The Canadian Passive House Institute (CanPHI) is a registered non-profit educational organization providing Canadians with the knowledge, tools and confidence to design and construct buildings which meet the world’s most radical and verified energy standard, the international Passive House Standard.

Our four directors are all qualified building professionals (engineers or architects) who work daily on Passive House projects here in Canada, and we’re all passionate about drastically improving the quality of Canadian buildings. We all hold the elite Certified Passive House Designer qualification.

Since 2010 we’ve trained hundreds of Canadian builders, architects, engineers, tradespeople, designers, planners and homeowners in Passive House design and construction.

Nobody can build a Passive House on their own – we’re here to provide support and help build a strong Passive House community across Canada.

Become a Certified Passive House Designer

Take our new 2019 online training program and start developing your expertise in the world’s most advanced energy efficient building standard: The Passive House Standard.

CanPHI Directors

Malcolm Issac

Malcolm Issacs

Engineer / Builder Construction Maison Passive Inc.

Qualification:  via Passivhaus Institut
Darmstadt, CPHD exam, 2012

Malcolm Isaacs is a Civil Engineering graduate of the University of Ottawa, and a Passive House pioneer in Canada, who’s worked in the energy efficiency field as a professional engineer, researcher, writer and builder for 25 years. In 2005 he designed and built the first house in the country to Passive House specifications, in Wakefield, QC, in which he lives.

Malcolm co-founded CanPHI in 2010 and has worked extensively at the Passivhaus Institut in Germany. He’s the most experienced and accomplished Passive House educator in Canada, having taught the CPHD course since 2010, and has now trained over 500 building professionals across Canada in Passive House design and construction. Malcolm also runs the international CPHD exam across Canada on behalf of PHI. His current specialties include the economics of the Passive House approach, particularly affordable design solutions. He is Passive House consultant on Canada’s first two multi-unit apartment buildings targeting Certification, and the Passive House Designer, building envelope supplier and construction advisor on CLT Passive Houses currently under construction in Kingston, ON and Wakefield, QC.

Tomaz Stich

Engineer / Designer

Qualification:  via EZA!, Germany
CPHD exam 2009

Tomaz Stich grew up in Germany and worked a full apprenticeship in cabinet making before taking a 4-year diploma in wood engineering at the prestigious Hildesheim Institute of Applied Sciences, with graduate research work in wood structures at the Institite for Wood Technology Research in Stockholm, Sweden. Fluent in four languages, Tomaz qualified as a Certified Passive House Designer in 2009, when this qualification first became available.

Tomas is now working as a structural and Passive House designer and builder in multiple projects across Canada, with a specialty in CLT design. He also teaches the CPHD course in Calgary for CanPHI, and he lives with his family in beautiful Invermere, BC.

Jim Iredale

Builder / Entrepreneur

Landmark Passivhaus
Qualification:  via CanPHI
CPHD exam 2013

Jim began his construction career as an apprentice carpenter during the gas crisis of the early 70’s. Gas rationing and high energy prices helped focus many like him onto energy efficiency.

Following studies in mechanical engineering and summer employment on the job Jim contracted his first design-build in 1981 and has never looked back.

With 40 years of experience in custom residential construction Jim is well placed to contribute to the growth of the Passive House Standard in Canada – in 2014 he  rebranded his Mont-Tremblant-based company to focus exclusively on Passive House construction. He is currently working on the Certification of Maison Bombardier in Mont-Tremblant, which is expected to be one of the first Passive House buildings to be Certified in Quebec.

Jim was among the first graduates of CanPHI’s training program, via the international exam in 2013. He’s a journeyman carpenter, accomplished timber framer and successful licenced general contractor and developer working in the Laurentian mountains, Québec.

Sonia Zouari

Architect

Parks Canada
Qualification:  via CanPHI
CPHD exam, Ottawa 2014

Fully bilingual, Sonia holds a Masters degree in Architecture and is licensed as an Architect in Ontario and Quebec. As a Certified Passive House Designer, Green Globes Practitioner and a LEED professional, she takes a leadership role in Sustainable Design. Sonia is currently working as Project Architect with Parks Canada, and is developing designs suitable for a range of Passive House-quality projects, including a 3-building development in the high Arctic, scheduled for construction by 2020.

As both the Project Architect and Passive House Designer, Sonia has championed the Salus Clementine project in Ottawa, which is the:

  • First Passive House light steel construction in North America
  • First large scale Passive House multi-residential social housing project on the continent

Proud public servant, community oriented and award winning Architect with over 16 years of international experience, Sonia’s contributions to Ontario’s built environment and the architectural profession have been recognized by the Ontario Association of Architects, as part of the OAA’s series ‘Women in Architecture – Ontario’ for Women’s History Month, 2015. A devoted mother of three, Sonia lives with her family in Ottawa.