Construction Verifier ONLINE – APR 2025

Are you already well ac­quain­ted with Pass­ive House build­ing design, e.g. through the par­ti­cip­a­tion in a Pass­ive House De­sign­er course, and now want to deep­en your know­ledge? The Construction Verifier course will help you gain ad­vanced com­pet­en­ce in site supervision, building commissioning and navigation of Passive House certification.

Overview

This master class is designed for existing Certified Passive House Designers/Consultants to build their knowledge of other professional groups and activities which are integral to the construction of Passive Houses, with a focus on im­proving com­pet­en­cy on Pass­ive House con­struc­tion sites and gaining valuable insight into the com­mis­sion­ing of en­ergy ef­fi­cient build­ings and the cer­ti­fic­a­tion pro­cess of Pass­ive House / En­erPHit pro­jects.

Dates

Day 1 & 2: Wednesday April 9 & Friday April 11, 2025 from 9am – 1pm (PT) each day
Day 3 & 4: Wednesday April 16 & Friday April 18, 2025 from 9am – 1pm (PT) each day
Day 5 & 6: Tuesday April 22 & Thursday April 24, 2025 from 9am – 1pm (PT) each day
Day 7 & 8: Wednesday April 30 & Friday May 2, 2025 from 9am – 1pm (PT) each day

*Dates are subject to change

Course description

Certification for “Construction Verifier” (CoVer) will qualify Certified Passive House Designers/Consultants in overseeing the implementation of high-caliber construction throughout the entire Passive House building process. An overview of the process of building certification, including a cost-efficient approach to the necessary preliminary work and documents, is included. In-depth knowledge of Passive House relevant construction site topics is also reviewed, in addition to an overview of the planning and implementation of energetic commissioning of Passive Houses.

Please note: This ad­di­tion­al cer­ti­fic­ate can only be used in con­junc­tion with a val­id Pass­ive House De­sign­er/Con­sult­ant (CPHD/C) cer­ti­fic­ate. Ad­di­tion­al cer­ti­fic­ates do not have to be re­newed them­selves. They are auto­mat­ic­ally re­newed by the re­new­al of the main CPHD/C cer­ti­fic­ate. This new “add-on seal” is used in conjunction with a valid “main seal” (Designer/Consultant seal).
The training is divided into the following modules:

1. Site Supervisor

2. Commissioning

3. Navigating Passive House Certification

Module 1. Site Supervisor

The module “Passive House Site Supervisor” (SiteS) can be used as a stand-alone training and certification for building professionals who are already certified as Passive House Tradespersons, in addition to being a module of the CoVer training and certificate.

The goal of the SiteS course is to provide Passive House practitioners with in-depth knowledge for coordinating construction sites of complex and/or larger residential and non-residential Passive House and EnerPHit projects. Through the review of numerous examples and practical information, it also aims at providing concrete knowledge and illustrating the skills and responsibilities that are essential to successfully executing Passive House building design on-site.

The course contains topics about construction management, opaque and transparent elements of the building envelope, airtightness and mechanical services, all viewed from the perspective of the supervision of the construction site of Passive House and EnerPHit buildings. The effects of the various construction site relevant aspects on the energy balance with PHPP are also explained.

Topics

• Construction management
• Opaque thermal envelope: foundation and building structure and Opaque thermal envelope: thermal insulation
• Airtightness
• Windows, doors and curtain wall facades
• Mechanical systems

Module 2. Commissioning

The goal of the Commissioning module is to ensure a successful building commissioning of Passive House projects in order to guarantee an execution and operation of the design without performance gaps. It provides a comprehensive review of the main aspects involved in designing, planning and executing building commissioning. Moreover, aspects related to monitoring, data acquisition and measuring uncertainties are addressed, together with an overview of software tools for performance evaluation and an exercise with PHPP.

Topics

• Commissioning of MVHR systems
• Commissioning of heating and cooling systems
• Commissioning of shading
• Simplified Performance Monitoring
• Performance Evaluation

Module 3. Navigating Passive House Certification

The goal of the Navigating Passive House Certification module is to assist participants in understanding the process, requirements and roles involved with Passive House certification, review the necessary documents and their quality for a successful submittal for certification and to provide answers to the most common questions about building certification.

The corresponding learning targets and preparatory course contain topics about PHI Energy Standards and the corresponding building certification criteria, the certification process, with a particular focus on quality assurance for stepwise retrofits, a hands-on overview of the documents to submit and a final review on how to improve cost-efficiency for the certification process.

Topics

• Benefits of certification
• Energy Standards of PHI
• Certification Criteria
• Certification process
• Quality assurance for stepwise retrofits
• Documents to be submitted
• Keys to a cost-efficient certification process

Learning Outcomes

• Provide with in-depth knowledge for coordinating construction sites of complex and/or larger residential and non-residential Passive House and EnerPHit building projects.
• Deliver concrete knowledge and illustrate the skills and responsibilities that are essential to successfully executing Passive House building design on-site through the review of numerous examples and practical information, particularly topics of Passive House construction management, opaque and transparent elements of the building envelope, airtightness and mechanical services. Additionally, the effects of the various construction site relevant aspects on the energy balance with PHPP are highlighted.
• Review issues that are relevant to most situations, no matter the place while providing the possibility to identify specific aspects that may be subject to national, regional or local norms, materials, staff and traditions.
• Provide a general overview of the concept of performance gap and definition of building commissioning for Passive House buildings.
• Understand the definition of calculated energy demand vs. measured energy consumption, climate vs. weather, standard usage assumptions vs. actual usage indicators.
• Understand the main drivers/influence factors on energy use for heating and cooling
• Become acquainted with building commissioning methodologies, per different sectors of building services and controls, with indication of proven approaches for control algorithms and control parameters.
• Understand simplified performance monitoring and performance evaluation, from the perspective of user comfort and of energy use.
• Extend the knowledge of the different Passive House certification standards, the certification process and criteria and understand the certification process and the role of Passive House consultancy services within them in order to achieve it in an efficient and profitable manner.
• Learn about Accredited Passive House Certifiers and their role within the certification process and review the important elements of quality assurance for step-by-step retrofits.
• Become acquainted with the Passive House certification platform, including its main functions and review all the necessary documents that need to be submitted for achieving Passive House or EnerPHit certification understanding the necessary quality and detailing of
  information, including the boundary conditions for the PHPP calculation.
• Review some of the main tips and tricks, support documents and sources provided by the Passive House Institute to achieve a cost-efficient certification process from the perspective of Passive House design.

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