers. Keep shrubs a couple of feet or more away from the house.

There are some other simple ways of doing all this—but, however you do it, the object is to get the tile covered and protected from the weather. Like many smaller repairs, this situation has a way of turning into a bigger problem, if care is not taken. So, take a look around your home, see what is your situation, and plan your course of action. 

Kunselman's laws of home repair

I'm no Albert Einstein (although I admire his genius), I don't even pretend to be that smart and I know I can't compete with the laws of General Relativity.  It was just that in the early 1980's while working as a counterman at a local hardware store in Cleveland, that I came to the realization of my own version of Murphy's laws.  While scientific researchers have never proved or disproved my theorems, I just offer them to you as possible explanations for some of the  mysteries of home repair.  And to immortalize myself; of course, I named the laws after me (me being Kunselman).

Kunselman's First Law:   
Never start a project after the supply stores close.

Even if you think that you have everything you need to do the job, up to and including Aunt Sadie's bloomers--something will snap, break or disintegrate within nano-seconds of the store closing.  Sunday morning is the worst time to jump into a big repair job because whatever it is that you broke will not available at a Home Depot or Lowes' and you'll have to wait until the supply store reopens on Monday.

Kunselman's Second Law:  
Always take the broken parts with you to the supply store.

If you have a Humma-Dunker faucet made in western Austrobovia, is it the model with the what-zit mounted on the front or on the side?  If you bring the old part with you to the store, the counter clerk and you can eyeball the new part to ensure that it's gonna fit.

Kunselman's Third Law:  
Learn the names of the parts on the item that you're working upon. 

I can understand this can be a tough one for most people, because I speak Construction and had learned English as a second language.  It's still very difficult for me, (I am fluent in Profanity, however) but knowing the correct part names makes it much easier to communicate to supply store clerks to get the part you need.  It amazes me how much information is out there on the web, so look it up. Some vendors on the web have exploded views with part names and order numbers. If whatever item you're working upon has a plate or tag with a model number and a serial number, write those down and bring along, too.


Kunselman's Fourth Law:
Never tell anyone that you know how to fix/build things or that you have tools.

Let me tell you, if you let it get out that you can do things around the house, you're in deep trouble. You'll be stuck wiring fixtures in your cousin Eddie's kitchen, then insulating your mom's attic under the shallow pitched roof and getting wedged.  The next-door neighbor will want you to show her how to install a water heater.  In fact, you shouldn't tell your wife, husband or spouse-equivalent, that you know how to work on anything.  My spouse-equivalent has 10 years' worth of 'Honey-Do' jobs for me to complete, I'll never see a Saturday again.  
As for not telling anyone that you have tools--I'll just say that my kid brother has had my pressure washer for five years now. I think you get the idea.

Instantaneous (Tankless) Water Heaters

You know, I’m getting downright cheap in my old age.  I just hate to spend money for utilities if I’m not home to ‘enjoy’ them.  One example is that I lower the furnace thermostat when I go to bed or when I’m away from the house.  My household critters don’t seem to mind as they have fur coats and they make use of each other to keep warm (and sometimes my sofa, too).  I use compact fluorescent and LED bulbs for lighting and I even have solar powered spotlights to illuminate the back porch.  I’ll try anything to save a buck.

But there doesn’t seem to be much we can do with tank-type water heaters.  I’ve added tank blankets and pipe insulation, but it doesn’t seem to save all that much.  Since 2004, storage tank-type water heaters have been mandated (by the U.S. Department of Energy) to be more energy efficient as well as a combustible vapor requirement.  Despite that (according to the DOE), water heating accounts for 20% or more of an average household's annual energy costs. So, the operating costs for gas storage tank water heaters average more than $200 annually.

Rinnai whole house water heater

A tank-type water heater maintains the water temperature to the thermostat setting on the tank.  The heater does this even if no hot water is drawn from the tank.  This is due to "standby loss": the heat radiates from the walls of the tank and out the flue pipe. These standby losses represent up to 20% of a household's annual water heating costs.  One way to reduce this expenditure is to use a tankless (also called " demand " or "instantaneous") water heater.

