Project overview

A 2-storey duplex built in Iqaluit NU using 2nd generation “Tuktu” SIP wall and floor panels we originally developed for a 142 house project we built for the Nunavut Housing Corporation two years earlier. An “unvented” roof design made with prefabricated light-weight trusses was used to speed assembly and eliminate the need for the lifting equipment required by heavy roof panels.

Project highlights

• Building design provides a small insulated / tempered “crawl-space” below the mechanical room floor for sewage-tanks.  The Triodetic space-frame foundation was designed to allow for this dropped sewage tank compartment.
• The building is hydronically heated and the demand is low enough for one boiler to heat both sides of the duplex.  Two boilers were installed, and plumbed so that if one boiler fails the other can supply both dwellings.
• The unheated / unvented attic space was monitored with remote-access humidity sensors to confirm hygrothermal performance.
• A solar porch with large windows was built on the South side to take advantage of the due South orientation.  This porch serves as an airlock entry and a space where incoming ventilation air is warmed prior to reaching the Heat Recovery Ventilator.
• The mechanical room is sealed off from the living space with weatherstripped doors so that any backdrafting of the conventionally aspirating boilers will not affect the health of the building occupants.

Project Gallery