The 2019 Passive House Symposium was held at UBC Robson on November 19th, 2019. Reconauts Navid Hossaini, CEO, Jason Packer, President, and Chris Kendall, Associate & Sr Green Building Strategist, were all able to attend. We extended invitations to a number of clients and colleagues and were happy that representatives from Kasian Architecture, Carscadden, Coromandel Properties, and DYS Architects were able to attend with us. The Symposium showcased a depth of knowledge on the issues that we as sustainability consultants address and hope to solve for our clients.

Anthony Pak of Priopta presented an enlightening talk on embodied carbon. The CO2 emitted throughout the lifecycle of building materials including extraction, manufacture, transport, and construction make up 11% of total global CO2 emissions and will be responsible for almost half of total new construction emissions between now and 2050. According to the UN Global Status Report 2017 the equivalent of an entire New York City will be built every month for the next 40 years, so it is important to reduce these emissions. Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Response aims to reduce embodied emissions from new building and construction projects by 40% from today’s baseline. For further reading you can check out Pak’s article on this topic here.

Brittany Coughlin of RDH presented on the Performance Gap between modeled and actual energy usage. A 2016 UK study showed that there is on average 34% deviation between modeled and measured energy usage. Underlying causes include modelling protocols, installation issues, complexity of design, and occupant behavior. The Passive House energy modelling tool, PHPP, is known for greater accuracy, particularly for predicting heating and cooling in residential buildings, but high performance projects can still face challenges predicting overall energy use. It’s becoming increasingly common to track performance data which is creating new opportunities to reconcile modeled vs actual energy consumption. . We can improve modelling through training and education of not just the modelers or architects, but also of operations personnel and occupants.

Another session of interest focused market reaction and included representatives of the financing and insurance industry.  There was a good discussion about balancing the long-term benefits of high performance building against the upfront premiums. As carbon taxes go up in the coming years, Passive House buildings will cost less to operate and will become more attractive to build.

These were only some of the topics covered at the Symposium. Overall there was a strong focus on using Passive House strategies to build resilience for our changing world. From finance, building trades, all the way to final building occupants everyone can strive to live more sustainably and look at what choices we can make as individuals in order to make a positive, collective difference.

Recollective was proud to be a sponsor of this event.

Recollective is proud to partner with Passive House Canada to sponsor the coffee break at the Net Positive Symposium 2.0: Designing for the Future, Building for Now this Thursday, November 20th at Robson Square. We hope to see you there!

Check out the event page with the list of speakers here:
https://passivehousecanada.silkstart.com/events/designing-for-the-future-building-for-now-a-symposium

B.C. is moving toward net-zero buildings by 2032 and Step Code is a big part of this paradigm shift. Life Cycle Management Lab Professors of UBC wanted to introduce their students to Step code, so on Friday, October 25^th our Principal Navid traveled to Kelowna to give a day-long workshop to a group of 20 engineering grad students and postdocs. He covered Step Code basics and requirements, design strategies, and facilitated an energy modeling group exercise. The students had a lot of passion for high performance buildings and were keen to learn about why the province is implementing an Envelope-First approach with Step Code.

If you also want to know more about Step Code, check out their website: https://energystepcode.ca/how-it-works/

Recollective Consulting Inc recognized as a “Best For The World” top B Corp for their exemplary societal and environmental impact

Vancouver, BC; September 4^th, 2019 – Recollective Consulting Inc, a Certified B Corporation, has been named a Best For The World honoree in recognition of their company’s positive impact on the environment, their workforce, their local communities, their suppliers, their customers, and their corporate governance. Recollective ranks in the top 10% of all B Corps across all of these impact areas, earning them a well-deserved spot on the Best For The World: Overall, Best For The Word: Environment, and Best For The World: Workers lists. Whether it’s sustainability consulting or master planning, Recollective has set the bar for responsible and successful businesses around the world.  

Recollective is immensely proud to be recognized as Best For The World: Environment for the fourth year in a row, and Best For The World: Overall for the second year in a row. This year we are also recognized as Best For The Word: Workers, showing our continuing commitment to making the world a better place. Check out our B Corp page for detailed information: https://bcorporation.eu/directory/recollective-consulting.

Best For The World recognition is administered by B Lab, the global nonprofit that certifies and supports Certified B Corporations, which are for-profit companies dedicated to using business as a force for good. Today there are 3,000 Certified B Corporations across 64 countries and 150 industries, unified by one common goal: to redefine success in business.

B Corps meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corp Certification doesn’t just evaluate a product or service, it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it—like Recollective. Using the B Impact Assessment, B Lab evaluates how a company’s operations and business model impact its workers, community, environment, and customers. To achieve the B Corp Certification, a company must achieve a score of at least 80 points on the assessment.

“We’re incredibly proud of this year’s Best For The World honorees,” says Anthea Kelsick, Chief Marketing Officer of B Lab. “These inspiring companies represent the kinds of business models and impact-driven business strategies that are building a new economy—one that is inclusive, regenerative, and delivers value to all stakeholders, not just shareholders. To that end, B Corps like Recollective are redefining capitalism and showing that it actually can work for everyone.”

1,000 B Corps from 44 countries were named to the 2019 Best For The World lists, including Patagonia, Beautycounter, Dr. Bronner’s, TOMS, Seventh Generation, and Greyston Bakery. The 2019 Best For The World honorees are determined based on the verified B Impact Assessments of Certified B Corporations. The full lists are available on https://bcorporation.net/. 

Recollective has experience working on over 500 green buildings in North America covering numerous rating systems including LEED, Built Green, Passive House, and Living Building Challenge.  We’ve successfully completed over 75 LEED certifications and are currently consulting on over 100 active green building projects, amounting to over 25 million square feet of development.

Contact: info@recollective.ca

The Kwantlen Polytechnic University Wilson School of Design is a new stand-alone building that was constructed adjacent to the existing Kwantlen Polytechnic University Buildings on the Richmond Campus. 

The project provided a purpose built facility for teaching, learning and applied research through a studio-based design education. 

Congratulations to Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Public Architecture + Communication and KPMB Architects for this achievement. Well Done Chris Kendall!

Ring the bell! Our Eastpark project (Developed by Boffo Properties and designed by Taylor Kurtz Architecture + Design Inc.) achieved the prestigious LEED Platinum certification.

Eastpark is a pair of 5-storey wood frame multi-unit residential buildings with a total of 79 residential strata units located at Main and 35th Avenue, Vancouver, BC.
The project is certified under LEED MidRise rating system. The sustainability features of Eastpark include a high- performing envelope, district energy connectivity and heat recovery ventilators.