International Passive House Days arrive in Surrey and Vancouver on Nov 8 and 9

Vancouver/Surrey, BC, November 3,  2014–  On November 8 & 9 Passive House owners around the globe will open their residences to share experiences and show what Passive House living is all about, with two projects participating in Surrey and Vancouver.

Designed by Marken Design + Consulting these homes use up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling and include extensive sustainable building features such as solar hot water, rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing, high efficiency heat recovery ventilation, triple pane windows, green roofs and non-VOC materials.

“One of the major hesitations associated with ultra low energy buildings is the construction costs,” said Alex Maurer principal of Marken Design + Consulting and a leading expert in Passive House Design and Planning. “With a little innovation homes can be both energy efficient and affordable.”

The Passive House Building Energy standard originated in Germany in the late 1980s and is fast becoming the world standard in green, sustainable building techniques. It is estimated there are over 50,000 passive house buildings around the world. Currently, here are only about a two dozen buildings in Canada achieving this level of energy efficiency.

On Saturday November 8 between 10 am and 4 pm, Surrey’s 1st Passive House and New City Design Award Winner 2014 located at 1702-156A Street in Surrey will be open to the public. Now residing in their new home for over a year, owners will share valuable lessons learned on the living standard, economics, comfort and the do’s and don’ts.

On Sunday November 9 between 10 am and 4 pm, Vancouver Low Energy Infill home “Casa Pasiva’ located at 919 East 15th AVE Vancouver is showing off it’s passive design features.

Currently under construction, this infill residence was planned along the Passive House design principles and is currently the most airtight building in
Vancouver achieving a 0.3 ACH.

For more information on the open houses, please contact info@markenprojects.com

Marken Design & Consulting is a multidisciplinary, award-winning building design and project consulting firm dedicated to high performance building design & construction. Marken D+C actively promotes forward-thinking, holistic and environmentally responsible practices and is a member of the International Passive House Association and Canadian Green Building Council.