The Dzee Ba’Yugh Heart House is located on the Lake Babine Nation’s Reserve in Burns Lake, BC. The building is built on the infamous trail of tears addressing a much need refuge for women seeking a safe place to escape domestic violence.

The facility has 7 family rooms on two floors with a capacity of 21 beds. The program includes administration office, communal kitchen and living room on the main floor with a south facing outdoor play and gathering area. On the second floor a multi-purpose space will be used for Counselling and an indoor play area for children. The construction is a prefabricated wood panel system to achieve quality control, schedule and budget requirements. The building is designed to meet Passive House requirements.

Multiple sustainable strategies were used to vastly reduce the operational cost for heating and cooling, such as a compact building footprint to reduce exterior surfaces exposed to temperature differential, and an innovative passive building envelope system that achieves R44 walls and R57 roof. Additionally, there is an open wall system that includes Pavetex T&G and a Majrex Vapour Membrane. The building has high performance triple glazed windows with wood frames with aluminum exterior cladding for durability, and passive natural ventilation achieved by a custom ventilation chimney and operable windows to reduce cooling loads and provide fresh air in the summer and shoulder seasons. Lastly, it has a 4 zone HRV system for ventilation, and ceiling mounted electrical radiant panels.