Austria Passive House Whistler 2010

No performance anxiety

2011-02-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

One year ago the Olympic party was almost over and Austria House ready to become Whistler´s property. Since then the house has been through some transformation and taken on new responsibilities. Now you can rent your cross country skiing equipment and snow shoes and buy a coffee there.

Below I am copying a story from the "Pique" newsmagazine Whistler from this week.
Austria Passive House is doing well and performing beautifully. Heating costs for last year $280! $280 for one full year for a 2700 sf house!

Please make sure to check out the live link for Lost Lake PassivHaus energy consumption at the very bottom of the text below.

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A dashboard like no other

By Kevin Damaskie
RMOW Sustainability Coordinator

"Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I can see paradise by the dashboard light." These Meatloaf lyrics are etched in my mind, a crucial line from the first ever record I bought with my own money. I think it was 1976...

Flash-forward to 2011 where the paradise we can see in Whistler's future is a kinder, more energy efficient place lit by the light of webpage dashboard... not Meatloaf's Cadillac. And the dashboard is not connected to a V8 motor; it's connected to the Lost Lake PassivHaus.

An innovative partnership between the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), Pulse Energy and BC Hydro has produced an Energy Management Information System (EMIS) for the Lost Lake PassivHaus and anyone, around the world, can watch how the PassivHaus is performing, in real time, online.

The just-launched energy monitoring software collects building energy data for both the building as a whole as well as the small heat pump that resides in the building's ventilation system. It has both an internal interface that allows staff to access detailed reporting, monitoring, and analysis tools - and therefore make more informed decisions about the buildings energy performance - as well as public "dashboard" to transparently share the raw performance data to anyone else that is interested in passive house technology and performance

The PassivHaus is located at the main entrance to Lost Lake Park, between the upper and lower villages and a short walk from the Village Stroll. A year ago, the building was home to the Austrian Olympic Committee and Austria Public Broadcasting, which broadcast live Games coverage to European audiences during the 2010 Winter Games. Post Games, the building was gifted to the RMOW, and was converted to a Nordic skiing and mountain biking day lodge, office and meeting space for WORCA and Whistler Nordics, complete with a public concession and rental shop.

The construction of a Passive House requires airtight seams and above average insulating values, as well as a design strategy that substantially reduces thermal bridging in the building envelope. To maintain passive house certification, the building must use less than 15kWh/m2/year for heat, and no more than 120 kWh/m2/year for total primary energy consumption. As such, passive houses use up to 90 percent less energy than a traditionally built home and approximately 50 percent less than a LEED Platinum house.

"From an energy performance perspective, the Lost Lake PassivHaus is an incredible building," says RMOW Community Energy Manager, Ted Battiston. "Current performance suggests that it will cost less than $300/year to heat this 2,700 square foot building while typical construction would yield a value closer to $3000/year. Sharing on-the-ground performance with anyone who is considering this approach to building will hopefully accelerate the uptake of Passive House principles across BC."

The Lost Lake PassivHaus aligns well with the priorities outlined in Whistler2020, Whistler's comprehensive sustainability plan and vision. It's a highly efficient building that will use virtually no energy for its heating, cooling and ventilation needs. With extremely low operation costs and the long-term community benefit it provides Whistler residents, the Lost Lake PassivHaus provides a lasting benefit to all users.

To check out the performance of the Lost Lake PassivHaus, visit: http://my.pulseenergy.com/WhistlerPassivhaus/dashboard/, or www.whistler.ca and follow the links.

Want to know more about Whistler2020? Check out www.whistler2020.ca.

This is no April Fools !!!

2010-03-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

On March 22nd, the opening day of the first Passive House Forum in Whistler, Austria House was officially handed over to the RMOW. Date of possession ...April 1st.

Austrian Minister of the Environment Nikolaus Berlakovich

From left: Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap, Austrian Minister of the Environment Nikolaus Berlakovich, Deputy Mayor of Whistler Chris Quinlan, Austrian Trade Commissioner (Toronto) Robert Luck

This project has now come full circle. It started with a meeting with mayor Ken Melamed, when we were inquiring about what plans the municipality had in regards with national houses.

Then the idea of Austria House was pitched, and now here it is, standing as a proud testimonial to the dedication of all those involved and committed to the project, from its inception to the hand over.

Enjoy it, keep visiting it, and follow its inspiration. In the House you will find a permanent computer terminal dedicated to Passive House building techniques and developments.

Thomas Sohm (right) and Erich Reiner check out the computer terminal.

It is and will always be THE first Passive House built in Canada, now to be part of the municipality's community buildings.

First Passive House Forum March 22/23, 2010

2010-03-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Please find presentations and company contact information from the First Passive House Forum March 22/23 in Whistler:

http://www.advantageaustria.org/ca/events/Kanada---Aussichtsreicher-Zukunftsmarkt-fuer-Umweltte.en.jsp?filtertyp=

Austrian paralympians in the House

2010-03-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

A month has already gone by since my last post, time to finish the Olympics and modify the House to welcome the Austrian paralympians.

Matheo Durfeld, general contractor for Austria House has been busy building an access ramps that curls around the House so that people with disabilities can get to the second floor. He has also removed a riser on the first floor and added a small ramp to another. The temporary wall that isolated the ORF studio (Austrian national TV) from the rest of the floor is also gone, so that the original architectural open design of that floor is regained. It really looks great as you can appreciate now the light and the view that the stairwell invites you to take in, as you go up the steps.

The atmosphere is also noticeably warmer and far more welcoming than it was during the Olympics. My last posting gave a bit of insight on this.

Here you see a group of the athletes, enjoying the moment before they start competing.

The dignitaries in this photo are Ken Melamed (Whistler Mayor), Leo Wallner (Member of the IOC), Petra Huber (Chef de Mission Austrian Paralympic Committee), Maria Rauch-Kallat (President Austrian Paralypic Committee), Werner Brandstetter (Austrian Ambassador to Canada) and David Haber (Austrian Honorary Consul).

So Austria House is now the heart and soul of the Austrian Paralympic committee until the end of the games next Sunday, March 21st.

Monday March 22nd, starts the First Passive House forum, when the House will be officially handed over to the RMOW, as planned.

More on this Forum in another blog.

Here we go! The games are on!

2010-02-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well here we are! The Games are started, the Austrian Olympic committee has taken over the House, and somewhere in that transition the Olympic spirit of friendship and cooperation must have been left outside the House.

Let's just say that for the time being relations between the APG and the ÖOC are a bit tense and uncomfortable, and "Welcome" is not the operative word here. But let's see how we can warm things up a bit!

