34 Yrs
In 1988 teachers Bo Adamson, from Lund University in Sweden, and Wolfgang Feist, from the Institute for Housing and the Environment of Germany, came up with this type of structure coined the term passivhaus (“Passive House” in German).
60k
The High-Performance Passive House concept has expanded to many countries and climate zones, and there are now more than 60,000 Passive House projects around the world.
There are 2,000 buildings certified as Passive House in Canada. The first in Toronto was certified in 2019.
90%
High-Performance Passive Houses must adhere to strict building criteria, consuming up to 90% less heating and cooling energy when compared to conventional buildings.
+10%
Despite considerably lower operating costs, industry leaders agree that the cost of building a passive house is only ten percent higher than building a house that simply meets local code requirements.
high-performance projects

Welcome to Blackwell House at 158-B Dawn Ave Guelph
The first of three custom Passive House certified homes in this offering and the first of their kind in Guelph, ON.
project details
Location: 158-B Dawn Avenue, Guelph, ON
Lot size: ~ 64’x116’
Home size: ~ 3226 SF above grade
Beds: 4 bedrooms on second floor
Bath: 4 (3 upper, 1 main)
Garage: 2 car
Basement: Unfinished
Exterior: 40’ DEEP BACKYARD | 20’ SIDE YARD
Certification: Passive House Institute
These 3 custom certified Passive House Homes are the first of their kind in the city of Guelph. According to the Passive House Institute (PHI), there are only 50 certified Passive Homes in Canada, and fewer than 10 in Ontario. While performance based builds are becoming more common, it is rare that they are built, tested, verified and certified to the rigorous standards outlined by PHI.
Blackwell House is the first of 3 Certified Passive House homes being built in Guelph’s old south end neighbourhood on a rare 64’x116′ lot. This modern farm house design includes over 3226 square feet of living space built and certified to the worlds most elite high performance construction standard. This home delivers an uncompromising fusion of architectural and performance driven design in order to fulfill the 5 most meaningful benefits that every home deserves; Comfort, Quiet, Health, Durability and Mindfulness.
Design: The open concept main floor with 10′ ceilings was designed with function and style in mind. The expansive entertainers kitchen features integrated European appliances, double islands, white oak cabinetry, porcelain countertops and stunning curio displays. The main floor also includes office with side yard entry, large mudroom, cloak room, walk-in pantry and powder room, open concept living room and dining room with large windows and patio doors. The second floor features 4 large bedrooms including master suite with walk-in closet and ensuite bath, second floor laundry, jack and jill bath and guest bath, and large flex space. The exterior design includes wood siding and stone masonry, and bold black aluminum window frames. High performance features include premium passive house windows and doors, extremely high levels of insulation, insulated concrete form (ICF) foundation, ultra airtight construction (<0.60 ACH 50) and premium air filtration and ventilation system.
Inspiration: Each certified Passive Home requires a unique name for its registration in the institute’s database – our hunt for a name began with what we felt was driving our desire to provide a high-performance home. Commonly, the matriarch of the family is driving the major lifestyle and health decisions for the family, and is often conscious of sourcing the innovative, local and mindful options. This inspired us to look for pioneering women that exemplified this notion. Elizabeth Blackwell was a British physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council. Blackwell played an important role in both the United States and the United Kingdom as a social awareness and moral reformer, and pioneered in promoting education for women in medicine. Her contributions remain celebrated with the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal, awarded annually to a woman who has made significant contribution to the promotion of women in medicine

welcome to Bly House at 158-C Dawn Ave Guelph
The second of three custom Passive House certified homes in this offering and the first of their kind in Guelph, ON.
// Project photos coming soon //
project details
Location: guelph, ON
Build Duration: 1 year
Sale Price: Coming Soon
These 3 custom certified Passive House Homes are the first of their kind in the city of Guelph. According to the Passive House Institute (PHI), there are only 50 certified Passive Homes in Canada, and fewer than 10 in Ontario. While performance based builds are becoming more common, it is rare that they are built, tested, verified and certified to the rigorous standards outlined by PHI.
Bly House is the second of 3 Certified Passive House homes being built in Guelph’s old south end neighbourhood on a rare 64’x117′ lot. This modern farmhouse design includes over 3200 square feet of living space built and certified to the worlds most elite high performance construction standard. This home delivers an uncompromising fusion of architectural and performance driven design in order to fulfill the 5 most meaningful benefits that every home deserves; Comfort, Quiet, Health, Durability and Mindfulness.
Design: Coming soon!