Instantaneous water heaters are common in Europe and around the world.  When I have visited my relatives in England, I noticed the water heater in their homes were mounted on the wall in the kitchen.  Unlike the common tank water heaters, tankless units heat water as it is used, or “on demand”. A tankless heater has a sensing device that is activated only when you open the spigot, the heater will fire up and give a constant supply of hot water.  Junior can do his normal 40-minute shower and there’s no waiting for hot water for your shower when he is done.

Ariston demand water heater

The largest gas units, which may provide all the hot water needs of a household, are installed centrally in the basement or small units at the point of use, depending on the amount of hot water required. For example, you can use a small electric unit as a booster for a far-off bathroom, dishwasher, or laundry. These units are usually installed underneath a sink or nearby in a closet.

What I have learned from using centrally-located tankless heaters is that you need to find the highest flow rate you can get. Also you may need modify your water-use behavior a little bit.  Despite manufacturers’ claims, you still do not get the same flow rate of water as you would with a tank type heater.  With a 3.5-gallon per minute showerhead running and a large water-using appliance cycles on, one or both may not get much hot water.  So hopefully, you get to finish your shower before Junior decides to turn on the dishwasher. 

Now if I can only figure out a way to convert the excess energy that my dogs have to heating the house.

A Summer Reading List

A recent gift from my companion is 'More Straw Bale Building' (from Mother Earth News and New Society Publishers), as she expects me to learn how to build with bales and get busy with making our country cottage dream home.  So, I'm under orders to read it now.  Yes darlin', it's right here in front of me.  Maybe this fall I'll write a review of it here.

'Building Construction Illustrated' by Francis D.K. Ching should be possessed by every architect, designer, contractor, handyman, lumberyard, hardware store counterman, homeowner and Saturday morning thumb-banger. I think you get my drift. It's in its fourth edition now, my copy of the second edition was printed over twenty years ago, but still relevant. You can find it on Amazon, Ebay, and what few bookstores that are still left.  Fire up that Kindle too....because you can download it for only 12.95 (no shipping cost!). My youngest granddaughter is just a year old, maybe I'll get it for her as a Christmas gift.

The trade magazine Journal of Light Construction (JLC) is an excellent monthly 'encyclopedia' of construction techniques. Most of the how-to articles are written by contractors themselves. While I receive the hardcopy in the mail every month, I often check their website for the free .PDF's to download. Tool reviews and ads are helpful, too.  Also available from JLC is a DVD-ROM of the past 20-odd years of the magazine.

Tumbleweeds Tiny House Company may not have been the first site to promote smaller houses, but Jay Shafer is the out-front leader of the tiny house movement.  For more than a decade, Jay has been living in 100 square feet or less.  He has books, plans and advice for anyone considering downsizing to the smaller house.  The house plans go from 65 sq.ft. to almost 900 sq.ft.  Another site to see is Kent Griswold's TinyHouseBlog.com for more big ideas about living small.

Building the Future with the Past

Tiny Texas Houses website is back online. They were offline for a while, and I'm glad that they're back up. I really like their designs and the fact that they use as much recycled material as possible. I've placed the link back on my link list and hope to see more of them in the future.
 

I keep The Kneeslider in my link list which has absolutely nothing to do with housing, but I'm still a motorcycle maniac. It's a well written blog by Paul Crowe, formerly of Cycle World magazine. He covers all brands of motorcycles (foreign and domestic), news and tech development.
 

Finally, for all of us tech-weenies and garbage gadget-teers out there (we know who we are), the two sites that I love most are; the MIT Technology Review and Instructables I get the MIT newsletter every weekday and the Instructables newsletter weekly, so be sure to sign up.

