Dedicated to sustainable,
high performance building

Author: Carine De Pauw

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CANADIAN CENTRE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ADAPTATION – University of Prince Edward Island, St. Peters Bay PEI

Institutional (Large) Award

Jury Comment

In terms of performance, this project was exemplary for its use of local materials including PH certified windows, which resulted in very low levels of embodied carbon. The program Is very progressive, integrating local Indigenous, Western, and global research communities within a collaborative, immersive 24-hour living lab environment.

Located in the village of St. Peters Bay this project is a living laboratory and educational destination, enabling  world-class sustainability focused research and experiential learning for UPEI and its collaborating organizations.

The facility serves as a hub and activator for local community engagement. With its living-learning concept providing an immersive environment that includes active spaces for teaching, research, experimentation, socialization, and quiet spaces for personal contemplation and rest.  The Centre also incorporates a multi-purpose community room with commanding views of Saint Peters Bay and Village.

The building extends east-west along the ridge of the hillside, accommodating parking to the north, enabling the creation of a wind protected south-facing courtyard, solar harvesting opportunities, while minimizing site disturbance. Existing vegetated hedge rows flanking the site were retained and reinforced.

The Centre’s ‘think globally, act locally’ sustainability approach is rooted in local supplier and trade capabilities wherever feasible and available. Examples include the use of all-wood, carbon sequestering construction using locally sourced stick-frame construction, glue-laminated columns/beams in fire/exposed locations (and the selective use of steel where dictated by economy/maintenance and durability considerations), locally assembled/ prefabricated wood wall panels, regionally harvested wood cladding and locally manufactured Passive House Certified windows which are manufactured within the LEED V4.1 ‘local’ radius of 160km from the site. 

PROJECT CREDITS

  • Owner/Developer  University of PEI,
  • Province of PEI; Government of Canada
  • Architect  Baird Samson Neuert Architects
  • Associate Architect Sable ARC
  • General Contractor  Bird Construction
  • Landscape Architect  Vollick McKee Petersmann & Associates Ltd.
  • Civil Engineer  SCL Engineering
  • Electrical Engineer  Richardson Associates Ltd
  • Mechanical engineer  MCA Consultants
  • Structural Engineer  SCL Engineering
  • Photos Brady McCloskey Photography

Main cladding types consist of Trespa Meteon panels from Formica and wood siding by Marwood Cape Cod Siding . Mitsubishi Electric Sales Canada supplied fan coils and many of the interior walls are finished with Olympia Tile .

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Interview With

1. It could be said that The Wellington Building is an unusual infill in the historic district of Saint John. What was the design mandate from the client?

Our client, Saint John Non-Profit, wanted a project that could show that low-cost housing and energy efficient housing did not have to be boring. It really started that simple! On top of that, the next layer was to create a design that not only fit into its urban context but also tried to elevate the design to feel aspirational and integrated and to feel non-institutional in its approach and visual reading.

2. What was your design approach given that this site is in historic Saint John?

Our approach to tackling this multi-faceted challenge was to start with the immediate context and let the design flow from there. Rather than create a giant box (making a more institutional feel), we looked to the historic Loyalist House across the street to cues. Acre stepped the building back from the site corner in two tiers so that the experience of coming down the street was such that the Wellington building does not block views to this historic structure. This set the building into three volumes and, from there, we looked to the façade to further distinguish this project by offsetting the window placement on each floor and highlighting the window framing with an accent colour.

3. How did you decide about Passive House construction?

Passive House was an easy choice from the beginning. As our client keeps their rental housing stock (as opposed to ‘flipping it’ once complete) the board at Saint John Non- Profit loved the idea that the lower long term energy costs will result in long term savings and therefore lower rents, which is part of their mandate, all while providing superior indoor comfort. The idea that the construction process also has multiple third-party tests to make sure the build is being constructed to the high-level specifications was also reassuring to the team as it showed them they are getting what the paid for!

