Passive House Canada CEO highlights next steps as the climate changes

Over the next 25 to 35 years almost every building in Canada will need to be improved to make them “safe and inhabitable” as the climate changes.

The “real money” spent over that period will be in deep energy retrofits, said Chris Ballard, CEO of Passive House Canada (PHC), who told a seminar audience recently at the CSC Building Expo 2024 in Toronto that he hopes many of those retrofits will be done to Passive House (PH) standards.

There are roughly 1,500 certified housing units in the not-for-profit organization’s database and another 5,000 PH projects underway across Canada.

Those buildings range from highrise office towers to single family houses.

Statistics show an additional 10,000 “Passive House adjacent” units are being constructed “almost built to our standards,” Ballard said.

The second largest social housing provider, Toronto Community Housing Corp., has committed to using the PH EnerPHit to retrofit 200 multi-unit residential buildings, he told the audience at the expo held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Meeting PH standards isn’t as complicated as many might think, Ballard said, pointing out it offers advice through the process for first-time users.

As an open-source standard, PHC has a comprehensive database available to the public on its website.

The price for going PH is not that high either, he added, noting it is an average of two to five per cent more to build than convention builds.

“That is immediately covered because you don’t need complex heating and cooling systems. Our gold standard Passive House building uses about 90 per cent less energy than code-built buildings of comparable size.”

He added heating and cooling energy consumption is a maximum of 15 kilowatts per square metre annually.

While the major components of a PH don’t usually require replacement for at least 65 years, Ballard said designers should incorporate flexible features to accommodate future needs as the planet heats up.

Cooling equipment in 20 years, for example, might require additional floor space, so building it now saves money on renovations later.

Until recently PHC was focused on fossil fuel and CO2 reduction in buildings but today the organization is adding building adaptation to prepare for climate change to its priority list.

Ballard said by next year the annual cost of climate change to the Canadian economy is projected to be $25 billion broken down to increased taxes, health care, education and infrastructure such as road repairs/improvements.

He told the seminar that government policies concerning net-zero goals need to be clarified.

“They should not include the ability to buy offsets and (for example) plant trees. Carbon trading is OK. Governments and policy-makers are in a unique position to speed up marketplace transformation.”

Ballard is impressed by Parks Canada Agency’s announcement that all of its new buildings comply with PHC standards.

One of those buildings is a $37 million administrative/interpretation centre in Nipigon on Lake Superior.

The contract was awarded to Finn Way General Contractor Inc. of Thunder Bay.

Ballard said the construction industry has got to do “a better job” concerning Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) “so designers and buyers/specifiers can make wise choices.”

Other seminars at the CSC Building Expo on designing healthy spaces were presented by Joy Charbonneau, design director, Gensler Architecture & Design Canada Inc., and Linda Kafka, principal of Livable Environment Inc.

Charbonneau said Gensler recently launched the Gensler Product Sustainability Standards that provides performance criteria on 12 “high-impact” products for architecture and interior projects. The list includes everything from acoustic ceiling panels and carpet tile to gypsum board and task chairs.

“The GPS standard is a way for us to affirm our responsibility to help improve the health of our planet by evaluating how we build across all of our projects,” she said.

Charbonneau said the firm’s goal is to create “a zero carbon impact portfolio.”

Kafka said the medical world is “well ahead of the design/architecture industries in documenting the health benefits of beauty, nature and esthetics (in buildings). Let’s learn from them today and find ways to incorporate what they know into our business practices.”