As you can see in the photos, Austria House looks great outside, as well as inside.

The weather has not been cooperating, to say the least, but that did not prevent Austria from winning its first medal, a bronze in ski jumping by Gregor Schlierenzauer!

Here is Gregor Schlierenzauer in Austria House being welcomed by his fellow Austrians a few minutes after receiving his medal.

Prominent are also the Baumstark wood medals, proudly worn by Maria Fekter, Austrian Interior minister and on her left Gunther Plattner, Governor of Tirol.

The medals are from Josef Schafleitner, Baumstark's sales manager, who has also made many of the photos you see here.

F1 fans will recognize Gerhard Berger (the one wearing the Ferrari red fleece sweater, leaning on a Baumstark high table), as he talks about winter sports.

We're there !

2010-02-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a series of photos of the house, ready to be handed over to the Austrian Olympic Committee, on schedule, with time left for minor interior mods. They will mostly be from the Austrian Public Broadcaster, who will transform part of the upstairs into a radio and TV studio.

We are really proud of the quality of workmanship that went into this project, from all involved from its conception to the final stages of its realization.

I am confident that the Austrian Olympic Committee and the Austrian Public Broadcaster will share our feelings.

This was a unique P3 project, that is a public, private partnership, between the APG, (Austrian passive House group), the RMOW (Resort Municipality of Whistler) the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation and Sea to Sky consulting.

Of course many observers, if not all, have thought from the beginning that this was a project led and financed by the Austrian governement...not at all!

Congrats and heartfelt thanks to all involved, in Austria as well as in Canada.

If you are in Whistler for the Games, please drop by and say Hi!

Home Stretch!

2010-01-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

The outside is done, all done - although Manfred always finds some details that need improvement! It does not look like snow in Whistler will be an issue!

The wine bar is in....this is the green glass structure you see here, photographed from beneath, giving it the appearance of being higher than it actually is. Good libations to flow from here for sure! Austrian wines only need apply.

Check earlier blogs for the draught beer pumps from Stiegl.

If Austrian style coffee (read Viennese) is more your drink of choice, these three Miele espresso machines should keep you happy when you visit Austria house...unless you keep the coffee for after the wine?

Now this is a beautifully inviting corner wooden bench structure from Baumstark.

For the table and bench combination, check an earlier blog and get the complete picture of this amazing made to measure furniture.

Well, you know how it flows...beer, coffee, wine! If you must, you must (albeit for House staff only)

Heart and Lung Transplant

2010-01-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

Here are the heart and lung of Austria House, as this is the system that allows it to breathe, stay warm and circulate the hot water it produces through its veins in both floors. It's the drexel und weiss aerosmart heating and ventilation unit, that pulls warm air from the ground, heats it through a sophisticated and highly efficient technique, heats water with it, pumps the heated water through both floors and freshens and replenishes the air for this 3,000 square foot house, every two hours. It also heats the water for all other domestic uses.

Meet the drexel und weiss bosses: On the right of Reinhardt Weiss, is Christof Drexel, who came to Whistler with his wife and two sons, for a skiing holiday and also to start and calibrate the unit. He was very pleased with the installation and its performance. Now temperature in Austria House is steady 18 degrees Celsius, while it hovers around -7 outside !!!

Reinhard Weiss will be in Whistler for the Olympics.

Passive House technology can also be used to convert and retrofit existing buildings with efficient insulation, triple pane windows and high efficiency heating and ventilation systems, as is the case in the drexel und weiss plant, converted a few years ago. It now uses 90 % less energy for heating and ventilation than it did before the conversion.

A photo update !

2009-12-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

We had a few people to meet at Austria House Monday, and took advantage of the wonderful snowy environment to make more photos and update the project as the year comes to a close.

The Baumstark furniture has arrived...with a couple of traditionally made schnapps bottles. These pieces of wonderfully made stools, benches and tables will be gracing Austria House for the guests that visit it during the Olympics.

These various spare parts...will become another great looking bench and table as you see here. Some assembly required...as the Swedes would write.

Now somewhere here should be a water connection for the Miele espresso machines...at least that's what the plans say! Oops, where's my screwdriver?

Soon Stiegl beer will be flowing!

Now this is a serious schnapps hut. Manfred makes sure that all the pieces are in place.

One of the great things about Austria House is its fantastic views of its surrounding. Here, framed by the veranda is the first nations Cultural Center and a glimpse of the mountain.

On a day like this, just looking outside is cold enough for us! Oh here comes Winston!

We are getting there !

2009-12-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

The basalt floors (from Mendinger Basalt in Mending, Germany) have been laid, polished and sealed.

This beautiful material is a 150,000 year old volcanic stone from the Eifel area of Germany.

The new wood structure that you see coming up in front of Austria House (not someone's Summer cabin...) is the "schnaps bude". Anyone who has skied in Austria will recognize this traditional unavoidable apres ski destination.

The hut will supply you with a shot of Austrian schnaps, to keep you warm outside (or at least give you the illusion of...) while the constant warmth inside of the House will be from the sophisticated heat exchange system from Drexel and Weiss, installed after Christmas by the boss himself.

You will have noticed the symmetry between the outside wood posts for the hut and the ones inside the House.

Finally the "official" Austria House glass poster is up. Michael, whom you see holding it up, is happy that he can rest now...it was getting heavy.

Next steps are the appliances supplied by Miele and the furniture by "baumstark", high end Austrian wood furniture builder as well as the bathroom fixtures form Schmiedl.

If you think Austria House has a WOW effect now, wait till it's all done inside and out!

Studying up on Passive House Technololgy

2009-12-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

Now let me see...heat recovery system?......and what about the house being air tight ?

Where do I find all this?

Oh yes, and geo thermal pumps, and triple pane windows, and, and, and...???!!!

Where is that blog again ?

Pique newsmagazine: Making a haus a home

2009-12-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

Austria Passive House sets a new standard

By Andrew Mitchell

Matheo Dufeld has decades of experience building log homes, but he knew he had a lot to learn about building a passive house - a combination of insulating and air circulation technologies that can reduce energy consumption and heating demands by more than 90 per cent.

So, as the local contractor selected to bring together the elements of Austria Passive House in Whistler - the home of the Austrian Olympic Committee and Austrian broadcasting company ORF during the 2010 Games - Durfeld traveled to Europe to see the technology and building process first-hand.

What he saw was exciting, he said, because of the reliance on wood and the opportunities that exist in B.C.

"This may well be the future of the building industry," said Durfeld, adding that the proponents of the technology are already meeting with government officials regarding changing the B.C. Building Code to allow for more passive construction.