Coleman Quad Lantern

I wanted a battery-operated lantern for when power outages occur (which in my area is several times a year). About two years ago, my companion Mary found the Coleman LED Quad lantern at a warehouse store and bought it for me . We liked it so much that we immediately bought a second one. The light output is a bright cool white (190 lumens), it doesn't flicker like the fluorescent lanterns I replaced with this unit and the batteries last longer. Besides handling its primary duty, we have used it in the back yard in the evening, and we've taken it to the cabin that our hiking club maintains. The cabin has little outdoor lighting, so the ability to take the individual panels off for the short hikes to the outhouse is a great thing and the panels have survived being dropped by small (and not so small) children.

Each panel has six LEDs and 3 NiCad AAA batteries that charge from the base unit 8 D-cell battery pack. Alkaline D-cells provide 1.5 volt each and NiCad or Lithium-ion rechargeable cells only put out 1.2 volts.  While the lantern does work on 9.6 volts, it's brighter with the alkaline batteries.   

Coleman makes a rechargeable 6 volt battery pack for the two panel LED lantern, but unfortunately, there's no 12 volt rechargeable pack for this lantern as yet. And while I'm making up my 'Santa list', I'd like to see a 5-to-10 watt solar panel charger for it, too.  It would be nice to have a 'non-grid' way to recharge the unit for the extended power outages or when camping. I've been seeing the LED Quad lantern selling in the $50-to-75 price range, so check your favorite online retailers for the best price.  We think it's wonderful product, reasonably priced for what it offers.

Passive House (PassivHaus Institut)

If you haven't heard of the "Passive House" movement or you just haven't heard what it means, I'll try to explain it best I can.  Concerns over the effects of housing heat exhaust to the climate and pollution brought about the desire to eliminate as much energy/fuel use as possible. 

The PassivHaus movement began in Germany during the mid-1990's and it is the fastest growing energy performance standard in the world with over 30,000 buildings built to date.  The PassivHaus ideal is simple; build a house that has excellent thermal performance (super-insulated), exceptional airtightness coupled with mechanical ventilation.  The building is heated by solar gain from windows and doors along with internal heat gain from people and electrical appliances. The summer cooling load is controlled by low-e coatings in the glass, window orientation and shading.  Any remaining heating or cooling demands are covered by a small heating source. Think of it as creating a livable thermos bottle, what is warm stays warm without using a heat source most of the time.  As Lloyd Alter of Treehugger.com says; "Forget Energy Star and LEED, green building is PassivHaus".

Graphics courtesy of PassivHaus Institit.

This approach to building design allows the architect to minimize the heating demand of  buildings, and may specify only a heated towel rail or small electric baseboard heater as the source of conventional heating. A mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) unit reduces indoor air pollution, by supplying fresh air which is filtered and heated by the warm exhaust passing through the HRV unit.  Triple pane windows and insulated doors, both with multiple weatherstripping sets are also required to bring the building into the standard.

A PassHaus buliding to the right and a conventional structure across the street. 

While it's much easier to build a new structure to this standard than try to bring an existing building into it, there are folks out there trying to do it.   Basically the insulation required to come near PassivHaus standard is R50 walls and floor (yes, floors), R70 ceiling or roof.  One method would have the interior of the house gutted before new inner walls can be constructed to provide ten-to-twelve inches of blown-in insulation space.  At a green building seminar I attended last year, one Cleveland manufacturer showed off a custom six-inch thick XPS (extruded polystyrene) panel with molded-in steel studs for fast setup.
A representative comes out and does measurements, wall panels are shop-constructed and brought to the site with electrical boxes mounted.  The existing wall gets blown-in insulation, the XPS panel is mounted over that. Spray foam makes the airseal at any joints.  Drywall is screwed to the embedded steel studs.

Getting the house airtight enough seems the hardest thing to do, but finding the doors and windows that meet the performance requirement is still difficult in the US.  Read 'limited availability' as much higher cost.  I estimate that to bring my 1925 Colonial-style (1400 sq-ft) home to near PassivHaus standards, would cost approximately 55-to-70 thousand USD.  Though I'm sure that as more houses are brought into the PassivHaus standard, the prices of materials and services will drop.