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high performance building

SABMag 86 – Spring 2025

SABMag 86 - Spring 2025

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Thanks to the advertisers who supported this issue

One-page profiles of selected projects which achieved LEED certification in 2024 or Zero Carbon certification. 

See the complete LEED and Zero Carbon Buildings-in-Review published in association with the Canada Green Building Council.  Read more …

Viewpoint: Extreme heat bylaws:  Perspectives from a building retrofit manager

By Kaitlin Carroll

With rising global temperatures and increasingly frequent extreme heat events, protecting people from the harmful effects of heat exposure has become a critical public health priority. Read more …

Clarity and confidence needed to accelerate transition planning

New CAGBC report highlights critical needs and barriers for scaling up deep building retrofits. Despite significant progress in recent years, industry still has a long way to go to accelerate investments that improve the performance of existing buildings. Read more …

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. Read more …

Certified Series: 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. Read more …

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. Read more …

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. Read more …

Passive House Component Certification

Assurance for specifiers and building designers

By Melissa Furukawa

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. Read more …

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. Read more …

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. Read more …

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. Read more …

Interview With Stephen Kopp, AANB, NSAA, RAIC,  Founding Partner, Acre Architects (theacre.ca)  on the Passive House Wellington Building.

It could be said that The Wellington Building is an unusual infill in the historic district of Saint John. Read more …