"Wood is readily available in Austria, but I think we have some here too."

Durfeld was one of the speakers in attendance at the Nov. 26 open house at Austria Passive House, which included a media presentation and tour in the morning and opening up the venue to the public in the afternoon.

After the 2010 Olympics the building will be turned over to the Resort Municipality of Whistler, which will run it as a day lodge for the Lost Lake cross-country and snowshoe trail network, while providing needed office and meeting space upstairs to the Whistler Nordics and the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association. The Whistler Blackcomb Foundation contributed $150,000 towards the project to secure that legacy.

It's the first certified passive house of its kind in all of Canada and will be used to showcase the technology on behalf of all the Austrian companies that contributed prefabricated pieces of the house and labour to the project.

Austrian Trade Commissioner Robert Luck says the 2010 Games were recognized as an opportunity to "show what Canadian builders and Austrian companies are capable of.

"We are looking forward to working with Canadian companies in the future. This house was shipped in parts from Austria, but in the not-too-distant future we hope to have many more houses like this house built in Canada."

A lot of the technology in Austria House seems obvious, but the concept is to build an airtight structure that is free of thermal bridging - heat stays in and the cold stays out. All of the windows are triple glazed to prevent heat loss and completely sealed around the frame. The insides of doors - themselves over four inches thick - are oversized to completely cover the door frame when closed, while steps within the frame allow for several layers of insulated lining to create a seal.

The entire house is built on an interlocking insulation system with concrete poured over it, followed by another layer of insulation and the cross-laminated, mass wood flooring system. Mass wood is the Austrian term for interlocking pieces of thick wood that form the solid floors and walls of a passive house. The walls are then covered with more insulation and another barrier, such as the black thermal shingles on the Whistler example that trap heat, or poured concrete barriers.

The building also uses geothermal field technology to heat the building and a heat recovery ventilation system to provide fresh air, heat, cooling, and hot water.

While there are no Canadian companies making windows or insulation slabs similar to Austria Passive House, Durfeld says that wood accounts for most of the materials used in passive house and he believes that it can be milled in B.C. to the same standard as developed in Austria.

The cost is slightly higher. The construction costs in Austria are between $250 and $300 per square foot, he says, but the money saved on energy lowers the cost of ownership significantly. The price would likely be even higher in Canada in the beginning, but he expects that prices would come down once more builders are trained to build homes and more of the construction materials are manufactured in Canada.

The home's future tenants are excited to have the chance to move in after the Games. WORCA president John Blok said it would take a while to sink in.

"I don't think anyone understands yet the benefit that this is going to have to Whistler, and all the kids and adults that are going to come through this building with different programs," he said.

Councillor Tom Thomson spoke on behalf of both the mountain bike and Nordic skiing communities, remembering when the very first cross-country ski and bike trails were built through what is now Lost Lake Park.

"I remember we attacked the old trails in here with chainsaws, first to build a trail network for cross-country skiing, then everyone got into mountain biking. In my opinion this is one of the greatest areas for mountain biking in the park, we had a big cake in here and this building is the cherry on top of it.

"For cross country it's a place where people can go to get warm, and all the kids can get a hot chocolate after skiing. It's going to be a great amenity for us all."

Dave Brownlie, the chair of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, said the project met all of the foundation's criteria when deciding to award the $150,000 grant.

"This is for Whistler and everyone who works and plays here. And we also know that sustainability is a part of everybody's life," he said. "When we heard Austria wanted to come and showcase this technology in this country we thought that this would be a great idea... to create a legacy for the Whistler Nordics club and WORCA. It really fit our mandate."

Video link Whistler-Innsbruck

2009-11-29T18:03:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, November 26, an internet video link was set up between Austria House in Whistler, and Innsbruck in Austria, for a get together of people involved in the building of the first Passive House in Canada and many of its key players in both countries.

It was the first chance for the Whistler community to get a preview of what will be Austria House during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. After the Games, the house will be handed over to RMOW and will become home for WORCA (www.worca.com) and the Whistler Nordics(www.whistlernordics.com).

Master of Ceremony is Helene Perndl, sea to sky consulting.

Let the show begin!

It was also the occasion for Lil'wat and Squamish First Nations to bless the house that is situated on their traditional territory.

In Whistler, the event was attended by more than 220 people, from various media, community members, municipal employees, Blackcomb-Whistler Foundation, WORCA and NORDIC Skiing club.

They all loved the STIEGL beer and grilled sausages.

In Innsbruck, the event was attended by members of the ÖOC,(Austrian Olympic Committee), the ORF (Austrian public broadcaster), other media, the Austrian Passive House Group (the builders of the house), the Canadian Ambassador to Austria, and other sponsors of the house; in all about 300 people. This was the first time a live link was organized between between Austria House and a location in Austria.

To set the tone and give everyone in Austria and in Whistler a summary of the project, a 4 minute DVD was shown.

You can have a look at it too.

Passive House Design in Austria

2009-11-24T08:43:00.000-08:00

"Schiestlhaus": this building is the first “alpine passive house”, meaning in this case that it produces its own energy from solar sources.

“Passive houses” in general are buildings with an excellent thermal insulation quality, and are equipped with a ventilation system that is able to re-extract thermal energy from the discharged air. Therefore theses buildings work without a conventional heating system, as they take their heat energy from inhabitants (about 70W per person!), solar radiation and a minimal backup system for long cold periods in wintertime.

Schiestlhaus Team

Builder/Owner:
Österreichischer Touristenklub (ÖTK), Wien.
Development und Design:
solar4alpin (Marie Rezac- Karin Stieldorf- Fritz Oettl- Martin Treberspurg)
Implementation:
Generalplaner ARGE: pos architekten ZT KEG & Treberspurg & Partner Architekten ZT GmbH

Photo: DI Wilhelm Hofbauer

drexel und weiss energy effiecient house technology
Wolfurt / Austria

Apartment buildings Linz / Austria

Architect: Treberspurg & Partners Architects
Completion: 2008
Scope: 53 units and underground parking
Size: ca 48,700sqf living space
Building costs: 6.5 million Euro / CAD 9,75 million
Energy coefficient 16 - 23 kWh/m2a
Photo: ATW Architekt

Apartment building Vienna / Austria
Architect Treberspurg & Partner Architects / Vienna / Austria
Completion 1996
Scope: 41 units (753 - 1517 sqf),common building (1160 sqf)

Photo © Gerry Frank

Before...

...after

Example for retrofitting a conventional house:
Planer: Lang Consulting / Austria
Single family home Pettenbach / Austria
with 2,200sqf living space.
Completion 2005

Photo: Lang Consulting

You are invited!