4. Why did you opt for the steel cladding, and did it require any special details?

The design team chose to use ubiquitous corrugated steel cladding in part to show that you can design a beautiful (in our mind!) project using the most basic materials as long as there is thought put into the details. We focused the design detailing to highlight the offset windows by creating coloured and protruding frames in metal that when read as a whole, create a custom feel to the façade. This again, helps show that a sustainable and low-cost housing project does not have to be boring, but rather a catalyst for development in our city.

The Passive House Wellington Building with Vicwest exterior metal cladding system which was detailed for a custom feel.

5. As a mix of market rate and affordable units, how did you address the latter?

Part of our strategy in designing this mix of affordable and market units was to create a community design and layout that would allow residents to age in place in this building. If you started in the affordable units, and over time end up in a market unit, you could still stay in the building as you got older and less mobile. To achieve this, we turned the whole design into Universal Design which allowed us to make things accessible to everyone regardless of their physical ability, age, or income. The comfort of Passive House design again levelled the playing field between the units as well. Today we’re excited to have also designed the new restaurant Abuelitas that occupies the ground level that activates the public realm and building.
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Fire Hall No. 17

First of its type to achieve LEED Gold, Passive House, and ZCB – Design Certification, and a 99% drop in carbon emissions

By Darryl Condon

Completed in April 2022, the 1800 sq.m Fire Hall No. 17 is the first fire hall in Canada to earn CaGBC Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) – Design certification and Passive House certification. It is also now LEED Gold certified.

The low carbon, all-electric building is situated on Knight Street at 55th Avenue, and is the second-largest training facility for Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services (VFRS). It aims to cater to modern firefighting needs and training for the next 80 years, and serves as a post-disaster citywide emergency hub in the event of an information technology network breakdown.

The design enables any firefighter in the building to get to a fire truck in 60 seconds. The new facility has four drive-through apparatus bays, a full-size hose/training tower, a training yard, and accommodation for two full crews. As a post-disaster facility, it is also fitted with IT, radio, SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), and traffic control equipment.

Performance Goals

The building supports the City of Vancouver’s ambitious plan to achieve zero operational greenhouse gas emissions in new buildings by 2030. Metered data shows that the new building has reduced its energy use by an average of 83% compared to the previous Fire Hall 17, despite being twice the size. When comparing energy use intensity (per m2), there is a 91% reduction. The new fire hall has also achieved a 99% reduction in operational carbon emissions compared to its predecessor.

Sustainability Strategies

To achieve the stringent performance metrics required by each sustainability rating system, the project team employed the following strategies:

Efficient massing and form factor: Achieving quick turn-out time is the most critical design criterion in a fire hall. Turn-out time tracks the duration from notification of the call alarm, to disengagement from the task at hand, to physical movement towards the apparatus bays, to donning Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), and ultimately leaving the fire hall to attend the call.

This criterion required careful consideration to balance operational efficiency with building performance and minimize negative impact to the form factor. Despite this challenge, the design optimizes the massing and reduces the amount of thermal bridging as much as possible.

Optimized building orientation and program overlay for passive-solar design: The living areas of the fire hall are located on the south façade of the building so those programs receive the heat from the sun and abundant daylight needed throughout the day. This strategy significantly reduced the heating and lighting loads of the building.

Darryl Condon is Managing Principal at hcma architecture + design.

The building is finished with Vicwest 22Ga AD-300-SR flush seam metal cladding.

Finished with CertainTeed Type X gypsum board, the kitchen, outdoor patio, and dayrooms have south and east exposure to take vantage of natural light. 

A Zehnder Comfoair 160 heat recovery ventilator from Airia Brands provides balanced ventilation with a constant supply of fresh air. 

Project Credits

  • Owner/Developer  City of Vancouver
  • Architect  hcma architecture +design
  • General Contractor DGS Construction
  • Structural Engineer  RJC Engineers
  • Mechanical Engineer  Integral Group
  • Electrical Engineer  Integral Group
  • Civil Engineer  Binnie
  • Landscape Architect  Hapa Collaborative
  • Building envelope  RJC Engineers
  • Energy Modeller Morrison Hershfield
  • Building Code  Jenson Hughes
  • Acoustics  BAP Acoustics
  • Traffic  Bunt & Associates
  • Wayfinding + Signage  hcma architecture + design
  • Photos  Ema Peter Photography
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25 St Clair Avenue East Rehabilitation

Deep green retrofit a flagship model of fed’s sustainability commitments

By Charles Marshall

The rehabilitation of 25 St. Clair Avenue East in Toronto is a flagship project for the federal government; signifying its intention to reduce operating carbon emissions across its real estate portfolio while supporting the health and wellbeing of building occupants. The project demonstrated the viability of deep green retrofits for government stakeholders and the real estate industry at large.

