Architect: Handel Architects
Location: Scarborough, Ontario
Completion Date: 2024
Harmony Commons, a 718 unit dormitory, is the latest addition to the University of Toronto’s Scarborough, Ontario campus. Designed by Handel Architects, the new residence is all-electric and is the largest building in Canada to achieve passive house certification. To conceal the insulation and weather barrier that allow the project to maintain efficient thermal performance, Harmony Commons is clad in a lightweight metal rainscreen.
This project is part of larger efforts at the University of Toronto to reduce emissions across all three of its Ontario campuses, having committed to a one-third reduction in emissions by 2030.
The three rectangular volumes that comprise Harmony Commons enclose a small central courtyard. This design is meant to emulate the layout of a traditional collegiate quad.
Metal panels were specified for the facade of the building to meld with the existing architecture at University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus (UTSC), which consists of metal- and glass-faced buildings. The standing seam panels were specified in two shades of gray that alternate across the building. Furthermore, the panels are articulated every two stories to create a less monolithic facade expression.
Handel Architects implemented a number of high-performance technologies and strategies to achieve passive house certification. As an office, Handel Architects has extensive previous experience designing to passive house standards. In 2017, the firm completed work on a student dormitory for Cornell Tech, the university’s Roosevelt Island campus. In the past two years, the firm has delivered two additional passive house projects: the Winthrop Center, an office building in Boston, as well as Sendero Verde, an affordable housing complex in East Harlem.
Despite prior experience, Harmony Commons presented unique challenges and learning opportunities. For example, the building marked Handel’s first all-electric passive house. This was achieved through the implementation of induction stoves, low-energy refrigeration, heat-pump-operated dryers, and waste water heat recovery.
Other passive strategies were specific to Ontario’s climate. Like most passive house buildings, low U-value window systems and high R-value wall insulation was used to decrease heat transfer. The architects were also careful to avoid thermal bridging when detailing the building.
Energy usage was reduced through heat recovery from exhaust as well as grey water recycling from shower usage. To accommodate Ontario’s freezing winters, special heat pumps resistant to sub-zero temperatures were specified.
This was also the first time the office has designed a passive house using a stick-built rainscreen facade.
In a passive house building the facade’s primary contribution is to provide insulation, air tightness, and to facilitate heat exchange. To that end, Handel Architects implemented two layers of 6-inch mineral wool insulation behind the metal rainscreen. The exterior envelope was also rigorously sealed to achieve air tightness: A vapor-permeable air barrier was placed over the exterior sheathing and additional sealants and tapes were applied.
An Energy Recovery Ventilator naturally ventilates the building, exchanging outdoor air with indoor conditioned air.
Harmony Commons represents a significant milestone in the University of Toronto’s push to decrease energy usage. Deborah Moelis, principal at Handel Architect, told AN, “The university recently compared monthly greenhouse gas emissions per person between Harmony Commons and a 2003 dormitory on the same campus, and found as much as a 90 percent reduction.”
Looking forward, Moelis shared several challenges standing in the way of mass adoption of passive house criteria. “The industry is not yet prepared to provide performance data of equipment and materials in the format the the Passive House Institute requires,” she said. “This can be debilitating, causing rejected submittals and wasted time… it seems to be a barrier to entry for many companies.”
