UBC Okanagan Skeena Residence has successfully earned its Passive House Certification, making it the first student residence in Canada and second in North America to receive this certification.
Passive House is an internationally recognized energy standard developed in Germany. The most significant characteristics are the airtight, high efficiency building envelope and the heat recovery ventilation system. Defined by sun floods, through views, and candy-coloured stairwells, the six-storey Passive House Skeena residence will provide 220 bedrooms and amenity space to UBC Okanagan students.
Skeena’s energy consumption is 70 kWh/m2 per year, which includes an annual heating demand of just 7.1 kWh/m2, allowing the building to provide heating, cooling and domestic hot water without a fossil fuel connection. In fact, the residence is so energy efficient that at the coldest point in the year, more than ¼ of the heat required for the building is supplied by students’ body heat.
To learn more about the Skeena Residence, visit its project profile on the Infrastructure Development website.