The world’s first Passive House car dealership is nearing completion in Red Deer, Alberta. Designed by Cover Architectural Collaborative and Sublime Design, with PH consulting provided by Peel Passivehouse Consulting, the 1,540 m2 (16,600 ft2) facility will house the new Scott Subaru dealership. This legacy project dovetails nicely with the 50th anniversary of the company developing the project, The Scottsville Auto Group.
Summary
Challenges that cold climates present to Passive House design is nothing new. But the combination of climate, project requirements and operational realities forced the design team members to continually re-evaluate proposed solutions in order to optimize the design and ensure certifiability. A team committed to the project goals and willing to seriously explore alternative solutions is essential for success.
Motivations
Garrett Scott, Owner and Chief Operating Officer, sought a low impact building that would support his growing business. He readily admits that he’s not an avid environmentalist but recognizes the myriad benefits of constructing to the Passive House Building Standard. “I think building smarter and showing that these retail facilities can be structured in a way that they’re still functional for a retail presence and also able to accommodate a nicer work environment for the teams that are inside of them and not to mention the customers as well. We hope the long-term benefits will help inspire others to possibly build similar type structures.”
This isn’t the first environmental building initiative Subaru has undertaken. Its Indiana automotive assembly plant is the first zero-landfill factory in the US. Scott was inspired by this project in deciding to pursue Passive House certification on his building.