The Soble Tower Transformation: North America’s First EnerPHit Apartment Tower

The Ken Soble Tower Transformation: North America’s First EnerPHit Apartment Tower
Winter 2019 SABMag ConEd Article
GBCI: 0920020327

Overview
The Ken Soble Tower Transformation is a ground- breaking project rehabilitating a post-war apartment tower in Hamilton, Ontario to the Passive House EnerPHit retrofit standard - reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 94% and laying the groundwork for the industry-wide repair and renewal projects which are urgently needed to maintain thousands of apartments across Canada. This article will look at the project in detail, the roles of the different team members, and the challenges in executing this large Passive House retrofit project.

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this learning unit, the reader will be able to:

Describe the roles of the team members in executing the Ken Soble Tower retrofit.
Describe the key systems used in the Ken Soble Tower.
Identify strategies used to meet the EnerPHit standard in the Ken Soble Tower.
Understand the challenges in designing an EnerPHit project.

Assessment
All articles offered by SABMag are GBCI approved. To qualify for continuing education learning hours, practitioners must first read the technical article below, and then proceed to complete the short quiz at the end. You must receive 80% on the quiz to record the activity as part of your continuing education. An email will be sent to you and will act as your certificate of completion once you have successfully completed the requirements.

In order to obtain your CEU Certificate of Completion for this course (1h CE):

STEP 1 : Read the article The Soble Tower Transformation: North America’s First EnerPHit Apartment Tower (PDF format)

STEP 2 : Take the quiz and get a minimum of 8 out of 10 correct answers to receive your Certificate of Completion.

Quiz by: SABMagazine

1.

According to the article, the Passive House standard considered the waste water venting on the plumbing system as what?

a. Not necessary at all.

b. A necessity to maintain good ventilation rates

c. A vertical thermal bridge through the building

d. A necessity to maintain good indoor air quality

2.

Which of the following was NOT an advantage of working with an existing building for this project?

a. Its solar orientation

b. Its large thermal mass

c. Its low glazing-to-opaque wall ratio

d. Its solid structure to which to attach insulation

3.

According to the article, which of the following contributed to a significant portion of the building’s heat loss?

a. The windows

b. The building envelope

c. The mechanical system

d. The uninsulated slab-on-grade ground floor

4.

From the mechanical engineers’ perspective, what statement below is true about the biggest climate differences between Ontario and Germany where the Passive House standard was developed?

a. Higher humidity levels in Ontario

b. Higher humidity levels in Germany

c. Higher temperature levels in Ontario

d. Higher temperature levels in Germany

5.

What best describes the Ken Sobel Tower project?

a. A retrofit of a MURB seeking Passive House certification

b. A new construction MURB seeking Passive House certification

c. A retrofit of a MURB seeking Passive House EnerPHit certification

d. A new construction MURB seeking Passive House EnerPHit certification

6.

Design solutions were assessed based on what two (2) criteria?

a. Constructability and cost

b. Cost and ability to meet Passive House

c. Ability to meet Passive House and constructability

d. Ability to meet Passive House and ability to deliver comfort

7.

What Alternative Solution was submitted and approved by the local building authority?

a. Use of centralized ventilation

b. Use of mineral wool EIFS system

c. Use of fiberglass-framed windows

d. Use of code-required back-up generator block heaters

8.

What effective thermal resistance was required for the building envelope?

a. R-30

b. R-38

c. R-50

d. There was no specific level required

9.

Which of the following was NOT part of the cooling strategy for the building?

a. Low emissivity interior shades

b. Ceiling fans to circulate air within units

c. In-unit high-efficiency air conditioning units

d. Glazing with a low Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)

10.

According to the article, which discipline is less affected by the Passive House considerations?

a. Architects

b. Electrical engineers

c. Mechanical engineers

d. Building envelope consultants

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The Soble Tower Transformation: North America’s First EnerPHit Apartment Tower

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