FAQ

Construction Phase Cost

Passive Houses are typically built with a slight cost premium compared to conventional buildings due to the higher quality planning and components required.  Numerous Passive Houses built in Canada and US had a cost premium of only 8% to 11% on single-family house projects.  The cost premium is lowered with larger buildings (0% to 5% for apartment buildings).

Design Phase Cost

The selection and quality of building enclosure components certainly influences investment costs, yet the determining factor for building as cost-effectively as possible often hinges on the design team’s experience.  A partnership with Akira Living reinforces your team with a Building Enclosure Expert and a Certified Passive House Designer.  Akira Living’s specialized experience on intelligent building enclosure design will save extensive time on research and development, and fast track your ability to deliver a successful Passive House, while minimizing cost and risk.  Architectural Designers in collaboration with Akira Living’s specialized service will prove to expedite the design process and significantly lower soft costs for the Homeowner. 

Want a Certified Passive House?

Building Certification is a stamp of quality assurance that a building meets the high-performance, comfort and hygiene requirements of the Passive House Standard.  A PHI Certifier retained for a single-family home costs between $3,000-$5,000, depending on size and complexity.  Learn more about the Certification process here.

The Details Packages are developed and reviewed by a Certified Passive House Designer, Professional Building Enclosure Engineer, and Structural Engineer licensed in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.  We make Passive House objectives for high end homes not only possible, but simple.  Our team’s specialized experience on intelligent building enclosure design will save extensive time on research and development, and fast track your ability to deliver a successful Passive House, while minimizing cost and risk.   Here’s how Akira Living benefits you:

For the Designer:  Read More

For the Energy Modeller:  Read More

For the Builder:  Read More

For the Homeowner:  Read More

The short answer is yes.  The HIRO Detail Package, for example, use a vertical wood I-joist (9.5” deep) exoskeleton fastened through the exterior wall sheathing into wall studs.  Most conventional plans will have the walls framed with 2×6’s.  This may be reduced to 2×4’s as most of the insulation will be in the wood I-joist cavities.  The Designer or Builder must keep in mind that the wood I-joists increases the gross building area and may also encroach on required setbacks on the property.  City Officials may grant a variance on the thicker walls if pursuing a building enclosure renovation that makes the home substantially more energy efficient or pursuing a Certified Passive House.  This should be verified with your local City Official.

Refer to Akira Living’s Pre-Design Assessment Service and let’s see if a Detail Package will work on your project.

We offer a consultancy service for all professionals including Builders.  Just provide us with your Builder’s email address, and we’ll take it from there.

If you are looking to upgrade your building enclosure design using a Detail Package, we require the Builder to partner with Akira Living by purchasing a Detail Package (in PDF or AutoCAD file) and comply with the terms and conditions in the License Agreement.  Once partnered, the Builder can contact Akira Living directly with any questions regarding the purchased design.

The Designer is free to customize the exterior (cladding and roof) and interior finishes to meet the client’s style.  Akira Living recommends that the exterior cladding finish be designed as a rain-screened system or installed as quasi-rain-screened system (has a built-in capillary break drainage plain).  On the interior side, any substituted interior finish material must fall within the same vapour permeance class (identified in the construction assembly details) as defined by the current International Building Code (and its derivative codes).

Please note the customer must purchase a Detail Package prior to Akira Living commencing any custom designs.  Alternately, simply purchase an AutoCAD file and adjust the finishing materials yourself to suit your project requirements.  Ensure all changes made comply with the terms and conditions in the License Agreement.

Each Detail Package has been engineered for specific Climate Zones.  No design is suitable for all Climate Zones.  The Detail Package currently available to purchase are suitable in Climate Zones 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.  Akira Living has plans to introduce new engineered Detail Packages to service other North American climates and conditions.

A product of over 15 years of research and development, PHPP software is the energy balance design tool for the planning of Passive Houses and other highly efficient buildings.  The PHPP software is a useful tool for optimizing system sizing and evaluating the cost effectiveness of various design choices.  PHPP energy models by professionally trained Certified Passive House Designers (CPHD) provide accurate estimates of how the real building will perform.  On the technical side, this Excel-based software makes use of tested algorithms to yield a building’s heating, cooling, and primary energy demand, a building’s heating and cooling loads, its tendency to overheat, and much more.  The PHPP produces highly accurate results, as proven on thousands of projects.  It both facilitates planning and serves as proof that the Passive House or EnerPHit Standards have been met.  PHPP also allow for 3-D data entry with the designPH SketchUp plugin.

We, and the designers we work with, have put substantial care and effort into the creation of our Specifications & Details.  However, if Akira Living has not been retained to provide on-site consultation, supervision and control over actual construction, and because of the great variance in local building requirements, building practices and soil, seismic, weather and other conditions, WE CANNOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTENT OR USE OF OUR SPECIFICATIONS & DETAILS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

All Akira Living Detail Packages are diagramatic and are not intended for direct use.  A Professional Engineer must evaluate and customize per specific job requirements.

The Specifications & Details are copyrighted and not reproducible.  The information and drawings contained in this website or obtained from Akira Living is company/firm specific and cannot be sold, duplicated or shared in any way with other companies/firms without the written authorization of Akira Living.

In collaboration with Apex Building Sciences Inc., the Akira Living Detail Packages can be sealed by a Professional Engineer for projects in Canada for an additional fee.

Some municipalities require that a licensed architect or engineer review and “seal” drawings, or officially approve it prior to construction due to concerns over energy costs, safety and other factors.  Prior to application for a building permit or the start of actual construction, we strongly advise that you consult your local building official who can tell you if such a review is required.

All Akira Living Detail Packages are diagramatic and are not intended for direct use.  A Professional Engineer must evaluate and customize per specific job requirements.

The Detail Packages generally surpass most building codes and by-laws in regards to rain-screen cladding and exceeding minimum effective r-value requirements.  However, the information, drawings and details obtained from Akira Living are not intended to replace professional advice.  When Akira Living construction drawing details and specifications are incorporated into buildings, it must be reviewed by knowledgeable building envelope professionals and/or architects and reflect the specific unique conditions and design parameters of each building.  Use of Akira Living does not relieve designers or builders of their responsibility to comply with local building codes, standards and by-laws with respect to the design and construction of the building enclosure.  Akira Living products and services do not include sealed engineer drawings, or sealed schedules that may be required by the municipality.

Readers and clients are advised to evaluate the information, materials and techniques cautiously for themselves and to consult appropriate professional resources to determine whether information, materials and techniques are suitable in their case.  All Akira Living Detail Packages are diagramatic and are not intended for direct use.  A Professional Engineer must evaluate and customize per specific job requirements.

Due to the nature of our Detail Packages that may have been duplicated by the purchaser, they are final sale and cannot be returned or refunded.

The purchaser may upgrade from the LITE to the full Detail Package for the current difference in cost between the products.  The purchaser may also upgrade a particular Detail Package from the PDF version to the AutoCAD version for the current difference in cost between the products.