• January 25, 2019
• News

Buildex Vancouver 2019 – The Passive House Learning Lab!  

The learning lab will feature a series of Passive House sessions over the two-day event.  Melvin Lau from our office will be one of the speakers at the seminar – Passive House MURB for Rental Employee Housing on Feb 14, 12:30-2:00pm.

 

Passive House MURB for Rental Employee Housing (Core LU, HSW-Sustainability Hours)

The first multi-unit residential building (MURB) Passive House in Whistler is under construction. This 24-unit apartment will be for rental employee housing owned and operated by the Whistler Housing Authority and is expected to open in the summer of 2019. In this presentation an overview of the project to date will be provided. Describing the project requirement and intent, the project team will go into detail on planning, design, permit process and construction documents utilized to date. The team of presenters will summarize on the efficiencies of the building design and systems, concluding with providing an over on scheduling, quality assurance and quality control. 

Speakers:

Melvin Lau, Intern Architect AIBC CPHD LEED AP, Integra Architecture Inc. | Kyle Moen, Passive House Consultant, Durfeld Constructors | Sherman Wai, Passive House Consultant, RDH Building Science | Marla Zucht, General Manager, Whistler Housing Authority 

As a practicing Intern Architect since starting his career in 2007 at Integra Architecture, Melvin has developed his career in private sector, public sector and personal works. He started his studies with a technical background at BCIT, then earned his Master’s degrees at the School of Architecture in the University of Manitoba. His portfolio includes multi-family residential, mixed-use, and passive house projects, ranging from conceptual design to construction administration. With a strong focus in sustainability, he strives to better understand the details of building and living in a passive house, such as optimizing cost savings, thermal comfort and indoor air quality as well as reducing climate change from everyday habits of personal electrical usage, transportation and diet. In addition, Melvin enjoys woodworking and believes designing at all scales develops his skills to become a well-rounded Architect. Kyle has worked for Durfeld Constructors (General Contractor) BC Passive House (High Performance envelope systems) for the past seven years. Over that time, he has overseen construction for a number of Passive Houses and low energy homes using the company’s high-performance panel systems. Kyle’s work mainly focuses on detail development including informed building science, budgeting/procurement and project execution. He was educated at BCIT (Dip. Architecture and Building Engineering Technology, 2010) and the University of Victoria (B.A. Economics, 2007). Sherman supports the RDH energy team by providing his expertise in Passive House design and certification. His primary responsibilities include facilitating design teams from schematic design to design development to certification by building energy models in PHPP and optimizing junction details. Sherman also prepares thermal bridging models for building enclosure assemblies to meet Passive House standards using two- and three-dimensional heat transfer simulation software. In the field, Sherman conducts site reviews to ensure Passive House compliance, including thermal bypass review, airtightness testing, and ventilation system commissioning. Prior to joining RDH, Sherman was a Project Manager at a sustainable building consulting firm in Vancouver, BC. During this time, he managed Passive House design projects, conducted whole building airtightness testing, and prepared documentation for Passive House certification. Marla Zucht is the General Manager of the Whistler Housing Authority (WHA), a subsidiary of the Resort Municipality of Whistler. As the GM of the WHA, Marla is responsible for overseeing the creation and maintenance of a separate price restricted affordable housing inventory in Whistler available only to the resident workforce. In this role, Marla has facilitated the project management, financing and development of purpose built affordable ownership and rental housing. Marla holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Community Planning from York University. She has had long standing interests and experience as a Planner in housing policies, growth management strategies, and sustainable planning. Marla sits on several advisory committees and Board of Directors, including the British Columbia Non Profit Housing Association, Whistler Development Corporation, Whistler Valley Housing Society, and the Mayor’s Task Force on Resident Housing in Whistler. She feels very strongly that the provision and protection of affordable housing is fundamental to keeping every community healthy and vibrant.