At this time of year I am reminded of the act of remembrance. November 11 marked Remembrance Day and I hope you had the opportunity to stop and think about all of those who served and have not had the opportunity to grow old. And think, too, of those who served and survived, but have been left emotionally or physically hurt. “At the going down of the sun and in the morning; We will remember them.”
There is alot to report regarding Passive House Canada. Among the most exciting news this month is the record number of people who took our Pathway to Certification program and who have successfully passed their exam to become Passive House Designer-Consultants.
Congratulations to all 61 of you. We created the Pathway to Certification program to increase the number of Canadian PHI Designer-Consultants and we are having great success in doing that. We care about our students’ success, and I want to thank our education staff, Luiz and Caro, and all the instructors who strive to ensure we have modern curriculum taught in an understandable and professional manner.
I’m proud of the mentoring Passive House Canada members do on a daily basis. It is crucial we support those new to Passive House community, so that they can be successful. I encourage recent (and not so recent) graduates to reach out to us if they are encountering a technical problem, and to attend our events to learn and network.
And speaking of learning and networking … we are readying ourselves for a fantastic online Passive House Canada Summit, December 8-10. More details in this newsletter — but plan to attend and support the growing Passive House community across the country. Learning something new. Meet old friends and make new ones.
In advocacy news, we welcomed the election of B.C. Premier John Horgan and his majority government. We advised the Premier that the government needs to act now to address issues with the B.C. Energy Step Code. It has become clear that while we have a sound framework in place through the Clean Energy Act, the implementation of the Step Code has gone awry. It has had its standards reduced, which has limited the industry’s ability to deliver better buildings.
In other advocacy news, we are delighted to see our own Rob Bernhardt as a co-author of a peer-reviewed paper published by the Annual Review of Environment and Resources. The international paper concludes “it is possible to achieve net- or nearly-zero energy building outcomes across the world in most building types and climates with systems, technologies, and skills that already exist, and at costs that are in the range of conventional buildings.”
We are also delighted to partner with Efficiency Canada in calling for the Federal Government to reverse two controversial decisions regarding air tightness testing and the continued us of the “reference building” to measure energy efficiency. Read about it here.
As the second wave of the pandemic hammers our communities, please stay safe and healthy. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Summit.
Chris