Deep green retrofits are major projects that remake an existing building with the result of saving 30-50% or more in operating energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while targeting improved environmental quality and outcomes for human health. Achieving our climate action goals, such as Canada’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, will depend on substantial reductions from the real estate sector. Deep retrofits represent an achievable approach to substantially reducing GHG emissions while improving quality of life for building occupants and the members of the surrounding community.

URBAN CONTEXT

25 St. Clair Ave. E was chosen as a candidate for rehabilitation because of its central, transit-connected location and the significant remaining service life of the existing structure. The east-west orientation of the building lends itself very well to the implementation of passive design principles, including a reduced window-to-wall ratio.

The building is exceptionally well connected to public transit, including the Yonge subway line and the St. Clair streetcar line. The retrofitted building also provides exemplary infrastructure for cyclists; with over 120 bicycle parking spaces; as well as shower facilities. All parking is located below grade. EV charging stations are provided, with more roughed in to meet future demand.

Street trees and planters have been provided on St. Clair Avenue to reduce the urban heat island effect  and contributing to streetscape improvements. These trees require no permanent irrigation systems. A 110 cubic meter stormwater cistern conserves runoff from storm events to reduce strain on municipal infrastructure and release of untreated stormwater into waterways.Both the north and south facades have generous windows, providing daylight and views for building occupants.

A feature stair on the north side allows light to permeate into the building and at the same time, provides a vertical ‘neighbourhood’ for circulation and socializing. The compact form of the building contributes to air tightness and lowered heating and cooling loads, enabling the deployment of low-carbon energy systems.

New walls, windows, and roof surfaces were constructed to remake the façades and allow for appropriate levels of daylight and environmental quality, and to upgrade significantly the thermal performance and air tightness of the building envelope. Glazing surfaces were optimized to maintain thermal comfort and energy efficiency while providing ample daylight; thermally broken punch windows and curtainwall systems with triple-pane glazing were installed to target extremely low U-values for vision glazing.  Solid wall sections were provided with 200mm of semi-rigid insulation and thermally broken cladding supports to achieve an effective RSI value of 4.9 W/m2K. 

BUILDING SYSTEMS

Building systems are designed to complement the highly thermally efficient building envelope and minimize the energy required to provide comfort while eliminating combustion on-site and minimizing operating energy and carbon emissions.

Ventilation is provided from central dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS), improving air quality and reducing the energy required to heat and cool ventilation air. MERV 14 filters remove pollutants and contribute to improved air quality. Ventilation units are sized to exceed the minimum requirements of ASHRAE 62.1 while outdoor air quantities are modulated according to the reading of zone level CO2 sensors.

The DOAS system includes a dual-core regenerative heat recovery unit for very high efficiency. A geo-exchange field is connected to a ground coupled heat pump chiller that will direct heating and cooling water throughout the building as required, including water-side heat recovery.

The design team at Geo-Xergy Systems worked with the architects to create an integrated heating and cooling solution.

The combined system leverages the available energy of the ground source system to provide the highest efficiency in both heating and cooling, while also carefully managing the energy source to ensure it operates reliably over the life of the building.

Project Credits

  • Architect  DIALOG
  • Owner/Developer  PSPC / Government
  • of Canada
  • Constructor  Urbacon
  • Project Manager BGIS
  • Landscape Architect  DIALOG
  • Civil Engineer  LEA Consulting Ltd.
  • Electrical engineer  DIALOG
  • Structural / Mechanical Engineer  DIALOG
  • Building Envelope Consultant 
  • RDH Building Science
  • Commissioning Agent  WSP
  • Renewable Energy Systems  ZON Engineering
  • Ground Source Energy Consultant
  • Geo-Xergy Systems
  • PhotoS  Scott Norsworthy

Charles Marshall, P.Eng. MBA LEED® AP BD+C is partner Engineering & Sustainability at DIALOG.

