Author Archives: Hajo Meijer

About Hajo Meijer

Hajo Meijer is the sole proprietor of Ecocentric Design, committed to deeply sustainable architecture. Hajo is a graduate from the faculty of Architecture at the TU Delft in the Netherlands and a certified Passive House Designer. Hajo lives with his family on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Passive House Days 2019

Come visit the Maple Bay Passive House during Passive house Days, 2019! The Maple Bay Passive House will be open on Saturday, November 9, 12-4pm.  526 Maple Mountain Rd, Maple Bay, BC Hope to see you there! The house in … Continue reading

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Maple Bay Passive House – airtight!

Wowza, time is flying! And construction on the Maple Bay Passive House is coming along nicely. The envelope is made airtight with taped 3/4” plywood, Siga Majrex air barrier membrane for the roof, and windows installed. The blower-door test proved … Continue reading

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Why material choice becomes more important when building energy efficient homes.

About a month ago I attended the Passive House Conference in Vancouver where Chris Magwood from the Endeavor Centre presented his research on the impact of materials choice in the building of a Passive House (or any other super insulated … Continue reading

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On the drawing board: horse barn retrofit

As many green building and conservation professionals agree that ‘the greenest building is the one already standing’, it was a logical choice for these environmentally minded soon-to-be grandparents to convert their old horse barn into a secondary residence for their … Continue reading

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UN: Zero-Carbon Buildings urgently Needed | BuildingGreen

‘The numbers don’t lie. To keep global warming at tolerable levels, the building industry has to change—radically and rapidly. That’s the message of a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Global Status Report 2017 sounds a red alert: “near-zero-energy, zero-emissions … Continue reading

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Passive House is for wimps : TreeHugger

‘PassiveHouse is for wimps; the Powerhouse standard is crazy tough. And these Norwegians do it in the dark.’ Powerhouse energy standard = Passive House + Net-Zero Energy, including all embodied energy over the life time of the building! This hotel, … Continue reading

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Niagara Market & Apartments

The Niagara Market building in Victoria, BC has been amazingly transformed! When Seamus McKeating & Jennifer Gunter bought the building a little over a year ago it needed an overhaul. We tossed around ideas on how to refresh the building … Continue reading

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House in Nelson, BC

Here’s a project I’ve been working on lately; a small, efficient house in Nelson, BC, designed for a young family with an active outdoor lifestyle. The 30′ narrow lot poses some challenges, but it’s going to be an efficient unit. The … Continue reading

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Multi-functional Building

These just in! 24×32′ multi-functional building nestled in the trees on the slopes of Kootenay Lake. One open space under a timber roof, with a porch, garage doors and a view of Kootenay Lake. Job well done by Shawn Handley … Continue reading

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Building Passive House with Natural Materials

Recently I had the pleasure to see Bjørn Kierulf of Createrra Architects in Slovakia, give a presentation at BUILDEX Vancouver, about Passive Houses built with natural materials. Natural Passive House Driven by the desire to build Passive Houses as natural as possible, … Continue reading

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