Passive Design Solutions

At PDS, we believe that Passive Houses are for everyone. Over the past ten years, we’ve worked hard to build on key lessons in design and construction to make this possible. Read more on our blog! https://blog.passivedesign.ca/blog/why-passive

We have been hard at work for the past few months and are excited to introduce nine new stock plans to our portfolio. Read about the new plans in our most recent blog post and view the other resources in the Knowledge section of our website! https://blog.passivedesign.ca/blog/9-new-passive-homes

A lovely home design and some photos of the design process from the client.

A recent post from a client... "The house build has started! The former pasture was beautiful. The view of the marsh and of the Tusket Islands remains wonderful. On the one hand it is troubling to harm the pasture even though that pasture has long been fallow and is being overgrown by fierce-thorned blackberry bushes. On the other hand, I will live with a wonderful view with fog and wind and muted colours and gentle sunsets. ... In any event, the die is now cast! The plan is for a highly efficient passiv haus that snuggles into the land. I have a wonderful relationship with Natalie Leonard and Zane Murdoch of Passive Design Solutions, who have created the plans. Graham Construction will do the construction and PDS will complete the testing necessary to receive government grants for energy-efficiency. Yesterday, Dave Trefry (whos crew and machines work together with the precision of a ballet corps) began preparing the site. Why move from my perfect house and kayak-launch on Second Peninsula in Lunenburg? The wildness and emptiness of Chebogue, and the view of the open sea has grabbed my heart. Friends are huffy at the thought of my leaving Second Peninsula. Then they come to visit in Chebogue and nod knowingly and say quietly, Ah, now I see why.

We are often asked by clients early in their journey to building a Passive home: how does Passive House work? What makes it worth doing? With this brief animated video we introduce the key aspects of the Passive House approach and their benefits. It is a fun, simple explanation of the technology and building science. We hope you enjoy it.

This story was shared with us by one of our clients in New York state. They've adapted their business to create PPE for health care workers using 3D printed adapters. Great to see all the ways people are innovating and trying to find solutions to support front-line health care workers. https://spectrumlocalnews.com//transforming-scuba-masks-i/

At PDS, we believe that Passive Houses are for everyone. Over the past ten years, weve worked hard to build on key lessons in design and construction to make this possible. Read more on our blog! https://blog.passivedesign.ca/blog/why-passive

During this unprecedented crisis, our thoughts are with the front-line workers who continue to provide essential services while so many of us are at home. As a small business, we are very fortunate that our staff already work from home as a distributed team, and as such we are able to continue our design work using video conferencing, email and phone to communicate safely with our clients and each other. It appears that the 2020 Summer building season will be seriously inte...rrupted in many regions. Hopefully this will recover in the Fall. And we will continue to work on designs for those planning to build in 2021. We realize this is a very stressful time for many, but for those who are staying at home and may be looking for a positive project to focus on, we remain engaged and ready to work with you. We are open for business and working very hard to keep our dedicated staff employed throughout this difficult time. Our thoughts and understanding are with those whose lives and work are being caught in the upheaval. In the meantime, we will continue working towards our a vision of a more resilient future. All the best to you and your family.

This family cottage-soon to become retirement home-is located on the beautiful Bras D'or lakes in Cape Breton. With tons of kids and outdoor activities, this outdoor shower comes in handy. It requires a bit of extra thought to install a shower on the exterior of a house to prevent freezing in our cold climate. In the design process, we were careful to specify the installation to prevent this. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #summer #outdoorshower #familyhome

A reminder that you can check out the articles and interviews that we've been working on over the past year. Head over to our In The News section on our website to read more about our company founder, mission, values, and our overall approach as a team to Passive House design. https://www.passivedesign.ca/pages/in-the-news

A recent feature in Bloomberg Environment of an article Natalie wrote on the future of Passive House and how it can answer many of the problems facing builders and homeowners. https://news.bloombergenvironment.com//insight-net-zero-pa

