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Ken Soble Tower – Passive House Retrofit (EnerPHit)

Hamilton, Canada

As part of their redevelopment plan for the Ken Soble Tower in Hamilton’s West Harbour, City Housing of Hamilton evaluated several possible retrofit solutions.

TAGS

Building Envelope
Residential
Restoration

Ken Soble Tower – Passive House Retrofit (EnerPHit)

Hamilton, Canada

As part of their redevelopment plan for the Ken Soble Tower in Hamilton’s West Harbour, City Housing of Hamilton evaluated several possible retrofit solutions.

Entuitive studied the feasibility of a Passive House EnerPHit retrofit at this 18-storey residence. Our team reviewed the building envelope and structural components and determined remedial and retrofit work required to meet Passive House criteria and City Housing’s new programming requirements.

During the design phase, Entuitive was responsible for designing building envelope details that performed at Passive House levels, while considering tight budget limitations and an aggressive timeline to meet funding requirements. Fibreglass window frames were proposed as a cost-saving measure, and Entuitive obtained a code variance from the City to allow this innovative approach for one of the first times in Ontario.

Entuitive extensively modelled envelope clear field and thermal bridge conditions, working iteratively with the Passive House Consultant to develop details that met rigorous standards, and providing substantial supporting documents for Passive House Certifier reviews.

Our team also created an air leakage testing plan, which included guarded floor blower door tests to verify air tightness as construction progressed, and a final whole building air leakage test to achieve Passive House certification. We reviewed shop drawings and conducted site reviews during the construction phase.

The Ken Soble Tower is one of the largest EnerPHit projects in the world.

location

Hamilton, Canada

Budget

$16.5 M

Client

CityHousing Hamilton

Passive House Consultant

JMV Consulting/Transsolar

Size

7,500 m² (81,000 ft²)

Green Building Excellence & Deep Carbon Retrofit

Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) Awards

Architect

ERA Architects

Certification

Targeting Passive House Institute - EnerPHit

Mechanical Engineer

Reinbold Engineering

Role

Building Envelope & Structural Restoration Consultant

Grand Prize Winner -Architectural Design Awards

EIFS Council of Canada (ECC)

2022 Terwilliger Center Award for Innovation in Attainable Housing

Urban Land Institute

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