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High-performance windows for high-performance building

An overview of current practice

The Sundance Housing Co-op in Edmonton underwent a Deep Energy Retrofit using an EnergieSprong-inspired model—Dutch for “energy leap”—focused on dramatically improving the efficiency of existing homes. Spearheaded by ReNu Engineering, the retrofit included prefabricated panels, airtight construction, and electrification to approach net-zero performance. The DUXTON Windows & Doors triple-glazed low-E, argon filled fiberglass windows, for a centre-of-glass R-8, were key to the building envelope upgrade, offering exceptional thermal performance in cold climates. Not only does a Deep Energy Retrofit give a huge facelift to your building, but it also boosts comfort, reduces long-term maintenance and energy costs, and shrinks your environmental footprint—making it a smart, future-ready investment. duxtonwindows.com

The 52-unit apartment development for Halton Region, by Cynthia Zahoruk Architect Inc. and built by Schilithius Construction, is situated in Kerr Street Village, Oakville. The four-storey building is designed to meet Passive House certification standards and tailored to accommodate seniors, promoting the concept of aging in place. All units are fully barrier-free. INLINE Fiberglass PHI Certified windows, designed and manufactured in Canada, contribute to the  success of the project through superior insulation, high-performance glazing, and exceptional airtightness. inlinefiberglass.com

The Wilson Residence, Port Carling, ON is designed to perform in cold climates with ENERsign’s ultra-efficient windows. Built for Passive House and high-performance buildings, ENERsign’s  triple-pane glazing, airtight construction, and superior insulation provide comfort, durability, and energy savings—especially in cold climate. With cutting-edge technology and sleek aesthetics, the windows strike a balance of sustainability, performance, and design. enersign.com

Timbre & Harmony in Vancouver, BC is a newly completed Passive House affordable housing development. The project features two, six-storey L-shaped buildings that achieved an average airtightness of 0.38 ACH50 resulting in a 56% reduction in thermal demands. Innotech Windows + Doors manufactured and installed 375 Passive House Institute certified windows and doors for the two buildings. Architect: Ryder Architecture, General Contractor: Etro Construction. innotech-windows.com

The only hybrid casement window in Canada with an impressive energy efficiency rating of U 0,79 W/(m2 K), the Passive House Series x by Isothermic Windows & Doors is designed to align with carbon-neutral, LEED, and Passive House projects, and to meet the challenges of the ever-changing environment we live in. PHIUS, PHI and AW certified, the Isothermic system is perfectly tailored to suit the North American style. Available now across Canada.    

Translucent daylighting systems by KALWALL are the most highly insulating in the world, improving indoor environmental quality, reducing a building’s carbon footprint, and bringing measurable energy savings to owners and tenants. The KALWALL® 175CW translucent insulated glazing units (TIGUs) allows mixing and matching with other infill glazings and claddings for various façade design possibilities. KALWALL 175CW TIGUs are nominally 1-3/4” and fully thermally broken. kalwall.com

La Cime: Elevating Passive Design with High-Performance Windows – Perched atop Mont-Sainte-Anne, La Cime is a striking example of sustainable architecture, where NZP Fenestration’s passive windows play a key role. Designed to maximize energy efficiency, NZP high-performance windows ensure superior insulation, harness solar gains, and enhance indoor comfort while offering breathtaking views. Blending elegance with cutting-edge technology, they help La Cime achieve Passive House standards, proving that sustainability and modern design go hand in hand. nzpfenestration.com

This Panorama, BC prefab project was built to Passive House standards with an impressive blower door score of 0.38ACH50! It uses VETTA Windows’ triple glazed, PEFC certified wood windows, slides and doors, custom crafted in Poland for unparalleled home comfort to last a lifetime. The windows, ELITE E92 Tilt & Turn with German steel multi-point locking, are PHIUS certified and PHI validated. Lower-level glazing is laminated with R2 rated security resistance. Project Partners: Justin Sherry Design Studio, Collective Carpentry, thinkBright Homes, and Gergely Cserhati, Owner/Builder. vettawindows.com

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Passive House Component Certification

Assurance for specifiers and building designers

By Melissa Furukawa, Peel Passive House Consulting Ltd.

