The new home industry’s top sustainability milestones of 2016
By Lucas on Dec 12, 2016
It’s pretty safe to say that sustainable building and design is no longer a trend. The new wave of young homebuyers are willing to put in the time to understand why an energy efficient home makes more sense for not only their lifestyles but for the benefit of the environment. With that in mind, we’d like to take a look back at a few sustainability milestones we witnessed in 2016.
The winners of the EnerQuality Awards
2015 EnerQuality Award Winners
At the beginning of the year, the winners of the EnerQuality Awards were announced. For the third year in a row, Mattamy Homes won the prestigious ENERGY STAR for New Homes Builder of the Year - Large Volume Award.
Minto was another big winner, taking home the Ontario Green Builder of the Year Award for the second year in a row. Reid’s Heritage Homes was one of the biggest winners with three awards, including the inaugural Net Zero Builder of the Year Award, Building Innovation - Low-Rise, and the Best Green Marketing Campaign of the Year.
4 Net Zero homes hit the market
Also in the first quarter of the year, Reid’s Heritage Homes released four detached Net Zero homes in Guelph. Reid’s Heritage Homes completed the first Net Zero home in Canada in 2015, so these four additional homes were highly anticipated.
The homes were built as part of a nation wide initiative to prove that Net Zero homes could be built affordably on a community scale. Prices started in the low $500,000s and the homes sold very quickly! Clearly there is a demand for ultra energy efficient homes.
It pays to live green thanks to CMHC
Heron Park by Mattamy Homes
Back in 2004, a Green Home premium was introduced to encourage homeowners to make energy efficient upgrades in their homes, and also support builders who wanted to build more sustainable communities. For borrowers that use CMHC-insured financing for energy efficient projects, the premium refund has been boosted from 10% to 25%.
CMHC also adjusted the eligibility requirements to reflect recent changes to the EnerGuide Rating System. With higher efficiency goals, everyone can work together to ensure our new communities are built for the future.
The Net Zero story
A video was posted highlighting to whole Net Zero story from start to finish. Five builders from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Alberta participated in the initiative.
The video highlights all of the designing, brainstorming, and meeting of great minds the initiative entailed. It’s a 12:00 minute video, but it’s totally worth sitting through the whole thing because it’s really inspiring to see so many people from across the country working together to ensure that future generations have a sustainable lifestyle.
Minto unveils the first Net Zero townhomes
Kevin Lee presents Minto with first CHBA NZE townhouse certification. (Kevin Lee, Susan Murphy, Derek Hickson)
Okay, so Net Zero kind of dominated the world of sustainability in the new home industry this year. A few months ago, Minto unveiled Ontario’s first Net Zero townhomes in their Arcadia community in Ottawa.
The townhomes were priced from the mid $300,000s, so they are clearly an affordable option for all types of buyers. In case you’ve read this far and you’re wondering what a Net Zero home is, it’s a home that can generate as much energy as it consumes on an annual basis. Even if your community were to lose power, you would have energy for the next three days.
We’re excited to see whether more builders start building Net Zero homes and communities in 2017. How long will it be before all our new homes are as efficient as Net Zero homes?
