INNOVATION November-December 2016

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The City of Fort St. John Passive House proves the Passive House Standard works in Canada's northern climate. The house serves as a demonstration project for the local community. P hotos : V elvet L eaf P hotography

Fort St. John Passive House Reducing Emissions and Demonstrating Energy Savings in a Northern Climate Julie Rogers O ver the past seven years, the City of Fort St. John, BC, has made it a priority to conserve water and energy, and reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions from both its corporate operations and within the community. The city aims to lead use of pervasive sustainable and environmental best practices in the Peace River region. The

approach is to target conservation as an easy source of energy. If a rural, northern community with an extraction-based economy can show this environmental leadership, others have less excuse for not following suit. Up to 90 percent of energy-performance savings happen when building shape, solar exposure, superinsulation, advanced windows, airtightness, ventilation with heat recovery, and thermal bridge-free construction are considered during the planning stages. With this in mind, the city chose to build an ultra-low-energy house to prove to local contractors that higher construction standards can be applied to significantly reduce annual energy demands—even as far north as Fort St. John.

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