Inspiration: Each certified Passive Home requires a unique name for its registration in the institute’s database – our hunt for a name began with what we felt was driving our desire to provide a high-performance home. Commonly, the matriarch of the family is driving the major lifestyle and health decisions for the family, and is often conscious of sourcing the innovative, local and mindful options. This inspired us to look for pioneering women that exemplified this notion. Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist, industrialist, inventor, and charity worker who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, in emulation of Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within. She was a pioneer in her field and launched a new kind of investigative journalism.

welcome to Baret House at 158-A Dawn Ave Guelph
The third of three custom Passive House certified homes in this offering and the first of their kind in Guelph, ON.
// Project photos coming soon //
project details
Location: guelph, ON
Build Duration: 1 year
Sale Price: Coming Soon
These 3 custom certified Passive House Homes are the first of their kind in the city of Guelph. According to the Passive House Institute (PHI), there are only 50 certified Passive Homes in Canada, and fewer than 10 in Ontario. While performance based builds are becoming more common, it is rare that they are built, tested, verified and certified to the rigorous standards outlined by PHI.
Baret House is the third of 3 Certified Passive House homes being built in Guelph’s old south end neighbourhood on a rare 65’x116′ lot. This modern farmhouse design includes over 3200 square feet of living space built and certified to the worlds most elite high performance construction standard. This home delivers an uncompromising fusion of architectural and performance driven design in order to fulfill the 5 most meaningful benefits that every home deserves; Comfort, Quiet, Health, Durability and Mindfulness.
Design: The open concept main floor with 10′ ceilings was designed with function and style in mind. The expansive entertainer’s kitchen features integrated European appliances, double islands, high-end cabinetry, porcelain countertops and stunning curio displays. The main floor also includes office with side yard entry, large mudroom, cloak room, walk-in pantry and powder room, open concept living room and dining room with large windows and patio doors. The second floor features 4 large bedrooms including master suite with walk-in closet and ensuite bath, second floor laundry, jack and jill bath and guest bath, and large flex space. The exterior design includes wood siding and stone masonry, and high-end aluminum window frames. High performance features include premium passive house windows and doors, extremely high levels of insulation, insulated concrete form (ICF) foundation, ultra airtight construction (<0.60 ACH 50) and premium air filtration and ventilation system.
Inspiration: Each certified Passive Home requires a unique name for its registration in the institute’s database – our hunt for a name began with what we felt was driving our desire to provide a high-performance home. Commonly, the matriarch of the family is driving the major lifestyle and health decisions for the family, and is often conscious of sourcing the innovative, local and mindful options. This inspired us to look for pioneering women that exemplified this notion. Jeanne Baret was a member of Louis Antoine de Bougainville’s colonial expedition on the ships La Boudeuse and Étoile in 1766–1769. Baret is recognized as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe, which she did via maritime.
Tiny Home Backyard Dwelling
Project Details
Location: GUELPH, ON
Build Duration: 4 months
Construction Cost: ~$200K-$400K
Welcome to Guelph’s first high performance Tiny Home! This unique, fully legal backyard accessory dwelling was built to serve as a garden studio and fitness space for two young professionals. The construction of the tiny home is fully serviced with domestic hot water, sanitary connection and hydro. What is more, this highly efficient building features well insulated walls, roof and foundation, triple-pane European style windows, and compact heating, cooling and ventilation systems. The elevated interior boasts white washed pine from floor to ceiling, polished concrete floors and expansive windows to allow natural sunlight to passively heat the building. The impressive exterior captures your attention with its beautiful natural cedar cladding, zero overhang standing seam metal roof, and stunning contrasting windows. Beyond it’s architectural beauty, the true value in this Tiny Home is its versatility to be legally rented out as an office or dwelling space.
Rural Retreat Custom Home
Project Details
Location: halton hills, ON
Build Duration: 1 year
Sale Price: SOLD
At almost 4000 square feet of bungalow living space, this home is a marriage of aging in place with the five key elements of elite high-performance construction: Comfort, Quiet, Health, Durability and Mindfulness. Main floor living allows for an integrated and open concept lifestyle that centers around the kitchen and living areas of the home – this project is the epitome of that notion.
Design: The traditional design speaks to its context and blends in with the rural farm surroundings. The interior is warm, cozy and inviting with its dark brown oak floors and barn beam accents. The vaulted ceilings in the great room transition to 9’ ceilings in the kitchen – this open atmosphere along with the large south facing windows create a stunning linkage to the hay field only feet behind the home, and the natural backdrop of maple and oak trees in the distance. A focus has been placed on using natural materials throughout, and particularly, a focus on highly efficient design. A 3 ton geothermal system provides the home with heating and cooling energy – this coupled with the impressive insulation package and air tightness make this large bungalow extremely economical to run and maintain. It is a slab on grade construction with a main floor master bedroom and ensuite, and a guest quarters off the great room. The tiled mudroom entry and mudroom washroom provide functional day to day use for rural living. Office space overlooking the yard, and a bonus flex room above the garage provide added usability to this home. A pass through pantry allows for easy access for unloading groceries from the garage into the kitchen area.
