This report evaluates the energy, comfort, and durability performance of the home under various configurations. The findings suggest significant potential for enhancing the building’s energy efficiency beyond the minimum standards set by the building codes.

The proposed enhancements outlined in this report could potentially enable the home to achieve a ‘Net-Zero’ energy balance annually, or at the least become ‘Net-Zero Ready’ for the future addition of sufficient onsite solar PV. We’ve also included a “Passive House” variant to illustrate the requirements for attaining this peak level of energy performance. Although the home isn’t aiming for Passive House certification, we’ve used its targets, methods, and thresholds as benchmarks throughout the report to provide context for the performance metrics. Even without seeking Passive House certification, this standard serves as a valuable framework for assessing the building’s performance.

We have outlined the details of this assessment modeling, the key results, and our recommendations within the following pages.

Primary recommendations include:

• Insulate the walls to at least R-40, floors to R-25, and roofs to R-55. For more information and recommended assemblies and products, see the building-envelope section.
• Use a high-performance window system with triple-pane glazing and thermally-broken frames. For more information, see the windows section for details on suitable products.
• Implement air-tightness solutions on all walls, ceilings and floors. For more information, see the air-tightness section.
• Use a high-performance dedicated fresh-air ventilation system with heat and moisture recovery. For more information, see the ventilation section. Keep all ERV ducting inside the conditioned envelope and make sure that the fresh-air intake is located away from any potential sources of contamination.
• Electrify all home mechanical systems including the heating, cooling, and domestic hot-water.

Read the full report ⮕