6 Acorn Street, Hamilton

A cutting-edge new construction project designed in alignment with Passive House standards, with a focus on energy modeling, building enclosure commissioning, and air tightness testing.

Services

Energy and Carbon Reduction Specialty Testing

Subservices

Building Enclosure Commissioning, Passive House and EnerPHit

Sector

Residential

Duration

2020-2021

Client

Hamilton East Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes Inc.

Project Value

$15,000,000

Project size

8 story building (60 units)

Hamilton East Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes decided to build a new mid-rise building at 6 Acorn Street in Hamilton.

While the project did not specifically target Passive House Certification, the Owners tasked the design team with delivering a building that could achieve Passive House performance levels.

Pretium was engaged to create an energy modeling of the proposed design using designPH and PHPP software to confirm the performance was meeting the stringent targets. During both the design and construction phases, Pretium provided third-party Building Enclosure Commissioning services.

Our role involved reviewing documentation and construction to ensure alignment with the Owner’s Project Requirements.

Pretium also completed air tightness testing on a mock-up unit to confirm that the target of 0.6 ACH @ 50Pa had been achieved. As part of the testing, tracer gas was used to identify deficiencies in the building enclosure. These were then addressed by the Contractor prior to re-testing.

To deliver this project, Pretium completed the following measures:

Energy Modeling

A quantitative tool that assists designers in evaluating the environmental, technical, and financial viability of a proposed building retrofit or design for a new building. The data obtained from the analysis allows designers to communicate recommendations to building owners and managers more effectively. The information is used to identify optimal solutions.

Building Enclosure Commissioning

An ideal BECx project engages a third-party Building Enclosure Commissioning Agent (BECxA) from Pre-Design through Occupancy and Operations. Through the commissioning process, we work with both the design team and contractor on the project to deliver an exterior enclosure that meets or exceeds the client’s performance targets.

Air Tightness Testing

Both qualitative and quantitative air leakage testing of building envelope components, compartments, or whole buildings is provided including, but not limited to, in-situ performance testing of windows and doors, and the use of a smoke-generating device in conjunction with blower doors to identify and resolve air infiltration issues.

Client Benefits

The building envelope was projected to be 75% more airtight than a typical code compliant building.

The Passive House modeling we completed for the proposed design was used to develop insightful recommendations for enhancing the building envelope and mechanical systems before construction commenced. This proactive approach assisted the client in achieving energy performance closer to Passive House standards.

Additionally, Pretium conducted Air Leakage testing during a crucial construction phase, enabling prompt implementation of recommendations to minimize air leakage.

DesignPH model of the building.

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