Retrofit gives Ahunstic family the first Passive House in Quebec – Montreal Gazette

If you were taking a walk down just about any street in any borough of Montreal on July 23 this year, when the temperature topped 26 Celsius (and the nighttime low was 25 C), you would have heard the buzzing and whirring of air conditioners cooling the homes on both sides of the street.

Some homes, mostly apartment buildings or the typical Montreal duplexes, werent built with the need for air conditioning in mind. In order to cool their homes, people typically install window air conditioners. Often with single-family homes, we see the addition of powerful central air-conditioning units.

The same applies to a quiet street in Ahuntsic, where the home of Damien Chaveron and his family is located. Lined with neatly manicured lawns and honey locust trees waving in the occasional warm breeze, one might find the area tranquil, but ordinary. That is until arriving at the Chaveron home.

From the outside, the house has noticeable differences from the other homes on the street. The most obvious difference on the modern facade is in the size of the windows facing the front yard. Also, if you look long enough, you might also notice there is no visible air conditioner.

Thats because the Chaveron home is a Passive House (Passivhaus). What does that mean? Put simply, it is an intelligently insulated airtight building with an excellent mechanical ventilation system that utilizes its location to use as little as one-tenth the energy of a standard house to heat and cool, according to Richard Price, president of Construction Le Tournesol, the company responsible for retrofitting the Chaveron home.

Its one of the first homes built to the Passive House standard in Canada and the first in Quebec. One could say its a pioneer in a growing movement across the country. As indicated by Passive House Canada, a national non-profit professional association promoting the Passive House high-performance building standard, the popularity of such homes has grown in the last five years. The figure has jumped from only about 20 or so as the concept was being introduced to 2,000 or more by 2017, with the production of multi-unit building complexes in Ontario.

The living room and dining room in the Chaveron familys Passive House.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

Upon entering the Chaveron familys open-concept home, there is a light and airy feel in spite of the small windows on the north side of the facade. Compensating well for the small windows, large windows on the south side of the house allow an abundance of natural light to pour in.

The large south-facing windows also help to utilize the warmth of the sun for heating in the winter. Given the ultra-efficient insulation in the windows and walls that creates an airtight building envelope and the natural warmth from the large south-facing windows, the only heating system required for the 2,800-square-foot home is a small, toaster-sized 240-volt heater and four baseboard heaters as supplementary heat when necessary.

A wall of exposed wood planks is seen in the living room of the Chaveron familys Passive House.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

Simplicity seems to be the key to making this home comfortable as well as beautiful, with the most immediately notable esthetic being a feature wall of exposed wood planks in the living room.

Theres a quiet stillness to the home with its lack of fans or loud air-conditioning unit forcing bursts of cool air through the space. Hardly noticeable in the ceilings are small, circular vents gently pushing air through a virtually silent ventilation system.

Retrofitted to be passive without air conditioning at first, the family had to add a small rooftop one recently because of the progressively hotter, more humid summers.

With nighttime temperatures remaining at 30 degrees Celsius, buildings dont have time to cool off. Therefore, even a house with such high standards (as the Chaveron family house) might need a small air conditioner, Price explained.

One thing that adds to the sensation of stillness are the walls, which Chaveron points out are roughly 24 inches thick, with 16 inches of that being insulation alone. Not only does it insulate for temperature, but it also insulates for sound.

Furthermore, windows with triple glazing help to regulate the inside temperature of the home. This is especially notable in the winter when the home is kept warm by retaining its own heat emitted from the household appliances and people in the home.

The warmth of the floor all year long, allowing us to stay bare foot, even in deep winter, is one of the highlights for Damien Chaveron of living in a Passive House.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

Even the floors remain warm throughout the winter. Incidentally, when Damien Chaveron was asked what his favourite features of the home were, he stated, among several things, the warmth of the floor all year long, allowing us to stay bare foot, even in deep winter.

When we think of eco-conscious homes, we often think of renewable energy or extremely efficient energy use. It isnt quite as common that we think of water consumption or water in a renewable way.

Damien Chaveron looks at underground rain collector for his Passive House.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

The Chaveron home, however, is equipped with what is known as a greywater system. In such a system, water is preserved from baths and showers that is piped to a surge tank. From the tank, it is piped into an irrigation system to be used for flushing toilets

Ecohome, a website dedicated to informing builders and homeowners about sustainable, long lasting and healthy homes, expounds on why this practice is not common in Canada. It explains that water, as a resource, is undervalued in Canada because its so easy to come by. Its underpriced in terms of what our utility companies charge us.

While the average person in a developing country will (use) about 20 to 30 litres of water per day, research shows that the average Canadian generates over 300 litres of waste water each day. This statistic makes Canadians one of the highest per-capita consumers of water on the planet, the website points out.

Damien Chaveron is seen in basement of his Passive House.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

Moreover, until residential greywater recycling systems offer Canadian consumers a noticeable return on their investment through savings in their utility bills, usage is unlikely to change unless we also start to feel the shortage.

Of course, if one thinks as Damien Chaveron does about the long-term benefits of such a system, maybe feeling the immediate effects of conservation isnt necessarily the point. In fact, it may be a long while before the family recoups the monetary cost of retrofitting their home (around $500,000) even with the very low utility bills of about $800 for the year. After all, perhaps its not only monetary benefits that count.

In terms of comfort, Chaveron clarifies, its worth the cost for my family. Living in this house is a real pleasure every single day. Never cold, never too humid nor too dry. Outstanding air quality. It goes clearly beyond our expectations.

The back facade of Chaveron familys Passive House.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

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Retrofit gives Ahunstic family the first Passive House in Quebec - Montreal Gazette