This Fastslab engineered raft foundation is ready for concrete for a North Glenn Stock Plan build. Only requiring one concrete pour is a huge cost advantage in rural sites like this. A conventional slab on grade foundation uses footers and frost walls resulting in three trips to the site for concrete. Besides being cost effective, this foundation type uses a lot less concrete which means far less CO2 emissions resulting from the construction. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #concrete #foundation

This simple unheated shed attached to this home serves as a Honey Processing Workshop for our beekeeping client. Consider adding one to your Passive Home to #savethebees (Bee emoji) #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #barndoor #accent #colour #door

Our team was busy at the end of last year adding 8 new designs to our catalogue of stock Passive House plans. Head over to our website to browse the whole collection and see if there's a fit for your project. The most cost-effective way to get a Net-Zero/Passive Home Design is a pre-designed home and they are a staple part of our mission to bring PH to the mainstream! https://www.passivedesign.ca/pages/plans

This three-season screen porch may be the clients favourite room in the house. With south exposure to the winter sun, they use this unheated space even with the snow piled up outside. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #sunporch #unheated #living

This Passive family cottage, soon to be retirement home, is a custom project we call The Lookout. A key requirement for these clients was to accommodate nine people regularly gathering at this family home while maintaining a small and cozy space for two. The design accomplished this in less than 2000 sqft of living space. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #familyhome #cozyhome

The Passive Design Solution team is welcoming 2020 by continuing to reduce our carbon footprint! What is your resolution? Passive Design Solutions Founder Natalie Leonard came across this museum exhibit in Austria recently. Each country's carbon footprint represented with some everyday footwear. Unfortunately, Canada's footprint is lager than the red sneaker group. Canada's Co2 emissions per capita is the second largest in the world. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #carbonfootprint #energyconsumption #footprint #museum

"While stricter buildings codes, government incentives and environmental concerns are all making green building a hot topic today, Halifax-based Natalie Leonard, P.Eng., became Canadas first certified Passive House (PH) consultant and builder 10 years ago. Since then, her companyPassive Design Solutionshas completed more than 100 projects that are net-zero-ready. Along the way, she has focused on making such homes more easily affordable for the mainstream market." https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com//natalie-leona/

This may be the most customized staircase that we have designed. The L-shape of the stairs are designed to accommodate a seven-foot tall Christmas snowman decoration. The stair treads are three inches deeper than normal to accommodate the size 14 feet of our client. The overall effect created a grand staircase in the foyer of this home. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #grand #staircase #custom #foyer

A win for climate justice thanks to the #EUGreenDeal. Building a Net Zero home can help decarbonize your province and support these efforts! "Our goal is to reconcile the economy with our planet, to reconcile the way we produce, the way we consume with our planet and to make it work with our people, she added. The old growth model is out of date and out of touch with our planet. The EU Green Deal strategy contains a total of 50 policy measures, including a legally binding... target of reducing EU emissions to net zero by 2050, a carbon border tax to prevent companies from relocating outside the EU to avoid climate legislation, a 100 billion just transition fund to help spread the burden and help coal-reliant regions, and a policy to not conclude any free trade agreement with a country that is not a signatory to the Paris climate agreement. Currently the United States is the only country in the world that plans to not be part of the Paris Agreement. Net zero means that emissions would be reduced to almost nothing, with any small amount remaining made up for by planting forests to soak up carbon from the atmosphere, or other abatement measures." #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #investnow #climatecrisis #netzerofuture #science #EUGreenDeal #reduce

This project is the North Glen stock plan built completely off grid in Ontario. The clients reported that even in the heart of a Canadian winter, they almost never had to light the fireplace. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #winterwonderland #winterhome #efficientheating

This small, but highly utilized screen porch in our Valley View project was an important design feature for these clients. As organic farmers who supply to local markets, they use this unheated space for muddy boots, drying wet clothes, and onions alike. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #porch #mudroom

The Rosebush Urban Reno is one of our few retrofit projects. The client's style preference is quite traditional with lovely residential curb-appeal. From the street, this passive house blends perfectly into the existing neighbourhood. #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #retrofit #traditional #classic #reno

