Rainbow Prefab Duplex is the First Certified PassivHaus in British Columbia

The first certified PassivHaus in British Columbia is the <a href="http://www.markenprojects.com/en/rainbow-passive-house-duplex.html" target="_blank">Rainbow Prefab Duplex</a> in Whistler. Designed by <a href="http://www.markenprojects.com/" target="_blank">Marken Projects</a> and built by <a href="http://www.whistlerpassivehouse.com/" target="_blank">Dürfeld Constructors</a> and <a href="http://www.bcpassivehouse.com/" target="_blank">BC Passivehouse</a>, this duplex uses 90 percent less energy for heating and cooling than a conventionally built home. The home was completed in early 2012 and was just awarded its certification from the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt this January and is built with locally-fabricated cellulose-filled panels by BC Passivehouse.

Each home in the Rainbow Passive House Duplex is 1,500 sq ft and comes with an unfinished basement, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Rooftop solar hot water system.

The home achieves a 90% reduction in energy use because of its super tight envelope, high performance cellulose insulation, a solar hot water system, high performance heat recovery ventilation system, and a subsoil heat exchanger.

The Rainbow Passive House Duplex was built using a prefab panelized system with local materials by <a href="http://www.bcpassivehouse.com/theprefabpanelizedsystem.html" target="_blank">BC Passivehouse</a>, which is Canada’s first manufacturing plant prefabricating a panelized system that adheres to the PassivHaus standard.

<a href="http://www.markenprojects.com/" target="_blank">Marken Projects</a> and <a href="http://www.whistlerpassivehouse.com/" target="_blank">Dürfeld Constructors</a> handled the assembly and construction (see a time-lapse video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHt3InxyvSg" target="_blank">here</a>).

“Showcasing affordable high performance building design and construction was one of the main goals for this project,” says Alex Maurer, director of Marken Projects. “At the same time using regional products from sustainable sources where possible was as important.”

The duplex was awarded PassivHaus certification in January 2013.

View of the living room out into the neighborhood.

Assembly of the Rainbow Passive House.

“We had a great response from visitors at the open houses”, says Lydia Durfeld marketing manager at prefab builder BC Passive House. ”Holding tours throughout the construction process not only gave people the opportunity to see the build-up and construction techniques that go into the making of a Passive House but also enabled them to experience first-hand the high-degree of comfort that is achieved.”

A prefab panel is craned into place.

The panels are fabricated in BC and are designed specifically to meet passive house standards.

A view of the insulation used.