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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-05-10, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018. New passive house designed to curb environmental impact Continued from page 19 planning at the Walton property began to pick up speed with the Lees' son Brett taking over the raceway's day-to-day operations, the Lees started looking to build a new house at the east end of the property, near the newly -installed Edge of Walton Challenge Course. Chris's curiosity about building an efficient home took him down a rabbit hole where he would eventually end up considering a passive house as an option. The initial concept of a passive house dates back to the late 1980s in Germany, where the first "passivhaus" was built in the early 1990s. The term pertains to a voluntary standard of building applied to a house that makes it incredibly energy efficient and requires very little heating or cooling. Due to the orientation of the building, strategic placement of elements such as windows and awnings and extremely efficient insulation in the walls, roof and windows, there is no need for a furnace or air-conditioning unit. It does, however, use a heat recovery unit (HRV), which provides the inside with fresh air without letting the house's heat escape. A properly -constructed passive house is said to use 90 per cent less energy than a standard house built to today's building code. The remaining 10 per cent of heat can be provided by body heat, the sun, appliances, light bulbs and electronics. Currently, the number of passive house structures (the term "passive house is not restricted to houses, but can be used for commercial buildings, office buildings and apartment buildings, etc.) number in the tens of thousands around the world, the vast majority of which are in Europe. The standards for a passive house are laid out, chapter and verse, in the Passivhaus Planning Package, meaning that while many environmentally -efficient structures may use elements from the passive house concept, a structure must meet certain goals in order to be certified as a passive house. First, the building must be designed to have an annual heating and cooling demand of not more than 15 kilowatt-hours per square metre per year, or be designed with a peak heat load of 10 watts per square metre. Second, total primary energy consumption must not be more than 60 kilowatt-hours per square metre per year. And third, the building must not leak more air than 0.6 times the house volume per hour at 0.0073 pounds per square inch as tested by a blower door. When Lee first wanted to build a new house, he wanted it to be as energy-efficient as possible. He says that North Americans have a great environmental responsibility and he wanted to do his part. He began looking into environmental standards like R- 2000, the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index or LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which is a standard to which the Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity in Blyth will be built. However, as he kept researching and trying to find more and more efficient ways to build a new house, he found the passive house concept and it just made perfect sense to him. Working with a passive house engineer in Guelph, the Lees have begun work on designing a passive house for their Walton property. They hope construction will begin later this year with the exterior to be completed by the winter and the interior finished over the course of the winter. One of the critical factors of a passive house, Lee said, is to only build the house as big as it needs to be. The more space in the house, the harder it is to heat and to retain heat throughout its entire square -footage. For a retirement home, Lee said that he and Judy only need the basics, but soon wanted to expand the home slightly. They got to the point where they were going to be able to, by design, add a smaller second floor to the house and not lose any efficiency. The house is essentially flipped, he said, where they're adding a basement on the top of the house, but with windows and a view. While the exterior design of the house has changed drastically during the process, the interior has remained relatively consistent. This Continued on page 21 Aggressively tackling carbon emissions Chris and Judy Lee are building a passive house, a model of which is shown above, utilizing some of the most advanced technology to reduce their impact on the environment. (File photo) LOESBOPCi UGC , O� 519-523-4399 naturesnest@tcc.on.ca www.seedforwildbirds.com Follow us on Facebook for new product updates, upcoming events, and exciting promotions & contests! 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