We've been featured recently in a number of publications about our company, our recent projects, and our mission to bring Passive House to the mainstream. These articles and interviews feature our team, our work, and the catalogue of stock plans we have developed. We have a new page on our website to see all these recent stories in one place. Visit our newly launched "In the news" section on our website by following the link below: https://www.passivedesign.ca/pages/in-the-news

Our clients desire was to have an ominous presence from the street, and we believe that this north elevation accomplishes this! A natural tree post harvested from the site and a lime green door add some flare. Nothing quite says "Welcome" like a jazzy green focal point #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #frontdoor #accent #colour #door #entrance #lakefront

A client and her furry buddy checking out the progress of her Passive sleeping bunk house and new custom Passive Home! #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #contemporary #netzero #environment #sustainability #archdaily #bunker #tinyhome

A three-season porch was placed on concrete posts instead of frost wall to save costs on this severely sloping site. These four-pane sliding vinyl windows on aluminium tracks are a favourite for unheated spaces. Cutting costs and adding living space makes for the perfect way to enjoy sunlight and nature all year-round! #design #designer #instadesign #architect #home #passivehaus #passivehouse #homedesign #modern #efficient #efficiency #homeplan #contemporary #netzero #environment #green #sustainability #archdaily #porch #windows #multipurpose #cuttingcosts

"Natalie Leonard, president of Passive Design Solutions and a certified Passive House consultant and builder, is answering the call for affordable green homes. She and her team have recently launched a line of ready-to-build Passive Home design plans. Their objective is to make Passive Houses part of an affordable housing market while reducing the industrys carbon footprint." https://www.finehomebuilding.com//cost-effective-passive-h

One of our recent award winners - Excellence in Green Building Inspiring Home - Glengarry Passive House - @PassiveEDesign https://www.passivedesign.ca/

"There is increasing public and government demand for low-carbon-footprint solutions across the building industry, which today accounts for 40%-50% of all energy used in North America. In the residential sector, net zero construction using Passive House Design is one such solution. Passive House Design, with its minimal heating energy requirements, provides an excellent foundation for any net zero project." http://www.hpbmagazine.org/Best-Practices-in-Net-Zero-Hous/

"Existing buildings consume between 40 percent and 50 percent of all energy used in North America. Building a new home may be the single largest opportunity you have to reduce your carbon footprint and to do your part in moving towards a sustainable and equitable use of energy for the planet." https://earth911.com//passive-house-design-changing-new-h/

PDS founding partner Natalie and project designer Naryn were grateful yesterday to receive the Inspiring Home award for our Glengarry Passive House this year from the Atlantic chapter of the Canadian Green Building Council at the Build Green Atlantic 2019 conference. We had a great client and great team and a great build. Additionally, homeowners broke ground today on a Passive studio to complete their homestead which will be used to further test different methods of buildin...g better in the field. Stay tuned for progress on this and other projects! Project Gallery: https://www.passivedesign.ca/pages/glengarry-residence Stock Plan Listing: https://www.passivedesign.ca/products/glengarry-plan Builder: Bentley Built Homes Structural: Andrea Doncaster Engineering Limited Millwork: Island View Design

We support those marching for Climate Action today in Halifax, across the country and abroad. The time for change is now.

Whether as a home to age-in-place or a family cottage retreat, this 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom plan takes full advantage of the sun and views your property has to offer.

Natalie had a chance to sit down with the Chronicle Herald last week and talk about the Modern Lakefront house, the approach we've taken as a company, and the benefits to homeowners of building a Passive Home. We're happy to see the word is getting out! https://www.thechronicleherald.ca//nice-house-no-power-b/

The modern styling of this home is echoed by the organization of its rooms and spaces and in the materials used to finish it. If comfortable modern living is what you're searching for then look no further than our Grand Mira plan.

This efficient, two-storey house blends our modern, high-performance building envelope with a contemporary style that is designed to fit on a 50 suburban lot.

East Bay is a compact, modern take on the traditional storey-and-a-half house. A private upstairs is complemented by a compact ground level that allows for a den, office or guest room depending on your needs.