Passive House: A glimpse of what’s to come By Melanie Franner
T
he building of the Nanaimo Passive House is a significant step on several fronts, not the least of which it is the first multi-family, affordable-housing certified Passive House facility in all of Canada. Passive House construction is slowly emerging as a potential building method of the future. It is reported to achieve 80 to 90 per cent energy savings over traditional construction methods. Formidable first The Nanaimo Passive House project called for the construction of three blocks of ground-oriented suites, arranged around an open courtyard. This enables all of the 25 suites to have cross-ventilation and solar access. The simplicity of the building system reduces maintenance costs and energy consumption. The Nanaimo Passive House project was designed by DYS Architects for the Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre. It was funded by BC Housing, providing affordable suites for youth, elders and families of the local aboriginal community in Nanaimo. Chris Beaton, executive director, Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre, cites average monthly energy costs in the building as not exceeding $20 month for a three-bedroom townhouse. The building also includes bachelor, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. “The decision to seek Passive House Certification was clientdriven,” explains Karl Binder, project manager, Saywell Contracting Ltd. “The client weighed the benefits of lowered maintenance and utility costs with the slight increase in construction costs. Other factors that were considered were the health benefits to the occupants; the total absence of natural gas to the site; being able to prove that affordable housing for families could be built to the higher standard; and ease of maintenance with the finished buildings.” In preparation for the undertaking of its first Passive House project, Saywell’s superintendent completed the Passive House Tradesperson Training Course — Building Envelope Specialization at the BCIT High Performance Lab. 18 Vancouver Island Construction Association 2019
