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Not So Passive about Carbon Emissions BY CLAIRE ATKIN In a city where we pride ourselves on both quality of life and living green, sustainable building design seems to have it all.
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ancouver is witnessing the rise of an increasingly popular approach to sustainable building design called the “Passive House Standard.” The standard can be applied to all building types, not just houses, and requires extra insulation, airtight windows, and optimized ventilation. High performance heat recovery ventilators supply fresh air directly to the bedroom, dining room, and living room, and exhaust stale, moisture out from the kitchen and bathrooms. The result is cleaner, healthier air and year-round comfortable temperatures throughout the entire building, even close to the windows. Equally important, they use up to 90% less energy than a standard building and the heat from a hair dryer is often enough to heat an entire home. Goran Ostojic, Vice President of Integral Group Canada West, works on commercial Passive House buildings and says passive buildings increase employee well-being. He states that when you provide the proper environment, including lighting, fresh air, comfort, and daylight, people perform better, take fewer sick days, and experience increased productivity. In some parts of the world, Passive House is the norm, but it wasn’t until the 2010 Vancouver Olympics that the concept was first implemented in B.C. The Austria House in Whistler was the first of its kind in Canada and introduced a new generation of builders, designers and developers such as Alexander Maurer, Principal at Market Design & Consulting and Monte Paulson, Passive House Specialist at RDH Building Science, to this design and construction approach. In the past year, the total number of Passive House units built or under construction in Vancouver alone increased from less than 100
to over 300 with several hundred thousand square feet of additional new development currently moving through City approvals. Alexander Maurer notes that beyond improved building quality, Passive buildings mean energy savings for businesses and residents. Goran Ostojic says that they’re high performance, but simpler to operate and maintain. Using extra insulation reduces the size and complexity of the heating systems leading to lower energy bills and less carbon pollution. Vancouver intends to be at the leading edge in zero emission design. The city is in an ideal position to capitalize on Passive Houses and other sustainable building designs. New buildings require high performance insulation and windows, which are produced locally. And because the emphasis is on limiting heat loss, wood becomes an excellent alternative to concrete and steel, which are known to transmit heat. This will drive local demand and innovation in wood construction materials and approaches. As this trend continues and local industry gets better at designing and building homes and offices that are very energy efficient, the better positioned Vancouver will be to export these skills and technologies to other jurisdictions and areas with similar objectives. Two years ago, Vancouver made a bold commitment to transition off of fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. In order to do this, the City is focusing on improving energy efficiency and then transitioning to renewable energy in the two sectors that produce the most carbon pollution - buildings and transportation. In 2016, the City of Vancouver adopted the Zero Emissions Building Plan. The Plan
takes many lessons from the Passive House standard and shifts the focus for energy efficiency innovation from a primarily technology based approach to also emphasize integrated building design and construction to reduce heat loss and improve ventilation. The Plan aims to reduce emissions from new buildings by 70% by 2020, 90% by 2025, and 100% by 2030. This phased approach focuses on new construction and gives local industry (including designers, builders and equipment suppliers) time to develop new skills and products, and build capacity to successfully construct cost effective low-carbon buildings. The Green Building Policy for Rezonings was recently updated to reflect this new approach and will cut carbon pollution from new rezoned buildings by 50%, while still allowing builders and developers to use natural gas without increasing construction or operating costs. This approach provides flexibility to achieve GHG reductions using simple, proven approaches and technologies. The Policy’s focus on minimizing heat loss simplifies mechanical system design and enables extra investment in the building envelope. It’s this combination of focus, simplicity and cost effectiveness that enabled a diversity of organizations such as the Urban Development Institute, the Condominium Home Owners Association, and the Pembina Institute to support the new Policy. So how effective will the City’s policy be in cutting GHG emissions? Monte Paulsen is optimistic; “The only other cost efficient approach to cutting carbon emissions out of the economy is getting people out of their car and onto bicycles or walking.” In Vancouver, it sounds like Passive House Standards fit right in. To learn more, email us at renewablecity@vancouver.ca