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A new barn design for finishing swine in upper US Midwest climatic conditions that will substantially reduce energy consumption and gaseous emissions, and improve production efficiency was developed. The design concept incorporates three existing technologies (biofiltration, heat exchange and antimicrobial filtration) to clean, temper, and recirculate a major portion of the hog barn ventilation air to create a steadier-state facility. This paper discusses the heat, moisture and gas balances for the new barn design. Modern heat and moisture production values for finishing swine (20 to 120 kg hd-1), as well as heat and moisture loads created by the filtration system were incorporated in a spreadsheet-based simulation model. The simulator enabled the calculation of heating/cooling and dehumidification requirements for a 1000-hd barn under four extreme conditions (20 kg pigs and 120 kg pigs under winter and summer conditions, respectively), as well as intermediate conditions. With the simulator, the size requirements for a water-to-air heat exchanger were determined. This new design maintains the optimum thermal environment for the pig regardless of pig mass, season or time of day, thus improving feed efficiency.