Why Certify a Component to Passive House?

The demand for Passive House certified components is rapidly increasing as the global shift towards sustainable building practices accelerates amidst the climate crisis. In North America, government policies play a pivotal role, integrating advanced energy efficiency standards into building codes and offering incentives for both new constructions and retrofit projects. These incentives often depend on meeting specific energy performance savings targets, with higher performance increasing the likelihood of achieving those targets, thereby encouraging the wider adoption of Passive House components.

High-performance buildings require high performance components including windows, doors, opaque envelope systems, ventilation systems, and heat pumps, etc. However, building designers often face challenges in acquiring the necessary performance data for Passive House energy modeling. As the retrofit market expands as a crucial strategy for sustainability, the importance of certified components becomes even more pronounced.

By obtaining Passive House Component Certification, manufacturers can assure both specifiers and building designers that their products comply with rigorous standards for quality and performance. This certification provides essential performance values required for the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP), facilitating easy assessment of component suitability for both new and retrofit projects. This streamlined process supports suppliers in efficiently meeting the needs of specifiers and designers, offering manufacturers a direct pathway into these building projects.

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Certified Series Project – A Case Study and cladding types

In a recent project in Cape Breton where Certified Series was employed, material selection was driven by durability, and aesthetics, as the environmental influences are unforgiving in this region. A high-performance ceramic cladding system (TONALITY) is featured on the façades of the Nova Scotia Community College, Waterfront Campus (NSCC) started in late 2021.

Collaborating with the architectural teams, EA was able to ensure critical details were included to mitigate the tireless influence of weather on the structure. Drafting and engineering were completed by EA, the system provider. A façade installation team was assigned but did not have specific experience in high performance rainscreen, nor ceramic cladding systems so they were successfully trained and guided through the entire installation process by EA.

Halfway through the construction of the campus, Hurricane Fiona paid a not so warm and fuzzy visit. With only half of the façade assembly in place, and the rest wide open, the façade withstood the might of the tempest and not a single ceramic tile was disturbed. The success of withstanding this significant hurricane was the combination of suitable materials, collaboration and system-focused design and installation.

Not so long ago the greater importance of walls vis a vis thermal performance was recognized as part of the entire building envelope. Now the façade envelope is referred to as the Primary Passive Environmental Control System. Walls are important, and Certified Series provides a pathway to compliance and system longevity that speaks directly to our pursuit of sustainability. The NSCC project was completed in 2024 and has since won first place in the 2024 RAiNA (Rainscreen Association in North America) Awards for design and technical excellence in the New Construction category.

Jeff Ker is Senior Technical Advisor, Engineered Assemblies (founding RAiNA member). Photos: Julian Parkinson.

Other cladding types

The 2,980 sq.m two-storey École Saint-Martyrs-Canadiens has a steel-frame structure and thermal wheels with heat recovery to minimize energy costs. The EQUITONE cladding, installed as a rear-ventilated rainscreen, is a high-density fibre cement facade material consisting of cement, cellulose and mineral materials reinforced by a visible matrix, which can be transformed in any size or shape for crisp, monolithic details. https://www.engineeredassemblies.com/systems/certified-series

Located in Florida’s Lake Sheen community (Orlando), this custom home sits in a hurricane zone, demanding a facade that is durable, UV-resistant, and long-lasting. Trespa® Pura® NFC in Aged Ash was selected for its high durability, colourfastness, and sustainability. Beyond durability, the intent was also to create a beautiful space that could last for decades. Manufactured using patented electron beam curing (EBC) technology, Pura® siding has a smooth, closed-surface for exceptional resistance to impacts, weather and sunlight while also being easy to clean.engineeredassemblies.com/materials

