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Video: Energy efficient Passive House being constructed in Penticton

The home will have the ability to produce more energy than it consumes in a year

Can you imagine living in a house that produces more energy than it consumes in an entire year?

That is exactly what the home under construction at 441 Heales Ave. in Penticton will be capable of, according to Brett Sichello, owner of NIDO Design, one of the project partners for this Passive House.

“We are actually going net zero, so we refined it to the right level and by adding the right amount of solar panels this house will require zero energy from the grid,” said Sichello. “It will actually produce more energy than it consumes for an entire year.”

Sichello said in under just one week, Collective Carpentry had the frame of the house up using pre-fabricated walls, floors and a roof that were built off-site.

“What normally would take two to three months on site is done in five days. Plus the house is fully-insulated and wrapped with a weather resistance barrier so it’s just massively faster and good quality construction,” said Sichello.

READ ALSO: Canada’s failure to fight climate change ‘disturbing,’ environment watchdog says

He noted that normal walls are only about six inches thick, but these pre-fabricated ones are “super insulated” and measure around 18 inches thick. Sichello said it will also be 10 to 12 times as air-tight than conventional construction.

“The overall detail of it is high-performance, so they’re going to have a comfortable space throughout,” said Shaun St-Amour with Passive House Canada. “The human body loves 21 degree temperatures in the home all year round, and not having cold rooms. So they’ll be able to go to the window and walk to the inner space and have the continuity of temperature througout.”

St-Amor said while the construction cost for this type of home is higher, the home owner will see a reduction in their energy bill each month which would offset that amount.

For more information about Passive House Canada, visit www.passivehousecanada.com.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
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