Village Modern Rebuild
Project Details
Location: puslinch, ON
Build Duration: 1 year
Construction Cost: ~$500K+
you deserve a high-performance home
Quiet | Comfort | Durable | Mindful | Healthy
What
The ‘Passive house’ building standard sets a clear and simple goal to provide the highest level of occupant comfort using the least amount of energy. This high-performance approach recognizes the house as a system and surpasses outdated home-building conventions in both design and construction. With more than 37 million square feet of certified buildings, its adoption continues to grow exponentially in Canada and worldwide.
Climate change and the steady rise of energy costs are driving the demand for more resilient and sustainable homes in Canada. The rate of these changes has outpaced the natural evolution of building design and construction, prompting designers, engineers, and builders worldwide to catch up quickly. Several voluntary standards have been created over the past few decades to address this performance gap through specific and incremental improvements, with various degrees of success.
How
The design of Passive House is based on five fundamental principles:
A well-insulated building envelope keeps warmth in during the cold months and heat out during warmer months. Robust exterior insulation keeps the wood and steel in your walls warm all year round, unlike traditional cavity insulation.
Avoiding thermal bridges – which are weak points in the building envelope, contributes to pleasant, even interior temperatures while eliminating moisture damage and improving energy efficiency.
Strategically positioned, highly insulated (Triple-glazed) windows do their part to make optimal use of the sun’s energy. Windows are often the weakest link in the envelope, so using great windows makes a significant difference.
Passive Houses are designed to avoid leakages in the building envelope, thus boosting energy efficiency while preventing draughts and moisture damage. Airtightness relies heavily on the calibre of craftsmanship involved in the build; ultimately, exceptional airtightness directly translates into exceptional energy efficiency.
Passive House ventilation systems provide plentiful fresh, pollen and dust-free air with maximal energy efficiency through heat recovery. Continuous fresh air is a key element to overall homeowner health.
The design of a Passive House relies on an ‘Integrated Design Process (IDP) from a collaborative team (including the homeowner). The most important decisions are made during the conceptual design of the building and are then followed by:
- Detailed design and energy modelling
- Careful pre-construction planning
- Precise construction, exemplary workmanship & quality control
- Third-party quality assurance testing & commissioning
Why
Why build a Passive House? If you’re planning to build the house of your dreams, you deserve a home that is not only built beautifully; you deserve:
- Consistent, year-round comfort, whether it’s 20 below or hot and humid
- Quiet stillness to escape from the world outside, rest and recharge
- Healthy indoor air quality, free of pollutants, allergens dust and mould
- Generational resilience and durability that can be passed on to your children
- Sustainable investment for your family and the planet
Cost
Passive House buildings are higher quality buildings. As such, the investment costs are often slightly higher due to the more intensive planning, superior components and exceptional craftsmanship involved. As the expression goes, you get what you pay for. With that said, reduced energy use (up to 90% for heating and cooling and 60-80% overall) translates into lower monthly bills and protection from rising energy costs, making occupancy more affordable. Ultimately you can rest assured knowing you are investing in your family’s health and well-being, saving money on rising energy costs, and contributing to a more sustainable future.
Uncompromising Design and Construction Based on Frontiers Five Principles.
Built to Meet or Exceed Stringent Passive House Standards.
Consistency
Whether it’s a blizzard outside your window or the middle of a hot summer day, every room in your home should provide you with a consistent, comfortable temperature. High-performance homes are built to be airtight, wrapped in a warm blanket of insulation and premium-quality windows and doors. Say so long to the drafty office, stifling bedroom, and cold floors.
Generational quality
Your home is built to last. Durability is not an upgrade, it’s a standard inherent to your high-performance home that will last for generations.. Every home starts with thoughtful planning and carefully considering the materials and their sources before using them in your home. The entire build is quality controlled, meticulously documented through third-party verification to meet the highest industry standards.
A sustainable approach
There is no better investment than a home that provides lasting comfort, a healthy indoor environment, and protection from rising energy prices. High-performance homes are designed and built to be more efficient, sustainable, and durable, saving you a significant amount of money over time and providing you with peace of mind knowing that your home will be part of a thoughtful movement toward a better future.
Breathe Easy
Nothing is more important than the quality of the air in your home. Pollutants, allergens, and moisture can infiltrate your living space through gaps and cracks in your walls, windows, and foundation in conventionally built homes. High-performance homes require carefully designed air-tight construction, giving you complete control over the quality of the air you breathe by way of carefully designed and crafted filtered ventilation systems.
A Frontiers representative will follow up with you.