North American Passive House 2017 Conference

Join Integral Group at North American Passive House Network (NAPHN)’s 2017 Conference from October 4-8, 2017 in Oakland, CA. This year’s conference theme is Passive + Renewables with the goal of promoting Passive House strategies coupled with renewable energy sources to lead us toward a post-carbon all-renewable energy future.

Integral Group will be represented by three speakers: Stuart Hood, Managing Principal, Vancouver; Stet Sanborn, Associate, Oakland; and Stefan Gracik, Building Performance Engineer, Oakland.  Their presentations will cover topics ranging from impacts to the electrical grid after wide adoption of the Passive House standard to understanding the impact of optimizing HVAC schedules for peak energy demand:

FORGET ABOUT THE HOUSE: PASSIVE BUILDINGS SERVE UNEXPECTED USES
Friday, October 6, 2017 – 3:30pm – 5:00pm | Stuart Hood

A simple idea is powerful when it is adaptable.  Passive House shows its inherent usefulness, not just when applied to housing, but also with a variety of new occupancy types.  A Passive House manufacturing facility in Ontario? Fire Houses in Vancouver? A recreation center in Canada?  Find out what’s familiar, what’s new, and what specific strategies are necessary to adapt and make such Passive House buildings.

THE NEW POWER COUPLE: PASSIVE HOUSE AND THE RENEWABLE GRID
Improving Stability of a Decentralized Grid with Passive House Implementation | Saturday, October 7, 2017 – 8:30 am – 10:00 am | Stet Sanborn & Stefan Gracik

The electric energy contribution of PV causes a sudden reduction in electrical demand to the grid during mid-day, with a rapid increase in electrical demand once the sun begins to set. This shift in electrical load is known as the duck curve, and it will become more pronounced as more PV is added to the grid. This presentation aims to study the effects of Passive House construction as a method to reduce electrical demand of buildings and to dampen the intensity of the duck curve for a simulated neighborhood of buildings.

HEAT PUMPS ARE YOUR FRIEND: SERVING YOUR MECHANICAL NEEDS AND THE NEEDS OF YOUR POWER SUPPLY
Passive House Resiliency: Aligning HVAC Operation with Renewables Production | Saturday, October 7, 2017 – 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Stefan Gracik

For most commercial buildings, solar energy’s peak production during mid-day corresponds well with peak occupancy. For residential, the opposite is true, requiring residences to rely heavily on net-metering policies to achieve zero net energy (ZNE). Energy storage is a possible alternative for residences to achieve ZNE, but this adds a considerable cost to the PV installation. This presentation examines the use of Passive House performing buildings to create a thermal storage system in conjunction with an energy storage system. Through energy/thermal modeling, we will examine the Passive House’s ability to maintain thermal comfort for many hours after the HVAC system is shut off.

Register for the NAPHN 2017 Conference here!