Project Overview

This addition to a commercial building in rural Eastern Ontario was built, and is to be used by the owners, Herrmann’s Timber Frame Homes, as a base for their building materials supply business. The existing workshop and warehouse building dates back to 2001, but it had become insufficient for the growing business in imported windows, wood fibre board, timber connectors and airsealing products. The building has two separate envelopes – one side, built to the Passive House Standard, is a combined office, Gaulhofer window showroom and training space, whilst the main part acts as a loading bay and storage area. The structure is a 60x200mm wood frame construction with open truss beams. All structural lumber was imported from Austria for this project, and the quality of this material, and the construction work itself, is extraordinary. Incoming ventilation air is preheated via a 100′ earth tube, connected to a Zehnder Comfoair 350 ventilation system. Heating will be supplied from a wood boiler both to the slabs via radiant floor, and to the ventilation air.  Occupancy is scheduled for June 2016.