Building Envelopes and Insulation: The foundation of Passive House Design

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Building and design is increasingly focused on energy conservation and sustainability and, across Europe and the U.S., sustainable buildings are becoming the standard. The impetus for this initiative is that up to 40% of the total energy consumption in industrialized countries is used for buildings, and significant improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings has considerable impact on energy consumption. The Passive House Standard can lead to improvements of up to 75% in the energy consumption for heating and cooling of new builds; and reductions of up to 95% for refurbishments. There is a growing list of cities worldwide that have legislated Passive House design for new buildings, including cities in Belgium, Germany and the United States. If Canada is to stay competitive in the growing Passive House movement, we must be leaders in the development and evaluation of new designs, materials and building technologies. The current proposal is a collaboration between Humber College and ROXUL® Inc, manufacturer of residential and commercial insulation materials. In this project, Humber and ROXUL® will design and analyze thermal energy performance of residential building envelope assemblies utilizing ROXUL® building and insulation products in combination with standard building products from a variety of Canadian manufacturers. Analysis will be performed with the intent to achieve Passive House standard for energy efficiency. The resultant thermal analysis data including 2-dimensional drawings and 3-dimensional models of the assemblies will aid ROXUL® in promoting high-performance building technology to the Canadian market. Results from this project will help establish Humber College and ROXUL® as leaders in the Passive House movement, and will be the foundation of future initiatives for both partners within the Passive House industry.