2009-11-20T20:14:00.000-08:00

Photo: Ira Nicolai

You’re invited….

What?

The Austria Passive House Group in partnership with the the Resort Municipality of Whistler and the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, is pleased to invite you to a media sneak peak of the Austria Passive House, the first Passive House of its kind in Canada. This house will be Austria House during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Post-Games it will remain as a lasting community facility.

What makes a house passive?
The building is an ultra-low energy building designed to showcase what's possible in terms of energy-efficient construction in Canada. A Passive House is a building in which a comfortable interior climate can be maintained without active heating and cooling systems. It uses little to no energy for heating and cooling, using a combination of super insulation, thick walls and windows, solar retention, ground heat and other technology.

Where?

Located on the main entrance to Lost Lake Park, between the upper and lower villages and a short-walk from the Village Stroll, the building will be home to the Austrian Olympic Committee and Austrian Public Broadcasting, which will broadcast live Games coverage to audiences back home during the 2010 Winter Games

When?

Please join us to at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday November 26, 2009, to hear from builders, project contributors and community partners. Following a brief information session members of the press will be able to do one-on-one interviews and shoot b-roll.

November 26, 2009
Austria Passive House - near Lost Lake (Parking Lot 5)

11:00am - 12:00pm
Media Tour and Briefing on Austria House

12:00pm - 2:00pm
Community Open House

12:30pm - 12:50pm
Live Link with Innsbruck

Why?
· To come see Canada’s first Passive House
· To learn about Austria House during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
· To meet the experts and learn about passive technology

Who?

From 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. there will be a briefing with builders, project contributors and community partners including:

· Ken Melamed, Whistler Mayor
· Dave Brownlie, Whistler Blackcomb President
· Robert Luck, Austrian Trade Commissioner, Toronto
· Matheo Durfel, Durfeld Log, Whistler

A variety of partners will be on-site during this event.

How?

RSVP to hperndl@stscon.com prior to the event. If you require additional information, please call 604.899.0442 or 604.649.0861

Can I come, can I come....??

Radio-Canada tours the house while I explain !

2009-11-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

November 4th, exactly 100 days to the start of the Olympics, I drive to Whistler to meet with Radio-Canada's video journalist, Dominique Pannebianco. He has been assigned to shoot a series of vignettes on various aspects of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, specific to Whistler, and of course Austria House is one of the most interesting ones.

It is a clear and cool day, so the natural light in the House is great.

Dominique is an ex colleague of mine, as I spent many years at Radio-Canada, albeit on the radio side of things, so this was a reunion of sorts for both of us, as I recently left Radio-Canada and he had just returned from a year on the Atlantic coast, working mostly in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.

So I gave him a guided tour, with running commentary, in French of course!

These vignettes, including the ones on Austria House should be aired on Radio-Canada's national TV network starting in January 2010. They will most likely be in three formats: 50 seconds, 90 seconds and 2.5 minutes. They will also be shown on RDI,the French equivalent of CBC's Newsworld.

Radio-Canada is the French public broadcaster in Canada, thus the corporate sister of the CBC.

Woodworks...

2009-10-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

....masterworks!

Baumstark! Ten innovative manufacturers of high end wood furniture from the Tyrol/Austria, named their group "baumstark" - strong as a tree. (www.baumstark.at)

These "manufacturers of comfort" provide the furniture for Austria House and will set up an incredibly chic cafe with a bar inside the house. The pictures are here to whet your appetite.

The furniture was packed into containers last week. Currently it is on its way across the ocean from Europe to Montreal, from there by train to Vancouver and should arrive in Whistler by mid November.

Coffee anyone?

Waterworks

2009-10-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

Niagara Falls, Fontana di Trevi and "INSPIRIT"....all masterpieces that work with water.

No need to show pictures from the first two, but please enjoy "INSPIRIT".

Produced by Schmiedl (www.schmiedl.eu), an Austrian manufacturer, this magnificent piece of design and ingenuity will be installed in Austria House. (Too bad we don´t have a shower in the House.....the shower head of this series is my favorite! Have a look: http://www.schmiedl-armaturen.at/downloads/prosinspirit.pdf)

It was Mr. Gustav Schmiedl who invented and patented the one hole faucet in 1937. Aldest Inc. (www.schmiedl.ca), based close to Montreal, is the exclusive importer of Schmiedl faucets for Canada and the US since 1985.

That´s how it looks when a professional takes a shot!

2009-10-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

Ira Nicolai is born in Germany and developed her passion for photography from the age of 14.
Capitalizing on her years of experience in the international stock agency world as Art Director, she has collaborated with many top photographers and produced more than 4000 commercial images ranging across all genres: still life, sport, outdoor lifestyle, business. Here us more of her work: www.iranicolai.com

Ira is especially interested in sustainable architecture and what could have been more appropriate than taking pictures from Canada’s first passive house! Take a look:

Frequently - and not so frequently - asked questions

2009-10-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the questions we hear around passive houses ........and the answers. Please post your questions in the comments box and we will try our best to come up with an answer.

Q: What is a passive house?
A: A passive house is a building in which a comfortable interior climate can be maintained without active heating and cooling systems (Adamson 1987 and Feist 1988). The house heats and cools itself, hence "passive".
(For the cognoscenti: For European passive construction, prerequisite to this capability is an annual heating requirement that is less than 15kWh/(m²a) (4755 Btu/ft²/yr), not to be attained at the cost of an increase in use of energy for other purposes (e.g., electricity). Furthermore, the combined primary energy consumption of living area of a European passive house may not exceed 120 kWh/(m²a) (38039 Btu/ft²/yr) for heat, hot water and household electricity.)

With this as a starting point, additional energy requirements may be completely covered using renewable energy sources.

This means that the combined energy consumption of a passive house is less than the average new European home requires for household electricity and hot water alone. The combined end energy consumed by a passive house is therefore less than a quarter of the energy consumed by the average new construction that complies with applicable national energy regulations.

A passive house is cost-effective when the combined capitalized costs (construction, including design and installed equipment, plus operating costs for 30 years) do not exceed those of an average new home.

Q: Does the orientation of the house matter?
A: Passive use of solar energy is a significant factor in passive house design.

Q: How important are the windows?
A: Very! In "our" passive house triple-paned windows, facing south and encased in wood and cork-insulated frames, draw heat in and don't let it out. In most Canadian homes, insufficient window frames account for about 60 per cent of a home's heat loss.
(For the cognocscenti: Windows (glazing and frames, combined) should have U-factors not exceeding 0.80 W/(m²K) (0.14 Btu/h/ft²/°F), with solar heat-gain coefficients around 50%.)

