BC Manufacturer Achieves North American Industry Milestone
The Peak, a 6-six storey mixed-use development by Cornerstone Architecture and Edge Construction, features Defender 88PH+ windows and doors manufactured by Innotech Windows + Doors.
BRITISH COLUMBIA – Innotech Windows + Doors, an established BC-based manufacturer of high-performance windows and doors, has stepped up to meet the booming demand for high-performance building products – and has successively achieved a North American fenestration industry milestone along the way.
Innotech Windows + Doors manufactures a range of high-performance products, including tilt and turn windows.
Long recognized for their commitment to product performance and durability, Innotech Windows + Doors has introduced its highest performing window to date. The new Defender 88PH+ XI is the first Passive House Institute cold climate certified window manufactured in North America – a significant achievement for the North American fenestration industry and long-awaited performance milestone for the North American Passive House building industry.
“The Defender 88PH+ XI is the cumulative result of continuous improvements learned over two decades of engineering, manufacturing and installing windows and doors in thousands of projects throughout North America,” says company President Troy Imbery. “We’re very excited to offer our clients a range of window and door systems that not only exceed the requirements of the BC Building Code, but that also meet the rigorous voluntary performance standards of Passive House.”
The Defender 88PH+ XI Window achieves a U-value of 0.59 W/m2K. It is the first North American manufactured window to be Passive House Institute cold climate certified.
In 2017, the province adopted the BC Energy Step Code which put the entire province on a progressive path for all new construction to be net-zero energy ready by the year 2032. On May 1st, 2023, additional changes to the BC Building Code took effect: new homes and buildings must now be 20 per cent more energy efficient than the base code and local governments may opt-in to the new Zero Carbon Step Code. These changes will help the province meet the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 climate plan by simultaneously increasing energy efficiency and limiting operational carbon emissions.
The BC Energy Step Code has given rise to a surge in buildings, including single family homes and multi-family high-rise buildings, designed and built to the Passive House Standard. While the Passive House Standard is voluntary, it is broadly accepted as a proven methodology to achieve very high levels of energy efficiency – as much as 90 per cent more than conventional buildings. As a result, the standard is often used by progressive building professionals to achieve the higher steps of the BC Energy Step Code.
Achieving high levels of energy performance in buildings requires an equally high skillset from all building professionals, including tradespeople. The Certified Passive House Tradesperson (CPHT) course is offered by Passive House Canada and the British Columbia Institute of Technology throughout the year, both in person and virtually. The CPHT designation offers tradespeople and other building professionals, including several employees at Innotech Windows + Doors, the skillset required for a net-zero energy future – now less a decade away.
The Peak in Vancouver is one of many multi-family developments in British Columbia designed and built to the Passive House standard. Leading municipalities in British Columbia, such as the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Building Bylaw, offer incentives for developers who target Passive House.
Led by a globally recognized provincial building code, building professionals in British Columbia have local access to the industry-leading education, training and building products they need to design and build to future code standards today.
“As a manufacturer of building products, it’s our responsibility to push the boundaries of performance,” says Imbery. “Our health and the health of our planet depends on it.”
