Passive House Canada secures grant to accelerate building standards

VICTORIA — Passive House Canada announces that it has been awarded a grant of 1.6 million over three years from Natural Resources Canada’s Codes Acceleration Fund. This funding will support the development and delivery of comprehensive training programs for building officials and airtightness field testers and designers, as well as a technical assistance program for component manufacturers. These initiatives are steps towards accelerating the adoption of buildings across Canada, addressing key barriers, and fostering a more sustainable future.

The grant will facilitate the creation of targeted training modules designed to equip building officials and airtightness field testers and designers with the skills necessary to meet the upper tiers of national building codes. Further, the grant will also help high-performance component manufacturers meet the decarbonization goals of social housing providers. These programs will address critical knowledge gaps and capacity issues that currently hinder the progress of high-performance building projects.

Building Officials Training: This virtual training aims to enhance the expertise of building officials in reviewing and approving high-performance building plans. By focusing on advanced building techniques, such as efficient enclosures and mechanical systems, the training will streamline the approval process and reduce project delays.

Airtightness Field Testers and Designers Training: This in-person training will provide field testers and designers with the practical knowledge required for conducting airtightness testing on large buildings. The program will ensure that these professionals can verify and ensure building performance, contributing to overall compliance with high-performance standards.

Component Manufacturers Technical Assistance Program: Passive House Canada is seeking to engage manufacturers in developing high-performance windows, building envelopes, and ventilation systems. This program aims to foster collaboration with social housing providers, creating component specifications and driving market transformation. Manufacturers will receive targeted support to meet the demands of high-performance building components necessary to achieve energy efficiency and sustainability goals.

“We are incredibly honoured to receive this grant from Natural Resources Canada. This funding will enable us to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in the building sector, such as knowledge gaps and capacity issues. By providing targeted training and technical support, we aim to create a robust high-performance building sector capable of meeting ambitious energy performance standards,” says Chris Ballard, CEO of Passive House Canada.

“Energy efficiency means cost savings for Canadians. At a time when we are facing challenges with affordability and climate change, this plan meets Canadians where they are at and delivers the action they need, at the pace and scale they are demanding. Canada’s first-ever Canada Green Buildings Strategy is a plan to save Canadians money, create jobs and seize the economic opportunities that a clean and sustainable economy presents, and we’re so pleased to be creating training programs through Passive House Canada,” says Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Government of Canada.