Passive House Design Underway

Nov 29, 2017 | 2:59 PM

If you notice something odd about the exterior walls of the Wood Innovation Research Lab in downtown, you’re not wrong. It is being built as a “Passive House”
“It’s energy efficient building standards that can be applied to any type of building and it saves up to 90% of the heating costs,” explains Marcel Studer with the Econ Group. “So imagine having your monthly heating bill for your house being 20 dollars instead of 200 dollars.”
Passive House certification involves things like thicker insulation and triple-paned glass. It incorporates the use of alternate energy, like sunlight.
It can be a challenge in the North, where temperatures in the winter plummet and the daylight hours are reduced. But Studer says it is possible and cites several examples, such as the Doig River Community Church and the West Moberly First Nations Health Station.
Locally the WIRL is pursuing such status and the Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George, which has more than one housing project on the go, is also looking at energy efficiencies.
“It’s really important that we explore the energy efficiencies that we need for the future,” says Christos Vardacostas, Executive Director of the Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George. “And then, ultimately, those efficiencies are passed onto the people who are actually using the housing.”
He says the organization anticipates the need for more than 700 new rental and subsidized housing units in this region by 2021.