Passive House Revolution
The most energy-efficient houses in the world and how to build them.
Presented by Malcolm Isaacs
2009 ACRE Lecture Series
acrechelsea.qc.ca
When: 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Where: Chelsea United Church
Mill Road,
Chelsea, QC
15 minutes north of the Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
See map link at end of notice
Description:
Green building is being widely promoted by builders today, but most of these claims are ‘greenwash’, and don’t represent sustainable practices. Yet more and more Canadians want far better solutions for healthy, affordable, ecological living than our housing market currently provides.
The Passive House approach to design and construction is different in that it reduces energy requirements by 85 – 90%, compared with our current Building Code, producing residential and commercial buildings which are so efficient they simply don’t require conventional heating systems to maintain comfort, even in this harsh climate.
This presentation looks at tools, building components and details developed in Europe over the past 15 years which now allow North American designers and builders to achieve these extraordinary energy savings whilst providing superior levels of comfort and indoor air quality. Thousands of built examples have already demonstrated that the Passive House standard is now achievable at a price which can be affordable to all.
Malcolm Isaacs is a Wakefield-based engineer and graduate of the University of Ottawa, who has worked as a specialist in residential energy analysis and low-energy construction since 1987. He has studied extensively in Europe and in 2005/6 he designed and built the first house in Canada to Passive House specifications. He is now a Certified Passive House Designer, and an advocate and trainer in low energy construction techniques, thermal analysis and energy modeling.
Links:
Malcolm Isaac’s Passive House on a north facing lot in Wakefield, QC
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malcolmi
Passive House U.S.: www.passivehouse.us
E-Co Lab’s Passive Houses in Illinois: www.e-colab.org
Map:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=enq=Chemin+Mill,+Chelsea,+Les+Collines-de-l‘Outaouais+Regional+County+Municipality,+Quebec&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=47.144662,46.494141&ie=UTF8cd=1&geocode=FRRktgIddKd7-w&ll=45.497684,-75.842056&spn=0.21899,0.323067&z=12
Replies
Andrew
Thanks for the tip.
I'd come, but it's a long way from NW IA.
Thanks again for the tip on removing the guides on Marvin windows. It was very handy for finishing.
Rich
Hi Rich,
It was my pleasure to help. I didn't want you or anyone else discovering the hard way how much tension is on those sash springs. Though I got the sense from the thread that you had already "discovered" how much tension those springs had? : )
It's probably a long way for most people but who knows, one or two extra folks may show up at the presentation because of the posting.
I'm hoping for a pretty good turnout. The church was pretty full for a presentation by Chris Ives of CMHC on the designs presented to CMHC for it's Net Zero housing design competition a couple of years back. A real mix of people, some folks in the construction industry and lots of people just interested in building/living in a better more efficient house.
I had the feeling Chris Ives was a little disappointed with the designs presented to the competition. Now that I know about Pasive House I have a good feeling I know why he wasn't impressed.
Cheers,
Andrew