Why
Why a High Performance Building
1. Designed from the ground up for the occupants health and comfort.
2. Designed to use natural materials that are good for indoor air quality and the environment.
3. Designed to keep the building comfortable even if the power is out for hours or even days.
4. Designed to use up to 90% less heat energy, saving money and the environment.
5. Designed to work with the power utility's time of use schedule to avoid the highest energy rates.
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The way to design a building, that is good for the occupants and the environment, is to design it with natural materials and make it energy efficient.
Why Passive House
Passive house is the highest international building certification in the world and has thousands of buildings world wide with proven results over twenty years. What makes it different is it is performance based on building science designed by a physicist and measured with defined requirements not a check list. Building to the Passive House standard delivers a more comfortable and healthier indoor living space and a more durable building and can reduce heating energy by 90% over a standard building.
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Passive House principals are not only for single family homes they apply to multifamily buildings, retirement homes, schools, office buildings, recreation centres and many more.
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Passive House International recognizes that all existing buildings need to be retrofitted for nations to meet the Paris Green House Gasses emission reduction targets. That is why Passive House has the EnerPHit program specifically designed for energy retrofits and can be executed now or in in stages over time as funds permit.
Why Low Embodied Carbon
Passive house designs reduce operational energy so low that the materials used to build it can be far greater than the operational emissions during the buildings life. That is why it is important to make wise material choices when selecting building materials. There is a wide range of embodied carbon products within a material category so individual product choices in a category are also extremely important.
The other key benefit of low embodied carbon is that most of the low embodied carbon materials are natural products that do not release toxic gases, providing better indoor air quality.
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Some jurisdictions are now incorporating embodied carbon into their building codes.
Why Low Operational Carbon
Passive House reduces the operational energy demand but does not restrict energy sources. Therefore it is important to look at the source of energy at the building site to reduce the carbon emissions as much as possible.
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Reducing the carbon emissions from operations is better for the environment and reduces the risk that are inherent with burning fossil fuels inside the same space you live and breath.
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Some jurisdictions are passing laws restricting carbon emissions in existing buildings. The amount of allowable carbon reduces in steps starting in 2024. Non compliance results in ongoing fines on every ton of CO2e over the limit on an annual basis.
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