Scanroc is a ventilated facade system with a proven 30-year track record of application and successful testing in Europe. The Scanroc system is engineered to reduce embodied carbon and operational carbon in buildings. It consists of KlinkerStone© BRICK™ (or concrete tiles) fastened to a metal frame structure which, in turn, is attached to the exterior wall and insulated to lower significantly a building's energy consumption. The system offers reliability, durability, ease of maintenance, efficient manufacturability, and environmental sustainability. www.scanroc.systems
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Meadowbrook Lane passive house residence

Passive House delivers affordable living

By Peter Ng and Irene Rivera

Meadowbrook Lane is the first multi-unit residential high-rise building to be built by Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation (WECHC) in 30 years. The 10-storey multi-unit residential building brings much needed affordable housing to the City of Windsor.

The building includes 145 affordable housing units, from bachelor to three-bedroom suites, with shared amenity space on each residential floor. The ground floor of the building has offices, a multipurpose room, laundry room and a four-bedroom community special care unit.

The WECHC wanted the building to be energy efficient and designed to meet Passive House standards for certification by the Passivhaus Institute (PHI) in Germany. In adhering to the principles of Passive House Design, rigorous effort was exercised to uphold a robust continuous airtight thermal envelope, prioritizing the continuity of the air barrier membrane by managing service penetrations.

The design was guided by the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) model, with all consultants involved in designing the systems to meet Passive House Classic Certification. Beyond the design phase and during construction, the installation of the air membrane was monitored and documented regularly to ensure its integrity and continuity were not compromised and would meet the 0.6ACH or below air change per hour at 50Pa as required by PHI. The building achieved an impressive final result of 0.123ACH.

The project won the Grand Prize & Finalist Prize Award at the 2024 EIFS Council of Canada Architecture Design Awards. Within the building, ‘vertical’ community neighbourhoods are facilitated by one amenity room on every residential floor with a view to the nearby golf course.

The multi-purpose ground floor amenity room provides a venue for both residents and external functions and opens to a community garden furnished with a barbeque, seating areas, a bike shelter with charging stations for 10 e-bikes, and four EV parking stalls with chargers in the parking area.

The landscaping integrates the building to the site using native and drought tolerant species in keeping with the natural flora of the area. The HVAC system incorporates fan coils and roof-mounted units by Mitsubishi Electric Sales Canada.

Project Performance

  • Energy Intensity, base building = 10.69KWh/m2/year
  • Energy Intensity, process energy = 135.70KWh/m2/year
  • Reduction in energy intensity relative to reference
  • building under ASHRAE 90.1, SB-10 and OBC 2017
  • ASHRAE 90.1-2010 = 87%

Project Credits

  • Owner/Developer  Windsor Essex Community Housing
  • Corporation (CHC)
  • Architect  Kearns Mancini Architects
  • General Contractor  Amico
  • Landscape Architect  Fleisher Ridout Partnership
  • Building envelope consultant Pretium Engineering
  • Civil Engineer  Morrison Hershfield
  • Electrical/Mechanical Engineer  Integral Group – Introba
  • Structural Engineer  RJC Engineering
  • Commissioning Agent  JLSR Engineering Inc
  • Passive House Certification  Peel Passive House
  • Photos  Craft Architecture Photography & Video
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Certified Series

Photo: The high-performance ceramic (TONALITY) cladding system is used on the façades of the Nova Scotia Community College, Waterfront Campus (NSCC).

Toward an industry standard of rainscreen façade performance

By: Jeff Ker

When discussing façade solutions with a client I never raise the subject of warranty, unless I’m specifically asked about it. Why? I focus on the performance and relevance of the material in the proposed environment. Success of a material is never about warranty. Full stop.

While the overwhelming majority of quality façade solutions have a reasonable warranty, the fact remains that when a high-quality façade system experiences a failure it is traditionally a result of a design or installation error and not a manufacturing shortcoming. Let me expand on this.

