The 90-unit affordable housing project built at Simon Fraser University is no exception, built to high-performance standards and providing much-needed housing to accommodate graduate students with a range of family structures. The new housing complex on Burnaby Mountain provides its residents with a courtyard, natural playground, communal bike workshop, study rooms, and a multi-use community pavilion.
As building enclosure consultants, we worked with project architect Local Practice Architecture to develop and incorporate practical, high-performance solutions that integrated Passive House design principles. We actively contributed by minimizing the impact of thermal bridges through the building enclosure at sunshades, canopies, and through employing a long-screw cladding attachment system to reduce heat loss through 150mm of exterior insulation. The thermal performance of walls and roofs were further increased using split insulated assemblies and smart vapor retarders to achieve an R-100 roof. The performance of the roof assembly was validated through a hygrothermal WUFI analysis and the findings were presented to the City of Burnaby for approval, setting a new precedent for future projects.
RDH helped troubleshoot other on-site energy efficiency elements with the general contractor, such as minimizing thermal bridges at cladding and flashing installations, as well as airtight window detailing and qualitative smoke testing.
