BC HYBRID: Pathway to Passive House Designer/Consultant Certification (120P) April 2022
Pathway to Passive House Certification
Passive House certification ensures that you or your organization are expertly qualified to design high performance, highly efficient buildings to meet Canada’s national green building strategy.
The Pathway to Certification is the perfect combination of three courses (a $3960 value):
- In-person: Passive House Design and Construction (120A)
- Online: Understanding and Working with PHPP (120B)
- Online: Exam Preparation for Designer/Consultant Exam (120C)
Our Pathway to Certification has proven to be the most effective program to get participants ready to pass the challenging exam.
Special member pricing for this bundle is $2488, a savings of over $1400!
Not a member yet? Join now to save.
IN-PERSON: Passive House Design and Construction (120A)
This course covers the technical, economic and policy elements of Passive House buildings. Participants will learn how to apply Passive House principles in the context of building physics, windows and mechanical systems. Numerous case studies, both domestic and international, will be used to demonstrate current best practices and teach concepts of cost assessment. Participants will also have the opportunity to solidify their learning with interactive exercises throughout the course.
120A can be taken as a standalone course even if you don’t intend to write the Certified Passive House Designer/Consultant Exam. If you intend to write the exam we strongly recommend you take 120A, 120B and 120C prior to writing the exam.
- Building science and energy use, overview of Passive House principles
- In-depth look at insulation and airtightness design and construction techniques
- Thermal bridging principles, elimination of thermal bridges through better design and construction
- Window placement and construction, window components and efficiency
- Ventilation system design principles, components, distribution and operation
- Heating and cooling a Passive House building, design principles, components, distribution and operation
- Economics of Passive House design and construction, cost and risk reduction, marketability
- Quality assurance and testing
- Building certification process
Dates:
Day 1-2: Friday April 22 & Saturday April 23, 2022 – 9am to 5pm (PDT) each day
Day 3-4: Friday April 29th & Friday April 30th, 2022 – 9am to 5pm (PDT) each day
Location: BCIT Downtown Campus – 555 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC V6B 3H6 – Room 557.
Directions to the BCIT downtown campus can be found here and COVID protocols can be reviewed here
ONLINE: Understanding & Working with the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) (120B)
Understanding and Working with PHPP will enable you to take on your first Passive House project. It provides step-by-step instruction for using the PHPP energy modelling software, which is essential for designing a Passive House building.
Participants will learn the structure, inputs and outputs of PHPP, and how to select appropriate climate data sets and record building measurements. The course includes modelling a sample Canadian project, where participants will assess building heat loss, energy demand and summertime overheating risk, as well as looking at the reliability of data sources and how design decisions impact the building energy demand.
- Introduction and overview of PHPP, treated floor areas and U-values for assemblies
- Heat loss areas and thermal bridging calculations
- Ground calculations and energy implications
- Window components and inputs, shading, ventilation volumes and airflow
- Heating demand and load, summer cooling requirements and ventilation
- Domestic hot water energy, electrical and other energy demands, renewable energy (PER)
Dates:
Day 1-2: Wednesday May 11 & Friday May 13, 2022 – 9am to 1pm (PDT) each day
Day 3-4: Wednesday May 18 & Friday May 20, 2022 – 9am to 1pm (PDT) each day
Day 5-6: Wednesday May 25 & Friday May 27, 2022 – 9am to 1pm (PDT) each day
ONLINE: Exam Preparation for Designer/Consultant Exam (120C)
The Passive House Designer/Consultant Exam is challenging, even for experienced architects and building professionals, so thorough preparation is essential. This two-day exam preparation course is specifically designed for those who have completed courses 120A and 120B (or equivalent), and who wish to write the exam to become a Certified Passive House professional. It gives participants the tools required to write a successful test.
Overviews of each topic that could potentially be tested in the exam will be presented and participants will be able to complete example test questions, including a design exercise, and will learn to identify common mistakes and discuss exam time management.
Review Topics
- Insulation and airtightness
- Thermal bridging
- Windows
- Passive House design exercise
- Ventilation and heating
- Economics
- Cumulative exercises and common mistakes
- Exam day: overview and tips
Dates:
Day 1-2: Monday June 13 & Tuesday June 14, 2022– 8:30am to 12:30pm (PDT) each day
Day 3-4: Monday June 20 & Tuesday June 21, 2022– 8:30am to 12:30pm (PDT) each day
Recommended for
Building industry professionals and individuals who are going to be involved in the design and construction of Passive House buildings or EnerPHit (retrofit) projects, including: architects, engineers, design professionals, site supervisors, general contractors, building inspectors, city planners, homeowners, investors and suppliers of high performance building materials that may be used in Passive House construction.
Learning resources provided
- Digital copy of course slides
- Access to course recordings for review (available for 3 months after end of each section)
- Option to join a discussion group which will foster collaboration, allow you to build connections with other participants, and have access to additional support
Prerequisites/required knowledge and equipment/software
- There are no prerequisites for this course, however it will be assumed that the participants can read blueprints and have a basic understanding of construction terminology. This course does include some use of mathematical formulas.
- Calculator, notebook, pens, ruler
- Desktop/Laptop with Microsoft Excel or equivalent installed (PHPP is Excel based), mouse and two monitors recommended.
- Area measurement software such as Autodesk Design Review (free) or Bluebeam Revu (free trial)
- Although PHPP demonstration files will be provided for use during the course, we recommend you purchase the PHPP software prior to attending the course. The PHPP manual is provided with the purchase of the software and is useful in understanding all of the features.
- Please note that PHI now requires examinees to supply a valid PHPP registration number when writing the exam. PHPP can be purchased on our website here.
Series Fee
PHC Member Bundle – $2,488
Non- Member Bundle – $3,960
*The exam needs to be purchased separately
If you are interested in taking one of our courses, but need some payment flexibility, we can help. You can now pay 50% of the course fee when you register and the balance prior to starting the course. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
Funding Opportunities
At Passive House Canada we are committed to supporting our community in a number of ways. As a potential course participant, you might qualify for government funding that could be applied to any of our courses and certification exams. Please consult the links here to find out more about funding available in your province.
The health and safety of our participants is important to us. Participants are not permitted to attend in-person courses if they are exhibiting any symptoms of a cold, flu or COVID-19, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and difficulty swallowing, coughing or sneezing, or other symptoms as described by the Public Health Agency of Canada. No refunds will be allowed and courses can be transferred to an alternate date.
Professional development
Total number of learning hours: 67.5 hours (based on attendance of live course)
BC Housing (HPO): 67.5 CPD Informal (based on attendance of live course)
AIBC: 67.5 Core Learning Units (based on attendance of live course)
ALBNL: 67.5 Core Learning Hours (based on attendance of live course)
AANB: 67.5 Core Learning Hours (based on attendance of live course)
NSAA: 67.5 Core Learning Hours (based on attendance of live course)
AAA webinar credits: self-reported
OAA: self-reported
