New Edinburgh Passive House Tour
VERT passive house
15 Dufferin Rd, Ottawa, ON K1M, Canada
Ontario
45.4396756
-75.68326880000001
Description
“Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.“ (Jane Jacobs, Writer and Activist, 1916 – 2006)
Members of Ottawa’s New Edinburgh neighbourhood pride themselves on the built history that has manifested itself within the 3 block by 6 block historic core of the community. This nucleus is a fascinating case study of the challenges facing Canadian homeowners as resources continue to increase in value and our buildings continue to deteriorate.
Of the 13 million dwelling units in Canada, about 85% are more than 10 years old. The vast majority of those buildings need some form of improvement and approximately 10% of them need major repairs right now to avoid becoming uninhabitable or unaffordable.
It is within places like New Edinburgh that professionals within the planning, design and building industry need to refine the art and science of creating better living places. Although our expectations of developments on new urban fringes must continue to rise, we need to focus more of our efforts on improving the quality of the buildings and neighbourhoods we have already created.
Although there are many benefits of building better buildings; as long as the proverbial money tree remains a fantasy, the financial benefit will remain the one factor that motivates the masses toward change. Many owners of average sized 50 – 100 year old homes must bear monthly energy bills of $1,000 or more. The financial stability of millions of Canadian homeowners is dependent in part upon the industry’s ability to rebuild the existing urban environment.
With modest changes to conventional building practices, many owners of older homes could realize a reduction in energy costs of more than 50%. The Passive House building standard encourages a superior level of performance, with homes typically using 10 – 20% of the energy consumed by a conventional building.
At the corner of Crichton Street and Dufferin Road VERT saw an opportunity to demonstrate our capacity for change, toward an improved Canadian urban environment, within the constraints of an existing Heritage Conservation District. The project demonstrates that a new New Edinburgh is possible. Specifically the project was successful in:
Accommodating a growing family of four (and a cat)
Minimizing operational energy consumption (certifying to the Passive House standards)
Preserving an existing home partially built in 1945
Realizing the original (i.e. 1945) intention to create 3 dwelling units on the propertyTour the newest of three passive houses planned, designed and built by VERT in New Edinburgh. This recently occupied urban infill project, constructed within the New Edinburgh Conservation District, will be certified to the PHI and PHIUS passive house standards.
Tours will be offered by Chris Straka of VERT at 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00.
Aditional information about the project can be found here:http://vertdesign.ca/15-dufferin-road-project-summary/http://vertdesign.ca/15-dufferin-road-construction-details/http://vertdesign.ca/category/205-crichton-street/
This listing has no upcoming events
Start:
2016-09-11T11:00:00-04:00
End:
2016-09-11T16:00:00-04:00
Category
Social
Tickets
General Admission
0.0
CAD