The latest Patron Sponsor of Passive House Accelerator is Longboard Architectural Products. Based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Longboard offers premium extruded aluminum solutions for interior and exterior applications. They use high-quality materials for the powder-coating and sublimation process to achieve woodgrain, solid color, and specialty finishes. For nearly 20 years, Longboard has been combining innovation, sustainability, and quality to create an uncompromising suite of architectural products designed and produced in-house and backed by exceptional technical support and customer service.
Though Longboard began as a manufacturer and supplier of exterior cladding solutions, they have expanded into a full range of exterior and interior design solutions. Longboard’s interior products include ceilings, walls, screens and partitions, and acoustic solutions capable of creating warm spaces that are comfortable, quiet, and aesthetically pleasing. In addition, Longboard uses AAMA 2604 certified powder, is VOC free, created with chrome-free processes, and is non-combustible. Meanwhile, their exterior products include cladding, cladding attachments, screen and enclosure systems, and soffit solutions made of aluminum and available in various finishes coated with AAMA 2604/2605 certified powder to protect against corrosion and UV rays.
Perhaps most exciting is Longboard’s latest offerings, which include the HITCH™ cladding attachment system and the Longboard ECO™ suite of products. Introduced in 2022, HITCH™ is a patented modular device for rainscreen and exterior wall assemblies that avoids thermal bridging and is a Passive House Institute-certified component for cool, temperate climates. Longboard ECO™ possesses verified life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and product-specific environmental product declarations (EPD).
“We’re really excited to be working with Longboard,” said Passive House Accelerator Director Zack Semke. “The Accelerator is always looking for partners who share our goal of making buildings more efficient through Passive House design and construction. Having products that reduce thermal bridging is absolutely integral to this effort.”
“Longboard is known as the gold standard of exterior cladding and interior design products, but we pay close attention when our industry needs a better solution in other areas,” said Mike Heppell, Owner and President of Longboard. “The HITCH™ system was designed from the ground up by our product innovation team to solve several problems: 1) to improve thermal efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, 2) to make an easy-to-use and cost-effective attachment system for buildings, and 3) to reduce future waste by simplifying the recladding process. With HITCH™, installers can simply remove the old cladding and affix new cladding in a snap.”
“Decarbonizing the built environment is going to take an all-hands-on-deck effort, so we need solutions that are not only sustainable and capable of providing a high level of thermal performance, but also easy to work with and cost-effective,” said Michael Ingui, founder of Passive House Accelerator. “We really think the entire Passive House community is going to be excited to learn about these products.”
To learn more about their range of products, you can check out their page on the Accelerator site or visit their website here.