Category Archives: Passive House

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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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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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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Certified Passive House Designer

It is my pleasure to announce that I received certification as Passive House Designer today! To receive this Certification I had to pass a stringent test set out by the International Passive House Institute in Germany, covering all aspects of … Continue reading

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Kaslo Passive House Construction II

Kaslo Passive House construction has reached lock-up – the house in enclosed. The walls are up, the roof is on and the doors and windows are installed. The house is weather tight – Let winter come! South facade with lots of windows. South-west … Continue reading

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One million certified Passive House square metres!

Good news for the energy conservation movement: the Number of certified Passive House square metres has reached one million! Read more in this news release form the International Passive House Institute. Interestingly, this certified Passive House is a retrofitted 1922 … Continue reading

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Kaslo Passive House Frame Raising

The construction of Kaslo Passive House is well under way! The frame is raised and the walls are being build. A huge Thanks to Daphne Hunter for taking these pictures!    

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Passive House is Sexy!

Passive House is sexy! This cheeky video by Plate-forme Maison Passive in Belgium proves it:

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Some good reads

Monte Paulsen researches and writes about sustainability for The Tyee and other Canadian publications. He produced some really good reads about Passive House and other sustainable building topics. Read them here.

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