As an Affiliate of the International Passive House Association, we are proud to be the leading Passive House training organisation in Canada. Our instructors have taught hundreds of students around North America on all aspects of Passive House design and construction. We lead the field nationally in offering practical and pragmatic advice for ecological, sustainable construction, and we’re continually updating and revising our course material to reflect the advancement of the Passive House Standard in Canada and internationally. Passive House course offerings include the following:

100 LEVEL FOUNDATION COURSES

100: Passive House Basics Webinar

This webinar will define what a Passive House is, how the design standard is applied to different building types and the requirement for careful design and high performance components. It will touch on which building types are more suitable for a first project and how expertise in Passive House design and construction is acquired.

110: One day intro to Passive House Course

This course will introduce all significant Passive House design issues, including: Passive House history; design fundamentals; Passive House requirements in Canada; superinsulated building envelopes; extreme airtightness; windows; ventilation design fundamentals; and Canadian case studies.

120: 10 Day Passive House Design and Construction Course

The Certified Passive House Designers Course curriculum has been substantially revised, expanded, and improved. Drawing from several years of experience delivering the course and extensive feedback from past participants, this new curriculum has been crafted to prepare participants to take the international Passive House exam and tackle their first Passive House project.

This 100 level 10 day foundation course is offered in two parts (A & B) – with an option to take part A only.
This course is aimed at all current and aspiring building industry professionals who are motivated to learn how to build to the world’s most advanced and energy efficient construction standard.

Part A (4 days in class):
Part A provides a comprehensive foundation to Passive House design and construction. It covers the technical, social, economic, and policy elements of the standard. Numerous case studies, both domestic and international, will demonstrate current best practice.

Intended Audience: All building industry professionals, including city planners, policy makers, building officials, manufacturers, engineers, architects, designers, contractors, and builders. Part A can be taken as a standalone course.

Part B (3 days in class and 3 days online self study): 
*Part B can only be taken once Part A has been completed.*
Part B is designed to enable you to design or build your first Passive House and prepare you to take the International Passive House Exam. This segment of the course offers a step by step guide to using Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) to design a Passive House. It is delivered in two components: 3 days of online self study followed by 3 days of in-class lecture/workshop.

Intended Audience: All those that will be directly involved in the design and construction of Passive Houses.

150: Five Day Passive House Trades Course

This course is aimed at all building professionals, contractors, engineers, builders, advanced trades students and others who are motivated to learn how to build to the world’s most advanced and ecological construction standard – the Passive House Standard. This comprehensive trades course is designed to enable you to understand Passive House building techniques and helps prepare you to pass the International Passive House Trades Exam. It is delivered in a 5 day in-class lecture/workshop. The learning emphasis is based on a combination of Passive Building theory and hands on building exposure. The course incorporates actual building of Passive House details relevant to the Canadian Construction Industry.

Courses are being taught in the fall at British Columbia School of Technology (BCIT) in Burnaby BC and Saskatchewan Polytechnic Institute in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. If you are an Institution or Company wanting in-house training, you can contact [email protected] for more information.

190: Two Day Certified Passive House Designer/Consultant Exam Preparation Course

The course is designed to help prepare graduates of the 5 or 10 day Passive House Design and Construction course to pass the Passive House Institute exam.

200 LEVEL MASTER CLASS COURSES

210: Three day Using PHPP in Design and Calculation

Participants will learn how to use the PHPP for residential building design and certification.  Participants will be guided step-by-step through the relevant worksheets, while learning the correct conventions for measurements and calculations.  Proper documentation will also covered in detail.

220: Two day Intro to the designPH Sketchup Plugin

Participants will learn how to use designPH for the design and certification of Passive House buildings.  Participants will be guided step-by-step through the building design process, from building model creation to exporting to PHPP.  A major focus will be on iterative design to achieve the Passive House criteria.

230: Two Day Thermal Bridging Calculation

Participants learn the fundamentals of thermal bridging calculations for wood-framed construction. Common junction details and their modelling conventions will be examined. Modelling techniques will be taught using Therm. Participants will be given the opportunity to perform calculations and have them reviewed in class.

You can download our course brochure here: Passive House Courses & Workshops