Q: What do you need the heat recovery system for?
A: With a highly efficient heat recovery from exhaust air using an air-to-air heatexchanger most of the perceptible heat in the exhaust air is transferred to the incoming fresh air (heat recovery rate over 80%).

Q: Why was the Austria Passive House built in Austria and shipped to Canada?
A: All the components of this passive house were built in Austria by three companies. SOHM produced the wood shell and structure, OPTIWIN the windows and drexel und weiss the heat recovery system. The house is a show case for what is possible in sustainable buildings and what´s done on a big scale in Austria, Germany and Northern Europe (17,000 buildings in Europe, 1 in Canada).

Q: Do we have the material and capacity in Canada to build Passive Houses?
A: The raw material is available, Canada just needs to acquire the necessary technology. Canada has wood - an important component (although passive houses could also be built in concrete - but who wants to do that?). Pine beetle wood works for this kind of building. Most important is the airtight wood shell.
The OPTIWIN windows are currently imported from Austria to Canada.
Heat recovery systems do exist here, to my knowledge.

Q: What about dog houses?
A: Still possible!

Who designed this House, anyway ?

2009-09-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

Martin Treberspurg is the architect of Austria House, the first passive house in Canada.

He is professor for sustainable constructions at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna and director of the architecture company Treberspurg & Partner Architekten ZT GesmbH.

Please read more about him and his impressive curriculum vitae at http://www.treberspurg.com

Look at the house and the first thing you notice is the black siding, giving the House its dramatic appearance. Just imagine it in the white snowy surrounding it will be in, next Winter. What a contrast!

The fantastic windows running diagonally at the front of the house, mirrored and paralleled inside and out by two identical staircases.

See the inside of the House and you will be struck by the visual impact created by the light and airy warmth of the wood interior. The feeling of solidity, welcoming and well being is immediate and strong.

Martin Treberspurg was a key figure in bringing this project to Whistler.

In September of 2006, he was part of a group of Austrian businessmen, participating in the International Wood Buyers fair in Whistler. Half jokingly he mentioned to Helene Perndl (one of the sea to sky partners) that they were planning to build Austria House for the 2010 Olympic winter Games.

Helene asked him if he wanted her to arrange a meeting with the mayor of RMOW, Ken Melamed to pitch their idea. Of course was his answer!

The meeting was arranged, and as we say, the rest is history.

They came, built and went !

2009-09-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am sure Caesar does not mind my paraphrasing his famous three words. But that pretty much sums it up.

The group of Austrian Passive House specialists, that arrived on labour day weekend, have done their work (see photo) and are ready to go back home now. Now Matheo Durfeld's people will be taking over and start with completion of the interior.

Some of my previous blogs documents the progression of the House as it was put together. Now you will see how dramatic the building looks in it's black siding!

Quite the statement and for sure a landmark in Whistler.

Bye, bye Austrian guys!

The Globe and Mail likes us!

2009-09-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Urban design

Austria's housewarming gift

Made for Olympics, energy-efficient building in B.C. sets new standard for Canadian design
JANE ARMSTRONG
WHISTLER, B.C. — From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

When the Winter Games get under way in Whistler, the gathering spot for Austrian athletes, media and Olympic officials will be a simple, two-storey, A-frame house that might be the most energy-efficient dwelling in Canada.

When the Games are done and the Austrians go home, its designers will leave behind the dwelling, which uses a whopping 90 per cent less energy than a regular Canadian home. It will be wrapped, like a gift, in swaths of sturdy insulation and heated largely by triple-paned, floor-to-ceiling windows.

Architect Guido Wimmers said he hopes the structure, which is heated entirely without a furnace and cooled without air conditioning, will inspire Canadians to reform some wasteful construction habits.

"I think it can be a showcase," said Mr. Wimmers, who was among a group of Austrian builders who pitched the idea of constructing the energy-efficient building to officials in the Olympic resort town.

"People can touch it, feel it, see it and say: 'Okay, it's possible.' "

When Austria House is finished, it will be the first home in Canada to meet the rigorous design standards of a passive house. (The German designers who developed the energy-efficient building called it a "passive" house because it requires no active heating or cooling systems.) Its Austrian promoters hope it won't be the last.

If properly designed and built, a passive house dramatically improves a building's energy efficiency - even in the coldest climates - by encasing it in an airtight shell that keeps out the cold and retains the heat already generated inside.

The concept originated in Germany in the early 1990s. There are about 17,000 buildings in Europe - mainly in Germany and Austria - which meet the passive-house standards.

Yet the design has failed to catch on in North America. Mr. Wimmers, who moved to Canada two years ago, noticed the different mindset immediately. Lower energy costs and a sparse population on this side of the Atlantic haven't fuelled the same kind of fervent desire to reduce energy consumption, he said.

When Vancouver-Whistler won the bid for the 2010 Winter Games, a group of Austrian builders gathered some sponsors and pitched the idea to Whistler town officials, offering to leave the building intact as a parting gift to Canada. After the Games, the passive house will be a day lodge for skiers.

The first hurdle? The needed materials weren't available in Canada. Eventually, every scrap of wood and glass and insulation was shipped by sea and rail to British Columbia in six containers. An Austrian construction crew was also imported.

The design is simple. A thick band of insulation encases the house from the roof to beneath the basement floor, to a depth of three to four times the amount of insulation in most Canadian homes. The house sits atop an insulation pan, separating the basement floor from the ground.

Triple-paned windows, facing south and encased in wood and cork-insulated frames, draw heat in and don't let it out. In most Canadian homes, flimsy window frames account for about 60 per cent of a home's heat loss.

Heat is generated largely through these window panels. The airtight construction also helps retain the heat generated from lights and appliances and human occupants.

The temperature is controlled by an elaborate heat exchange system that warms cold air drawn from the outside with hot air from inside that is being vented to the outside.

The cost of all this energy efficiency is steep. The final price tag will top $1-million.

***

EFFICIENT HOMES

The "passive house" has long set the standard for energy efficiency in Europe. North America has its own green construction standards, although European builders say they lag far behind.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system offers a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction, as does Net-Zero Energy Homes.

LEED, which was developed in the U.S., ranks a building's performance in five categories: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection and environmental quality.

Architect Guido Wimmers said the passive house goes further than LEED because it dramatically reduces a building's energy consumption, by up to 90 per cent.

"Eighty-five per cent of the environmental impact of a building is caused by its energy consumption over the lifetime of the building," Mr. Wimmers said. "The LEED system gives just 25 per cent of its certification points to energy efficiency. If you have a good LEED rating, that does not necessarily mean that your building is energy-efficient."

