Hello all,
I believe I’ve read most of the article on GBA concerning ventilation and am still somewhat confused about which strategy makes most sense for my project.

Project is detached ADU, studio and single car garage on ground floor, with 600 SF apartment above. Located in climate zone 5 (N. Idaho), 6900 HDD, R40-ish walls, R60 roof, R20 under the slab. Aiming for airtightness of ≤1 ACH. Dried in last year, plan to have ready for occupancy by this fall.

ADU is all electric, with 2000W of baseboard heating in the upstairs apartment, and another 1000W in the studio. I plan to install a PV array next year that should meet all electrical needs for the building.

My budget for the project has been relatively modest, and I expect construction costs to ultimately be in the $100-125/SF range (I’ve been doing a lot of the labor myself). Keeping costs low has involved a lot of ‘pretty good’ rather than ‘best’ thinking; for example: buying decent double pane casement windows (~U 0.25), and putting the savings toward more insulation and PV. 

From what I’ve read here, given the scale of the project and my approach so far, there doesn’t seem to be a compelling argument for either HRV or ERV. The expense, in particular, seems difficult to justify.

The system described in Michael Chandler’s blog post “Exhaust Only Ventilation Systems” https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/exhaust-only-ventilation-systems is attractive for it’s simplicity and cost, and I’ve been happy with Panasonic Whisper series fans I’ve installed in the main house. However, I realize the post is from 2010, and may be outdated.

Is a similar approach possible, perhaps using two Panasonic fans, one for exhaust and one for intake? Or is exhaust-only (with or without passive intake vents) still considered a viable option?