Saskatoon homeowners celebrate first Passive House Institute certification on the prairies

A Saskatoon couple is celebrating their passive house on the prairies.

It's the first home in the prairie provinces to be certified to meet internationalstandards set by the Passive House Institute ofDarmstadt, Germany.

Co-owners Holly Ann Knott and Jim Spinney were awarded a plaque on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Knott said she was inspired the Conservation House, a passive house built in Regina in 1977.

"I went for a tour and I anticipated that this was the new wave and everybody was going to start doing this because it just made so much sense,"Knottsaid.

The trend didn't catch on in the province, but other countries in Europe took note of the passive house model and ran with the idea.

Knott and Spinneytore down their existing house to make way for the transformation. Passive homes are built to help control temperature and keep the home comfortable in an energy efficient way.

The couple doesn't have a gas furnace or an an air condition unit. Theyrely on 18-inch walls stuffed with insulation and a special doors to stop air from leaking out.

"Itfeels alittle bit like sealing yourself in into a submarine," Knott said. The couple noted this was an investment and pegged the cost of the door between four and six thousand dollars.

Passive homes are kept warm from the sun, the home dwellers, appliances and a heat recovery system. They can be cooled through shading and window ventilation. Spinney said the home is north-south, a near perfect location.

"We can get the back of the house where the sun is, and we get all of the light from the south," Spinney said.

"We have all of our windows on the south side, because of the eyebrow roof or the overhang we don't get the glare in the hot summer days," Spinney said.

During the evening, they open up all of the triple-pane windows.

"Simple. I'm really big on simple," Knott said.