Another green construction initiative is the Net-Zero Energy Home, or Equilibrium home, an initiative sponsored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. CMHC defines a Net-Zero home as one that produces as much energy as it consumes, through installing solar panels, for example.

Party, you say? Party, we did!!!

2009-09-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

David Haber (Consul Austria)
Ken Melamed (Mayor, Whistler)
Bob MacPherson (GM, Whistler)

Helene Perndl (sea to sky consulting inc)
Matheo and Heather Durfeld (Durfeld Log Construction)

Team Austria & Canada

"Gleichenfeier" at Austria House, in Whistler last Friday, September 18 and it was a hit!

We expected around 80 people to attend, and at least that number of guests were there. Among them an enthusiastic group from the RMOW, headed by mayor Ken Melamed, CAO Bill Barratt, GM Bob MacPherson; also Mike Kirkegaard, Joe Mooney, Jessica Delaney, to name a few.

The Austrian Consul, David Haber came up from Vancouver and was as impressed as everybody else.

But the star of the party was (and still is) the house itself. This Passive House, which will be Austria House for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, is fantastic. Although it is not completely finished, you can already feel the unique atmosphere that comes from all these wonderful thick wood walls and ceilings; the beautiful windows are quite dramatic.

The objective of a roofing party is to acknowledge the work of all the trades people that put the house together. All the Austrians were acknowledged and applauded, as were the employees of Durfeld log construction, (general contractor for the house) with Matheo Durfeld, Manfred and Julius leading the group. Also and hand and happily partying were all the involved trades people, suppliers and contractors.

A Gleichenfeier is a traditional beer and sausage party. Beer was generously sponsored by Whistler Brewery and literally mountains of sausage and Austrian speck came with the personal care and attention of Juergen Freudenspung in cooperation with Freybe.

And we had live music! Alex and Reinhart, two German brothers working for Matheo, showed off their mastership on the accordion. They were great!

To get a feel for the party and a shaky tour of the house look at the video......I am no David Vaisbord ........

Meet our cameraman !

2009-09-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Have a look at the guy behind the camera. He is David Vaisbord and he has been shooting the evolution of Austria House's construction since the installation of the Isoquick insulation in June.

His work will be used by the ORF (Austrian Public Broadcaster) for a documentary on the first Passive House, built in Canada, to be aired in Austria before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The ORF will also have their studios in this house for the Olympic broadcasts.

Some video will find its way into another documentary, this time by the Discovery Channel, which is also documenting the building of Austria House as a Passive House.

David will be busy for quite a while shooting the final work on the exterior as well as the inside.

We are all looking forward to seeing the completed product.

The roof is on !!!

2009-09-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been exciting for Austria House. As you will see from the pictures, it went from ground insulation to concrete foundation poured, to walls and floor being put in. And now THE ROOF is on!!!

And we are ready for the "Gleichenfeier" (an Austrian tradition that requires a party when the roof is up...and party we will next Friday!)

All this activity has attracted a lot of attention, in particular a group of masters and PhD students from the Department of Wood Science at the University of British Columbia, 40 + architects, in Whistler for the BC Wood Global Buyers Mission, a group from McFarland Marceau (architects in Vancouver with an emphasis on sustainable buildings), builders from the area.......

Next to come are the Eternit shingles and siding and the high efficiency windows. More on this in another posting.

Austria House @ Whistler's "Question"

2009-09-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here is what David Burke @ Whistler´s "Question", a local paper, has to say about Austria House:

The aim of Austria Passive House is to push the envelope — yes, especially the building envelope — of what’s possible in terms of energy-efficient construction in Canada, and to showcase that technology during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

While not completely “green” because it uses some products made from fossil fuels, the building that’s taking shape near the old Lost Lake ticket booth includes a number of features that are so new to this country that the builders had to have an engineer’s “equivalency” report verifying its reliability in the place of the necessary Canadian Standards Association (CSA) approvals, said project foreman Manfred Haas.

“This is definitely the next level in sustainability in public buildings,” said Haas, who added that while there are some 4,000 such buildings in Austria.

Haas, who works for Whistler-based Dürfeld Log Construction, the general contractor on the project, insisted — somewhat tongue-in-cheek — that he was chosen for the job “because I speak German, not because I’m overly qualified.”

His boss, Matheo Dürfeld, clarified by saying that with so many visiting Austrian workers on the site, it was important to have a foreman who knows construction lingo in both English and German.

“It’s going to be done largely by Austrians,” said Dürfeld, adding that there are about 4,000 such buildings in Austria.

Therein lies an opportunity for learning on the part of the North Americans who are involved. The project is being financed entirely with private dollars, including a $150,000 grant from the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, with the largest chunk having come from Austrian and German firms who saw the Games as an opportunity to showcase their materials and techniques around the world.

Austria’s Sohm Holzbautechnik (wood technology) is supplying the design and manufactured wood products for the project. Dense, interlocking foam pieces called Isoquick, manufactured by German chemical company BASF, are being used for the heat-trapping underfloor slab.

Once the building is complete, it’ll use approximately one-tenth the energy of a similar-sized building that uses standard North American construction techniques, Haas said. Key to that is the building envelope — 25 centimetres of dense polystyrene foam encase the exterior walls as well as the Isoquick foam under the flooring.

“The secret of the Passive House is that no exterior dirt is allowed to touch the house, period,” Haas said.

Most of the building’s components have been shipped over from Austria and on Aug. 30, a Sohm team of wood construction specialists arrived to begin assembling the building, which was already taking shape by last Thursday (Sept. 4).

During the Games, it will be home to the Austrian Olympic Committee and Austrian Public Broadcasting, which will broadcast live Games coverage to audiences back home from the Passive House.

Naturally, the logos of the firms that contributed to the project will be featured prominently on air, but Sohm and the other Austria Passive House partners also have designs on the North American market, Haas said. Sohm, for example, wants to market its products and techniques here and may even set up an operation in B.C. in the future, he said.

Said Dürfeld, “What we want to look at is how we can start applying what we’re learning to construction over here.”

**********************************

And here is what we have to say:

That's what a power couple looks like!

Matheo Dürfeld (left) and Manfred Haas

And now the Stars of Austria House !!!!

2009-09-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well the five guys from Austria that I introduced to you in the last post, with team Durfeld, are literally stealing the show in Whistler!