When materials are designed into a project or installed in a manner that contradicts manufacturers recommendations, they run a higher risk of experiencing some form of compromise. Failure to comply with manufacturers’ recommendations traditionally results in no warranty coverage. So what good is warranty when materials are not designed in or installed in compliance with manufacturer’s warranty requirements?

How do we avert this potential catastrophe? The first step would be to implement a process that clearly defines a pathway towards warranty compliance. The second step would be to follow it. Certified Series by Engineered Assemblies Inc. (EA) provides such a pathway by responding to the need for transparency, due diligence, and proper installation.

Certified Series was created to address this issue as almost 100% of cases where a façade material experiences a failure, the end user is left holding the repair bill. Without any warranty coverage, a bill in the amount hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some cases, is not a light subject. Neither is the failure of the building’s primary passive environmental control system.

It is the intention that Certified Series will become an industry standard offering a superior program of delivery and ensuring that all RVRS (Rear Ventilated Rainscreen Systems) system installations are conducted properly and that the façade manufacturers’ warranty requirements are met. Here are a few features of Certified series:

A) Due diligence and transparency are values that can easily be compromised during construction. This compromise can be avoided with a program such as Certified Series where client/Architect, GC, façade installer and system provider are united and share a common methodology through the inclusion of a software program to share shop drawings and progress photos. This allows users to review and provide guidance on any course corrections from as early as design inception to substantial completion.

B) Drafting and Engineering are provided by the system provider as resident technical authority. Further to this they provide a review of the shop drawings to the installer with comprehensive installation training and site inspections.

C) Photographic evidence of the progression of the installation is directed by icons on the shop drawings and required on a regular basis for upload to the aforementioned software platform. This way, all parties have the capacity to review and provide confirmation or recommendations vis a vis adherence to approved shop drawings.

In many ways, Certified Series is a pathway to sustainability. Ultimately the program is a process guiding the material through design and installation in a manner that meets the successful intention of the manufacturer, to reach its expected lifespan, or better. While Engineered Assemblies also takes steps to qualify certain regional specific conditions (seismic, maritime or unique matters of building dynamics) the pathway to compliance is delivered, reaching the highest performance obtainable.

The façade is the outer “armour” of the building’s Primary Passive Environmental Control System. It is the foremost line of defence against the single biggest and substantial dictator – the environment. If breached, all the invested integrity within the envelope is in jeopardy.  It’s imperative to appreciate that durability is not a material property. It is a function of a material and its relationship to its environment. This brings us back to the fundamental principles of material selection, design and installation.
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The State of Passive House in 2025

By Passive House Canada CEO, Chris Ballard

As we find ourselves well into 2025, the landscape of sustainable building practices continues to undergo profound transformation. At the forefront of this evolution is the Passive House standard, which continues to redefine energy-efficient, healthy and affordable construction that significantly mitigates the impacts of climate change. The commitment to creating buildings that are environmentally responsible has been embraced by architects, engineers, and builders alike, positioning Passive House as a beacon in the quest for sustainability.

Passive House, with roots in Canada as far back as the late 1970s, emphasizes minimal energy consumption while maximizing occupant comfort. The principles of Passive House have transcended borders, with Canada taking a leading role in adapting and promoting this methodology. Passive House is more than houses — our members build tall towers, community centres, fire halls, social housing and additionally, retrofit thousands of square metres of buildings.

Following years of advocacy and education from Passive House Canada, the awareness surrounding energy-efficient building practices has surged, resulting in an impressive increase in the number of certified Passive House projects across the country.

By 2025, the commitment to Passive House principles is evident in the construction of a wide range of building types, including single-family homes, multifamily dwellings, and large commercial spaces. This diversification showcases the versatility of the Passive House model, proving that energy efficiency is attainable for any building type.

The increased adoption of stringent energy codes and regulations has been catalyzed by a growing awareness of climate change and the urgent need for action. In this context, Passive House Canada has played a pivotal role in fostering collaboration among policymakers, industry professionals, and academic institutions. Our efforts at Passive House Canada have led to the establishment of comprehensive training programs, ensuring that building designers, tradespeople and builders are equipped with the knowledge necessary to implement Passive House principles effectively.

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