{"id":7043,"date":"2020-03-13T18:44:33","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T18:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/impacteng.ca\/?p=7043"},"modified":"2020-03-13T18:44:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T18:44:34","slug":"the-increasing-impact-of-passive-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/impacteng.ca\/news\/the-increasing-impact-of-passive-house\/","title":{"rendered":"The Increasing Impact of Passive House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Passive House now has a firm hold in the city of Vancouver\nwith over 3,000,000 square feet of passive house projects in the review,\npermitting or occupied stages as of August 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a matter of time before the industry standard for\nconstruction is either Passive House or a similarly high-performing structure\n(Step Code Level 4 \/ 5). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Passive House projects also qualify for zoning relaxations, a\nsignificant benefit to Owners and Developers of both large commercial1<\/sup>\nand small residential2<\/sup> projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the more obvious energy and carbon reduction\nrationale, passive construction brings a much higher level of comfort and\ndelivers a structure with the resiliency to face wild swings in outdoor\ntemperature, smoke from forest fires and potential power outages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The substantial reduction in energy use also supports the\ntransition to all electric buildings as well as creating capacity for\ninfrastructure required to charge electric vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But at the end of the day, it is the comfort of these\nbuildings that really delights building owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest barrier for pursuing the Passive House standard\nof building is the related higher upfront cost, mainly attributable to increased\ninsulation and higher performing windows. However, the cost debate is being put\nto bed with the realization of increasing local capacity, long-term savings and\nnew incentives offered through the CleanBC Better Buildings program3<\/sup>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n These factors are contributing to significantly narrowing the\ncost gap and factoring in the additional value described above, the scales are\ntipping increasingly towards Passive House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our team frequently hears many misconceptions regarding Passive\nHouse. Thankfully there are so many built project examples that these issues\ncan be addressed with real demonstrations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, here are some of the top issues we hear: 1) The\nbuilding can only be built as a box, 2) The building can\u2019t breathe, 3) The\nbuilding can\u2019t have any windows, 4) Projects are unaffordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Passive House building standard is not only being applied\nto small houses but it\u2019s being utilized by commercial, multi residential and\nmixed-use buildings of all shapes and form factors. Energy savings for various\nbuilding types can range from 50% up to 90%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Passive House buildings are often six times more airtight\nthan a standard building, yet they breathe more consistently and more\nefficiently. This is due to the balanced ventilation, \u201cthe lungs\u201d of the\nbuilding, continuously supplying fresh air while simultaneously exhausting\nstale air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Windows are one of the most important parts of a Passive\nHouse. They provide ability to passively heat the building while reducing heat\nloss through higher performance and strategic placement. It should be\nemphasized that Passive house is just a standard and does not prescribe\nspecific window types. For example, larger buildings may not even need triple\nglazed windows on all facades! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cost really depends on key decisions made during design. Many\nproject teams have been challenged by Owners \/ Developers to produce a passive\ndesign at the same cost as a code compliant building and have cleared that bar\nwith clear project objectives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At Impact Engineering, we always recommend a simple first\napproach that reduces complexity in the building and drives down cost. We also\nrecommend that project teams consider pre-fabrication of envelope components as\nwell as reduced mechanical systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But don\u2019t take our word for it, search the Passive House\nproject database yourself to find a project similar to yours4<\/sup>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether or not a project elects to go through\nPassive House certification, the framework of this standard influences all of\nour designs and recommendations. We explore passive and simple first before we\nconsider higher complexity solutions to address comfort, resiliency and energy\nsavings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Impact Engineering has wide ranging Passive\nHouse experience that covers single family residential to multi-unit\nresidential buildings and commercial new construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n See our portfolio for project examples: Passive Logic <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cost Debate <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Misconceptions and Strategies<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Our Passive House Experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/impacteng.ca\/portfolio\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n