PASSIVE HOUSE CANADA BRINGING GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS TO MANITOBA

Canadians have made it abundantly clear that meaningful action on climate change is important to them. Here at Passive House Canada, we continue to push governments and the building industry to adopt building standards that promote climate-resilient buildings, preferably Passive House, to meet GHG emissions reduction targets and make healthy, comfortable and low-energy places in which to live and work.

With 30-plus years of documented building science on our side, we know Passive House is the fastest, most efficient way to get to net-zero buildings. The heat domes in Western Canada last summer and COVID-19 have driven home the need for healthy, safe and environmentally resilient buildings.

More than 500 municipalities across Canada have formally declared a climate emergency. It is important for Passive House Canada to support cities and provinces across Canada, and the Manitoba market is no exception.

Through our recent educational partnership with Manitoba Building Trades Institute, Passive House will work directly with the construction industry in Manitoba—creating an avenue for trades professionals to gain practical training with a focus on sustainability and energy efficiency.

“The way we build is, by necessity, changing in order to meet our climate goals,” says Tanya Palson, MBTI’s Dir. of Business Operations. “It is critical Manitoba has training available for the tradespeople who will be physically building to meet new design standards.”

MBTI offers a range of Passive House courses combining in-class lectures and hands-on workshop experiences which cover energy consumption data, environmental impacts, case studies and the economics of creating high-performance buildings.

For professionals looking to gain a more in-depth understanding of sustainable building techniques and receive skills accreditation, MBTI’s exclusive Passive House for the Trades course prepares participants for the nationally recognized Certified Passive House Tradesperson exam. Whether your focus is residential or commercial structures, Passive House design allows for buildings to heat and cool themselves, providing significant occupant comfort and using 90 per cent less energy compared to conventional building methods.

Passive House is not about complex technologies. It’s about integrating low-energy design criteria into projects from day one. When these principles are met, buildings are healthy, comfortable, durable, and net-zero efficient.