They run, jump and balance themselves on the structure as they are assembling Austria House, at a breathtaking pace. The construction site with the Austrian boys and the Durfeld crew has become an overnight sensation in Whistler. This is the best show in town !!! They are precise, dedicated and hard working not to mention fit and handsome. See for yourself.

Five Sohm workers - Stefan, Reinhard, Martin, Gebhard and Markus-, the sixth one is Christian, another Austrian expat, who works for Matheo Durfeld. Then sea to sky consulting partner Hans Georg Bottler.

Standing below in the middle is RMOW's Bob McPherson and on his left Matheo Durfeld, general contractor of the project.

Now this Passive House (which will be Austria House for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games) is really taking on its final shape. The ground floor is all but done and the first floor will be completed by Wednesday, most likely. Then comes the team of roofers and window specialists, and by the end of Summer, that should be it.

It will then be time to celebrate "Gleichenfeier" in the Austrian tradition; that is the celebration of having the roof up. Translation: the first party at Austria House.

Media attention is growing. There is talk of CTV using Austria House as a set for their pre- Olympic special in January 2010!

This site does not only attract onlookers and Whistler top managers. VANOC's Jim Godfrey was also on site to get a look, and was very impressed with what he saw. Someone was heard saying that BC's premier should be invited to visit this soon.

Remember, this is a private undertaking by the APG, (Austrian Passive House Group) in partnership with RMOW, the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and sea to sky consultants.

Austria House will serve as the ÖOC's (Austrian Olympic Committee) headquarters during the Olympics and the ORF (Austrian public broadcaster) will be doing their daily radio and TV programs from there as well.

Austria House is traditionally a popular gathering place for hobnobbing VIPs, athletes and international media during Winter Olympics.

What a day! I´ve had it. Good night .... and good luck!

They are here !!!!

2009-08-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

The manpower is here, the essential portion of the equation to put all these puzzle pieces together.

First came the Isoquick insulation, then the six containers with the House, and NOW after a very long journey from Austria to Vancouver, via Amsterdam, the team of five expert Austrians who will put it all together again.

Sunday was a beautiful day to fly into Vancouver, as the workers from Sohm were finally allowed in to the country by Canada Customs, after a normal, but we thought lengthy process of checking their work visas.

No sooner had they left the the airport, that they were on the road again to Whistler, all piled into Matteo Durfeld's HUGE pick up truck; extended cab for passengers, and truck bed for luggage.

Seems, they also brought good luck as the containers were finally trucked to Whistler after some puzzling questions about how they had been packed, and some doubt as to their balance.

Vancouver truckers seem picky that way. The containers had after all, made it all the way down that long and winding road from the small village of Alberschwende (Austria). But all is well that ends well!!!

As an Austrian pop group once sang....BRUM, TATA, BRUM !!!

What a release !!!

2009-08-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, the phone rings, and Helene hears that the six containers with the elements of the Passive House for Austria House for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, are already in Vancouver, and Customs wants to see the contents of the windows container before they release it to us.

Sounds simple enough, but this is not good news. The windows of the house are packed with a lot of care and special attention, and this cannot be unpacked, examined and repacked just anyway by people who are not specialists. So we are worried and the Austrians are almost crying in their beer…or schnapps or BOTH!

Starts a long series of phone calls to the customs broker, the transport company, the APG members back in Austria, the Austrian Trade Commissioner in Toronto, the RMOW, and a few other along the way, to see if this can be avoided.

It’s Wednesday and we need a solution. We naively suggest that Customs only need to take the top off the container, and peer inside…Shouldn’t that suffice? Well, little do we know. If Customs wants to look at everything, they can look at everything! Finally we get enough detailed information and photos of the windows from Austria as to what exactly is in the window container. Customs are satisfied and agree to clear the shipment.

Crisis over…

Now comes the challenge of orchestrating in what order the containers are moved to Whistler to avoid costly empty truck return trips to Vancouver. There are six of these containers, and the objective is to unload them on site, then empty and return the container to Vancouver. So the choreography requires a crane, some room, and a truck to get the empty back to town.

Follow so far? It’s like a big LEGO. Unpack one container, build. Unpack another container, build…and so on until Austria House is up.

In the meantime the team of Austrian tradesmen will be arriving this weekend, and we want the containers up in Whistler for them to start putting the Passive House back together.

Of course the very exciting news in all this, is that by the end of next week (just before Labour Day weekend) most of the Passive House shell will be up!

If you are in Whistler, in early September, drop by Lost Lake Park and watch the evolution of the Passive House.

More to come on all of these milestones as they unfold!

From Passive Houses to pastries...

2009-08-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

Austria with it's passive houses and sweet cuisine found a new friend in Barb Ustina, a Discovery Channel producer, who went to Austria to document the production of the passive house components. (She is seen in the picture carrying a window with Martin Treberspurg, the architect of the house)

She liked the country so much that she decided to go back with her husband on her holidays.

On her return to Canada, this is what Barb emailed us:

"Travelling to the Passive House factory in Austria and seeing all of the unique environmentally friendly buildings in the area was a real highlight of my trip.

My husband and I returned to Austria for a holiday the last two weeks of July and had an absolutely marvelous time – the food, the wine, the hospitality, the pastries, the shopping....
I could go on and on. Austria is Awesome!

I could take a trip to Vienna just to indulge in sweets, tortes, strudels, schokobombs, and I LOVE Kaiserschmarrn!"

So for all the Kaiserschmarrn lovers out there here is my spouse's recipe (trust me she knows these things, she is Austrian):

Kaiserschmarrn (Emperor's Nonsense)

3 eggs
100 g flour
1 tablespoon sugar
some vanilla
pinch salt
125 ml of milk
100 g butter
raisins

Mix yolks, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and milk to a liquid, but viscous dough. Beat the egg white until thoroughly stiff.
Mix dough and egg white gently, once the butter has melted and is hot in the pan.
Then pour the dough into the pan and fry it like an omelet at low heat.
Sprinkle raisins over the omelet.
Try to turn it after a while (never mind if it breaks).
Fry the other side. Then tear it into small pieces (between 2 and 5 centimetres) and bake it properly.
Serve it with icing sugar on top and - ideally - "Zwetschkenröster", a kind of plum chutney.

Mahlzeit as they say in Austria.

Exciting weeks ahead !!!

2009-08-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

As the workers from Sohm, (one of the three APG companies) are getting ready to travel to Whistler to assemble Austria House , the components of this Passive House building are still on their way across the Atlantic.

The Sohm staff members will arrive on August 31st, and some surprise events are in the planning to make their stay in Canada a memorable one.

The house components should be here soon after, and construction and assembly will then start in earnest, most likely in the first week of September.

