By Chris Ballard,
CEO of Passive House Canada
We at Passive House Canada are pleased to participate in the annual SABMag Passive House Issue which features examples of recent projects designed to Passive House principles.
With the recent federal election, Canadians made it abundantly clear that meaningful action on climate change is important to them. It is a message politicians across Canada, at all levels of government, should take seriously. Can you think of another election where climate change was so hotly debated? I can’t. Here at Passive House Canada, we will continue to push governments of all level to adopt building standards that promote better buildings, preferably Passive House, in order to meet GHG emissions reduction targets and make healthy, comfortable places in which to live and work.
Passive House Canada, in collaboration with Tower Renewal Partnership, recently presented the online Tower Retrofit Symposium to very positive feedback. A first of its kind event, the Symposium did more than focus on PHC technical expertise, which is substantial, it also brought together experts from finance and public policy to discuss how the approximately 10,000 Canadian towers in need of deep energy retrofits could proceed. We know it is more than technical expertise needed to retrofit – the symposium also questioned how retrofits of private buildings are financed and what public policy is required to accelerate these deep energy retrofits.
The event proposed solutions for issues we in the building sector struggle with. No one sector has all the answers to address how these buildings are retrofitted, but together we do. There is a valuable role for Passive House Canada and its members to play in continuing to break down silos between sectors, bring all players to the table and finding common solutions. Thank you to the volunteers and to PHC staff for organizing the Symposium.
Passive House Canada continuously offers seminars and training, two of which are mentioned following here, to advance Passive House construction and the huge benefits it will bring. All that we offer can be found at www.passivehousecanada.com.
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