[Greenbuilding] first certified Passive House in Canada

[Ross Elliott]

Sorry that I can't provide any insight to Passive House in a mild climate
like San Francisco, but I thought this group may be interested to know the
first Passive House in Canada was certified in Ottawa on Nov. 22. Rather
than reprint the whole press release here, you can read it at
http://www.homesolbuildingsolutions.com/storage/Canada%27s%20First%20Passive
%20House%2025Jan2011.pdf 

 

My own take on Passive House is that it makes complete sense pretty much
everywhere. Even if a house can't or doesn't want to meet the rather
rigorous energy standard, the PHPP modeling process provides an excellent
insight into the performance of the building anyway. As you can see from the
press release, Passive House doesn't need to be a "science project", just
good sustainable design. Since there are Passive Houses being built as far
north as Fairbanks, Alaska (twice as cold as Ottawa), and also in hot, humid
climates like Atlanta, it appears this standard has widespread
applicability. 

 

Mike Holmes just called Passive House "an up & coming design standard " -
how more mainstream popular culture can you get?

 

Although we won't see tract builders embracing PH any time soon, I do
believe there are a lot of custom builders and homebuyers who have been just
waiting for something like this. What's not to like about getting a 90%
reduction in energy costs with less than a 10% upgrade cost?

 

There's a pile of misinformation out there about Passive House, so just to
set the record straight, there's only three mandatory requirements: 1) less
than 15 kWhrs / m2 / yr. heating or cooling load, 2) less than 120 kWhrs /
m2 / yr. total energy load, and 3) less than 10% overheating. Anything else
you've heard may be recommended best practices but are not mandatory.

Ross Elliott LEED-AP, CPHP, RASDT, RHSD

President

 <http://www.homesol.ca/> image001.jpg

83 Little Bridge Street, Suite 109

PO Box 1133, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0

(613) 278-0467 / (877) 278-0467

Fax (613) 963-0156

 <http://www.homesol.ca/> www.homesol.ca

 

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