Expect to see news stories on this in local and regional TV newscasts, as interest from news crews is strong. I will be writing more on this when I know precisely when the components will be in Whistler.

Remember they left Austria on July 23rd for Hamburg, then on a cargo to Montreal, where they get transferred to a train to Vancouver, then trucked up to Whistler.

PhD students from the Timber Engineering and Applied Mechanics Research Group of the department of Wood Science at UBC will also come up to Whistler to study this project. They will get to see first hand how the wood structures were conceived, constructed and how they will assembled to achieve maximum insulation value.

The next weeks are going to be exciting and filled with events.

A heads up on major community events planned for the 26 of November, when the Austria Passive House will be completed. It will be presented to the Whistler Community and Innsbruck in Austria with live video hook ups.

Me and my favorite human are ready and waiting for The House!

Whistler Blackcomb Foundation grants 150K to the project

2009-08-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Whistler Blackomb Foundation has granted $150,000 to the Passive House project for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

This foundation, which was created in 1992, strives to support community projects in the Sea to Sky corridor .

It was a natural fit for the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation to come on board of the Passive House initiative, as this energy conserving building, will be handed to the RMOW after it was used as Austria House for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

This is a tremendous help towards the completion of the Passive House. It is also an everlasting testimonial of their implication in the Sea to Sky corridor as stated in its mandate.

This contribution is paramount to the completion of the House, and all parties are grateful for their decision to support it.

Terribly Sad News

2009-08-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have the terribly sad task to inform you that our friend Paulus Freisinger was killed in a mountaineering accident on the Matterhorn in Switzerland on Saturday, August 1, 2009.

He was the general Manager of OPTIWIN and of Freisinger Windows and one of the APG partners. His energy and positive personality brought so much to us, in our private and business life.
Paulus left behind his wife and three young children.

2009-07-29T17:51:00.001-07:00

..............first one in line to welcome Austria House 2010!

Austria House is on its way

2009-07-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

July 23rd was party time in Vorarlberg, Austria, for the send off of the passive house to Canada, where it will become Austria House, for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The representatives of the APG (Austria Passive House Group), Leo Wallner, the head of the ÖOC , members of the media and local politicians were on hand to witness the send off.

So, here it comes...but we still have to wait a few weeks, until September actually, before the house arrives in Whistler. It takes six shipping containers to "house" the House. The whole of its parts is 120 cubic meters. Everyone in Whistler is anxiously waiting for its arrival as everything is ready for the next step: putting Austria House back together again!

The Passive House technology, which requires almost no energy for heating, cooling or ventilation, because of its advanced air circulation, heat exchange, window and wall insulation techniques, will be showcased in this Austria House for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Look at the cool logos!

2009-07-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

All these companies are involved in the passive house project and we will be reporting on all of them in future posts.

No logo.....it's Winston, our mascot!

Discovery Channel (CTV) camera on Passive House docu in Austria

2009-07-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Discovery Channel's producer Barb Ustina, was shooting with cameraman Ross MacIntosh on location in Vorarlberg, Austria, in late June, for a documentary on the Passive House.

Discovery Channel is part of CTV , who is the TV rights holder for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. And as such the network is very keen to cover all aspects of the Olympic story.

The TV crew spent two days in Austria to see the construction of all elements of the house.

The photo on the right shows the Austrian team behind this undertaking.

Photo left to right:
Martin Treberspurg (Treberspurg und Partner), Paulus Freisinger (OPTIWIN), Thomas Sohm (SOHM Holzbau), Barb Ustina (CTV), Reinhard Weiss (drexel und weiss), Markus Regensburger (Zweiraum GmbH), Erich Reiner (Technical Engineer), Ross MacIntosh (CTV)

Quick ground insulation for Austria Passive House with Isoquick

2009-07-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Yes it was quick all right! First the material was shipped from Germany to Montreal, then it left by truck on Friday night, and zoom, here it is in Whistler on the following Tuesday morning. The Schroeder father and son team, from Isoquick traveled from Germany with another member of the company to install the insulation.

Manufactured by BASF (Germany), this highly efficient insulation is made from Peripor, an insulation material strong enough to carry the load of the entire house. It serves as a sock, completely insulating the house from the cold of the load bearing concrete slab.

This was the first real construction task since the lot was leveled and service hook ups installed. It look the Isoquick trio just one day to get the interlocking pieces of insulation down.

Whistler's Mayor Ken Melamed came to see how the crew was doing. A camera team from CTV working on a documentary on the Austria Passive House filmed this important step in the construction process.

More on the tv doc in another post.

ps: the complete news release is available at

http://www.whistler.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=771&Itemid=1

Signage at Whistler construction site

2009-07-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge

History of the Austria Passive House project in Whistler

2009-07-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

It was almost three years ago that the idea to build Austria House as a Passive House for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games was born by a trio of Austrian companies that were experienced Passive House builders.

The idea was presented to Ken Melamed, mayor of Whistler, a deal was reached, the trio became the APG (Austria Passive House Group) and draft plans were drawn.

The principle for the partnership was simple. Since Whistler has a sustainability plan, this type of house fit in perfectly. Thus RMOW would supply the land and services, Whistler Blackcomb Foundation supports the project through a grant, APG builds the house, and after the Games the finished product becomes the property of Whistler .

So what is this Passive House?

It is a building in which a constant and even temperature is maintained year round, without energy consumed by heating, ventilation or air conditioning. The house effectively heats and cools itself, hence the name Passive House.

This is achieved through sophisticated heat exchange and air circulation systems, airtight triple pane windows, exceptionally well insulated and specially constructed wooden walls and a "sock"- an insulation beneath the load bearing slab, keeping the cold from seeping in.

People who live and work in a passive house rave about the superior air quality and perfectly maintained temperature.

The energy necessary for appliances and lighting can of course by supplied through solar panels or other sustainable techniques keeping with the houses' "green" identity.

What will it be used for ?

In effect, the Passive House will be the headquarters for the ÖOC (Austrian Olympic Committee) for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The ORF (Austrian public broadcaster) will also produce and broadcast its daily Olympic coverage from Austria House.

It will also be a sought after destination for a regular flow of athletes, international VIPS, dignitaries and media, because of the Austrian Olympic Teams' high profile in Olympic skiing.

Austria House will be where people want to be, and want to be seen!

Introduction

2009-07-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

This blog will chronicle the story of the Austria Passive House (APG), built in Whistler by a group of Austrian companies and the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

It will explain what a Passive House is, how the project came about, who is a part of it, what it will be used for, and what will happen to it after the Games.

Next post soon! (like tomorrow says the boss !)