It has been an amazing year for the Passive House building community. With hundreds of new projects in design and being built right across the country. This year we launched a project map on our website, so you can now view details and photos of Passive House buildings across Canada, and submit your own. There is fantastic work being done by our members and others advocating for better buildings for people and planet.
This year Passive House Canada trained over 1,000 people in Passive House design and construction, with over 40 new Certified Passive House Designers and Consultants (we’re awaiting the results of the 35 participants who sat the exam earlier this month) and 11 Certified Passive House Tradespeople. Canada is better equipped than ever to deliver the high performance buildings needed to ensure an affordable, healthy built environment, resilient communities and a clear path to achieving GHG emissions targets.
Perhaps the greatest excitement arises from the emerging commitment from government to move towards Passive House-levels of building energy efficiency. Over the past year we have engaged with government at all levels – the UN, federal, provincial and municipal – to support the advancement of building standards. Vancouver and then BC emerged as early leaders in Canada. International agencies, including the UN, are working on global standards. However, the biggest news in Canada is the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change agreed to by the federal government and most provinces earlier this month. In one whirlwind year capped by that agreement, Passive House-levels of efficiency have gone from a niche market to the target for future building codes. One year ago we would never have imagined so much could change so quickly!
Of course, there is still lot of work yet to be done but we, along with our dedicated members and supporters, are committed to our mission to support the transition to high performance buildings. We are excited to see what 2017 brings and would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the success story of 2016.
We hope you and yours are able to take some time over the holiday season to reflect on your accomplishments and plan your future. We live in dynamic times – let’s enjoy the ride, and help steer the bus!
All the best for the season.
Rob Bernhardt, CEO
