As administrator of the BC Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) funds, FENBC has recently funded a project aimed at helping Canadian window manufacturers increase their share of the growing demand for Passive House windows. The project aims to equip Canadian window manufacturers with the tools to derive Passive House window data from their existing NFRC-based simulation data.
The project benefits from the expertise of two Passive House certifiers accredited by the Passive House Institute: Monte Paulsen of RDH Building Science and Andrew Peel of Peel Passive House Consulting. According to Monte Paulsen, “certified Passive House buildings do not need to use certified Passive House windows. Many Passive House projects could use high performance Canadian-made windows . . . if only they had the window performance data required by the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) software.”
The research project aims to provide the Canadian window industry with a recognized methodology for deriving PHPP parameters from existing Canadian window simulation data, and to supplement it with additional calculations for attributes not evaluated using CSA or NFRC methods. This will benefit two groups of stakeholders: window manufacturers and Passive House design teams.
“With this data, Passive House designers will realize that many affordable Canadian products could be used in their projects,” says Paulsen. “The existence of a recognized methodology that meets Passive House Institute data quality requirements will give design teams an alternative to using certified Passive House products.”
The other benefit? According to Andrew Peel, the methodology will equip Canadian manufacturers with the tools to design next-generation windows that could compete in an international export market. “Passive House windows designed for the Canadian climate would out-perform most Passive House windows available from Europe that are designed for a warmer climate.”
The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
