U of T Harmony Commons becomes largest Canadian Passive House building

Harmony Commons Student Residence at the University of Toronto Scarborough is officially the largest Canadian building to receive Passive House Classic certification.

The 24,620 square-metre building by Global design office and green-building specialists Handel Architects, met the standards for sustainable materials, energy efficiency, and renewably-sourced power required by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany.

The announcement marks another addition to Handel’s portfolio of Passive House projects, and makes Harmony Commons the largest Passive House building in Canada, along with the largest dormitory in the world to qualify for certification.

Armed with an $8.5-million (CAN) revolving fund for carbon-reduction projects, green construction was a primary aim of both the designers and their client.

The University of Toronto is currently pursuing a one-third cut in total greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030. To reach that goal, Passive House was identified as an ideal approach for the Harmony Commons project.

Every detail of the project was fine-tuned to make sure the building used less energy than any comparably-sized student residence. The structure’s airtight enclosure and high-efficiency heat pumps allow the building to remain warm while keeping its carbon footprint minimal.

Passive House certification is assessed through a set of performance criteria, and requires attention to various technical details, along with a holistic understanding of the fundamentals of architecture.

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