Until recently, the term “Passive House” was relatively unheard in North America, unlike in Europe, where the Passiv Haus standards are well known and used extensively in residential and commercial projects. According to Wikipedia: “As of August 2010, there were approximately 25,000 Passiv Haus certified buildings of all types in Europe, while in the United States there were only 13, with a few dozen more under construction.”*
Now it seems as if everyone in the Lower Mainland is talking about Passive House.
Awareness of and demand for sustainable and efficient building practices, such as Passive House, is growing due to many factors including: new political initiatives, like the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 — which adopts updated Bylaws mandating new buildings to meet increased energy efficiency requirements — and the efforts of passionate people who believe whole-heartedly that these stringent standards will benefit our families, our communities, and, our world.
Rob and Mark, of Bernhardt Contracting, are two such people. They believe in Passive House construction so much so, that they built and live in their own passive home which was officially certified by the Passive House Institut in Darmstadt, Germany. Currently, they are building a six-unit passive house structure in Victoria — North Park Passive House — which will be the first passive house multi-family strata building in Canada.
On March 7th and 8th, Bernhardt Contracting welcomed over 500 people for four days of tours and open houses at the North Park Passive House site. These events gave attendees a chance to learn more about passive house standards, high performance buildings and the mechanics of building them.
Along with members of the community, the event was attended by dignitaries, including the Mayor of Victoria, Lisa Helps, the BC Minister of Energy and Mines, Bill Bennett, and, the President of the Canadian Passive House Institute West, Rob Bernhardt. EuroLine was there as well, represented by our President & CEO, Isbrand Funk and, our Victoria Residential Sales Consultant, Gordon Kyle, to talk about our ThermoPlus system — how and why our system is an excellent choice for passive house projects.
The Honourable Bill Bennett announced, at the event, that the Province will be providing funding to CanPHI West’s education program. Exciting news for the Passive House movement and energy efficient building stakeholders.
We extend our congratulations to Bernhardt Contracting for their groundbreaking project. We, also, are committed to the Passive House movement and we are proud to be supplying the windows and doors for the North Park Passive House.
For more information on the North Park project, Passive House standards, and ThermoPlus windows, check out the links below.
North Park Passive House
Bernhardt Contracting
CanPHI West
EuroLine’s ThermoPlus Windows
Watch this video to see hear why ThermoPlus is ideal for Passive House construction. (Video courtesy of Bernhardt Contracting)
