Canada’s ski resort located in Whistler now has the first affordable passive house. The house was designed by Marken Projects and has been constructed by B.C. The project called Rainbow Duplex was designed and constructed in compliance with the requirements of the Price Restricted House Initiative implemented in Whistler.
Rainbow Passive House Duplex Whistler
The house uses 90% less energy for cooling, building operation and heating as compared to a regular house. This is the first passive house to be constructed exclusively in B.C using local products. The prefabricated panelised system was developed by BC Passive House and the complete structure was assembled within four and a half days.
Features of the building include subsoil heat exchanger, cross-laminated timber and solar water heater. According to the Director of Marken Projects, Alex Maurer, the biggest challenge in creating energy efficient houses is controlling the costs. He also added that the company wanted to prove that sustainability could be achieved for communities that are less affluent and that too within restricted budgets.
The Passive House standard was first established in Germany during the 1980s. There are approximately 30,000 passive houses around the world. Popular passive houses include the house from Austria which was assembled in Whistler for the Olympic Games in 2010. The Rainbow Duplex is now open for public viewing on April 14 and 28.
Source: http://www.markenprojects.com