While I support the new B.C. Standardized Housing Design Project, I am concerned with what is considered the definition of code-built.
Standardized designs can substantially streamline the permitting process to make it easier for local governments to give building-permit approvals quickly and save builders and homeowners the costs that come from expensive design services. My concern is in the rush to produce more new homes there may be a tendency to not take into account the long-term advantage of an energy-efficient passive house design, which uses insulation, air-tightness, window and door design, ventilation systems with heat recovery and elimination of thermal bridges to achieve optimal energy efficiency.
I submit that the following example is proof that quality pays in the long term.
The $77-a-year home heating bill in chilly New Brunswick is proof that a passive house should be the minimum code for all new house construction in Canada. The 1,940 sq ft Naugler House, with a number of custom and durable building features beyond energy-efficiency upgrades, cost $150 per sq ft to construct. With similar custom features a code-built house in Fredericton would have cost $130 per sq ft. The increase in cost to achieve passive house energy efficiency over Canadian Building Code energy efficiency was 15 per cent. Janis and Win Naugler’s House cost $2,140.82 less to heat per year than a house of the same design, on the same site, built to code. The $178.40 per month saved on heat more than pays the additional monthly mortgage payment of $152 to build to the passive house standard.
The air tight home requires a fresh air source which was a PH-certified Zehnder Comfoair 200 with a 92 per cent heat-recovery rate. In the supply air from the Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system is a Thermolec 2000 Watt resistance heater unit which self-modulates the heat output. This unit provides all the heat needed to maintain the home comfortably at 20C on a grey winter’s day. Before outside air enters the HRV it is preheated or pre-cooled using a simple heat exchanger connected to a 325-foot long ground loop of 3/4” pipe buried five feet deep. Using a circulator pump and electronic control, fluid is pumped through the ground loop and heat exchanger to heat or cool the air entering the HRV. Quality construction is required in order to meet the high standard for a passive house including an airtight building structure, thick walls, solid windows and doors and insulated foundation. The owners describe their house as pleasant with a spacious feel of the living space. Large windows on both levels not only provide free heat, but increase the spaciousness of the open design and provide natural light to the home for most of the day which along with excellent indoor air quality is extremely quiet inside.
Another option that should also be considered is prospective owners start with a smaller house that could be added to when they need more space and are able to afford the addition that can take advantage of the existing heating infrastructure that was over built to meet anticipated improvements. In the long term, once the extra passive house cost is payed off the monthly space heating savings can go towards the additional space which compared to the neighbours built to code home will likely have increased each year.
Take some time to google Naugler passive house and look at the videos of comments by the owners and details of the house. This is the fourth winter and apparently there are eight more passive houses in the area.
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