Living Libations Headquarters (LLHQ)

Project Description

Overlooking rolling hills of Ontario boreal forest, the www.livinglibations.com headquarters is a gleaming example of what Passive House Building Standard design consultation and today’s innovative building methods can achieve. The four level 21,246 sq/ft production lab and office facility is a new 200 person occupancy commercial building that has been designed and built to meet the PH building standard. Its location 220 kms north-east of Toronto and its specialized use make it an interesting cold climate PH case study demonstrating what is possible with the integration of smart design, innovative building systems & skilled craftsmanship.

The following is a summary of the thermal assemblies of the exterior floor, walls and roofs of the LLHQ. Passive House Design Principals were implemented during building design at all levels of architectural details and engineering solutions, then Passive House Building methods guided construction.

PH rated raft/floating foundation 6182ft² (574.3m²) www.legalett.ca from the bottom up: R50

• Starts with a 75Kpa geotechnically engineered base of clear tamped aggregate on bedrock.
• High density EPS “edge element” is used to make a form outlining building footprint.
• 9 inches of high-density EPS level within 1/8” over the 6400sq/ft area covers building footprint
• A continuous https://www.stegoindustries.com/products air/vapor barrier is installed.
• The Stego membrane is then covered with another 3 inches of high density EPS
• Two levels of steel reinforcement placed over area with varied gages & spacing.
• 13” thick placement of finished concrete creates lower level floor
• 8” thick steel reinforced 9’6” high concrete walls support 10” thick coreslab.
• Concrete walls & 10” thick coreslab edge covered with 13” of vertical EPS panels
• EPS covered with Resisto ICF membrane that connects to Stego membrane under slab.
• Resisto ICF membrane protected with typical Dimpled Foundation Membrane
• Resisto membrane connected to interior air/vapor control layer under bottom plate of 2nd level.
• This assembly provides an air-tight nominal R-50 surrounding all interior concrete.

PH rated exterior wall assembly from the inside out: Total (PHPP Modeled) Effective R value = 48
Nominal R value of wall assembly R28 + R32 = R60, (PHPP modeling accounts for all thermal bridging)

• Interior finish Formaldehyde free 1/2” maple veneer plywood “Purebond” by CFP
• Drywall fire protection 5/8” Type X with typical mudded & taped seams
• Intello-Plus smart air/vapor control layer, seams taped with Tascona Vana (100 year) tape
• 2×8 spruce structural wall framing with 7.25” of “Rockwool” mineral wool (R28 nominal)
• ½” spruce plywood with exterior taped seams performs both air barrier & structural racking
• 8” of EPS “Leagalett PH Thermal Wall” low thermal bridge cladding support (R32 nominal)
• http://www.legalett.ca/passive-house-external-wall-insulation-eps-foam-panel-zne-leed-nzeb-thermalwall-ph.html (The LLHQ project was the 1st to use this innovative system)
• ¾” x 6” vertical strapping covered with tight taped Tyvek layer, moisture control & air barrio
• Wall clad with 1” thick locally manufactured pre-coated 16-gauge steel siding 75, PH Certified Pazen “Enersign Plus” Cold Climate triple glassed windows with a U-Value of 0.60 http://www.enersign.com/startseite.html 16, Fiberglass & foam filled doors with triple glazed windows meeting Ont/Can Barrier Free Req.
https://dorplex.com/fiberglass-doors/

4th Level Roof assembly from the inside out: 2765ft² (256.9m² )
Total R Value = 115.6 Nominal

• ¾” x 8” T&G local sustainably harvested white pine, clear coated with zero VOC UV protection
• 2×4” suspended strapping lighting & wire service cavity (T&G white pine support system)
• 1” airspace for running wires and other services in all directions.
• Then a tight layer of Intello-Plus smart air/vapor barrier, taped & all penetrations gasketed.
• ¾” x 4” strapping supporting typical cellulose insulation support netting.
• 24” deep open web wood joists filled with dense pack cellulose (R4/in) = R value 96 nominal
• ¾’ T&G plywood covered with Blueskin that wraps up and over parapet walls.
• Tapered ISO drainage system. Averaged thickness = 3.5” = (R5.6/in) = R 19.6 nominal
• 90mill TPO highly reflective fully adhered membrane & steel parapet perimeter flashing

3rd Level Roof assembly: Terrace and Balcony from inside out: 1910 ft²
Total R Value = 86.8 Nominal

• Cross Laminated Timber “Boxx-Panel” (CLIPs) system pre- insulated assembly = R 30 nominal
• See Cross Laminated Insulated Panels (CLIPs) here: https://elementfive.co/products/
• Continuous layer of Blueskin across roof then up and over parapet walls
• Fully adhered 8” thermal bridge free layer of DOW XPS = 8” (R5/in) = R 40 nominal
• Tapered ISO drainage system Averaged Thickness = 3” (R5.6/in) = R 16.8 nominal
• 90mil TPO fully adhered membrane ballasted with Bamboo Terrace decking system
• Bamboo tiles elevated to floor level with http://bisonip.com/ pedestal system.

2nd Level Roof assembly: East Terrace from inside out: 1398 ft²
Total R Value = 131.8 Nominal

• Cross Laminated Timber “Boxx-Panel” (CLIPs) system pre- insulated assembly = R 30 nominal
• Continuous layer of Blueskin across roof then up and over parapet walls
• Fully adhered 17” thermal bridge free layer of DOW XPS = 17” x (R5/in) = R 85 nominal
• Tapered ISO drainage system Averaged Thickness = 3” x (R5.6/in) = R 16.8 nominal
• 90mil TPO fully adhered membrane ballasted with Bamboo Terrace decking system
• Bamboo tiles elevated to floor level with http://bisonip.com/ pedestal system.

Mechanical System equipment:

• Six separate PH standard efficiency meeting “Tempeff RGSP” ERV’s provide fresh air efficiently. The 6 units combined provide 3,377.64 m³/hr OSA from 7am to 7pm (shutting down at night)
• Six Main Mitsubishi Air to Air heat pumps that work efficient below -25C provide heating and cooling. http://www.mitsubishielectric.ca/en/hvac/professionals/zuba-family/Zuba-Central
• Three smaller cassette head Mitsubishi Air to Air heat pumps for specific building zones.
• The building’s heat-pump driven heating system is backed up with hydronic coils powered by double Viessmann boilers & Grundfos soft-start pumps. The back up boiler system was required by Mechanical Eng & AHJ but has not been needed through the 1st 2018/2019 winter.
• Domestic hot water is 100% provided by evacuated solar tubes on the roof through all of spring, summer & fall seasons, even pre-warming cold well water through the winter months.
• Refer to as-built mechanical plans for further details about the HVAC system.

Thermal Envelope

Mechanical System