WEST BAY PASSIVE HOUSE, West Vancouver, BC

Battersby Howat Architects – Residential [Small] Award

Jury: A beautiful example of how the transparency, openness and site responsive character of traditional West coast Modern design can be integrated with the high-performance requirements of Passive House. The project is also notable for its prefabricated cross laminated timber structure. The project team also made a commendable effort to provide educational and other benefits for the community, creating a video series about the project and by donating demolition and surplus construction materials to Habitat for humanity.

Located on the West Vancouver waterfront, the West Bay Passive House achieves a rare fusion of beauty and efficiency in its pursuit of net zero energy performance. With a super-insulated, airtight envelope and highly efficient mechanical and electrical systems, the home achieved a Passive House Plus certification, an Energuide Rating confirming zero tonnes of Green House Gas emissions, and net-zero Giga-Joules of energy consumption when measured on an annual basis.

Other notable attributes of the house include the use of a Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) superstructure constructed on top of a concrete foundation, floor-to-ceiling glazing for uninterrupted ocean views, and a passive solar design achieved through a combination of built-in and environmental shading.

Located in one of Metro Vancouver’s luxury home markets, this project introduced a sustainability-conscious design ethos to the area by creating a home that was both architecturally pleasing and Passive House certified. Capturing the ocean view was critical to the success of the design so triple-glazed thermally-broken glazing systems were used to minimize heat loss and overhangs designed for passive shading. The superstructure was built with factory prefabricated CLT panels to provide a robust and durable building core that would also store carbon.

By prefabricating the components, the construction schedule was reduced by two months with a significant reduction in waste.

The active mechanical system consists of an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) for ventilation and a heat pump hot water tank. The same small heat pump also feeds a heating and cooling coil on the ERV’s supply lines and is able to provide a comfortable indoor environment for all occupants.

Project Performance
Energy intensity (building and process energy) = 36KWhr/m2/year
Energy intensity reduction relative to reference building under HOT 2000 V11 = 99.87%
Recycled material content by value = 10-20%
Construction waste diverted from landfill = 84%

Schock Isokorb provides structural thermal breaks.

Balanced ventilation with energy recovery provides continuous filtered fresh air and ensures optimum indoor air quality. The active mechanical system consists of a Zehnder ComfoAir Q600 energy recovery ventilator (ERV) for ventilation and a Daikin heat pump.

Quad-Lock’s Airfoam insulated concrete form system used for the foundation provides high energy efficiency and higher safety ratings at a lower cost of ownership.