EnerQuality announces winners of 2020 EQ Awards
After another year of growth and innovation, leaders in the Ontario building industry celebrated and recognized their collective successes, achievements of their peers, and special projects demonstrating the best of homebuilding.
Last year was a record one for certifying energy efficient homes, with this year’s additions reaching a total of more than 100,000 homes certified to date as delivering the benefits of the Energy Star label – built more than 15 per cent better than code. Net Zero and Net Zero Ready homes are also contributing to steady growth in energy efficient buildings. In building energy efficient homes to established certifications – including Energy Star, EnerGuide and Net Zero – EnerQuality’s community of builders has helped Ontario homeowners save $258 million in lifetime energy costs, reduce more than one million tonnes of C02e, and shrink greenhouse gas emissions and overall environmental footprint.
“Ontario builders are committed to building better and hiring job seekers with transferable skills who are eager to learn on the job is also part of building better,” says Monica Curtis, EnerQuality president and CEO. “By building more efficient homes and hiring a more representative workforce, the province’s construction industry is meeting the twin challenges of environmental sustainability and diversity and inclusion.”
In its second year as a virtual event, more than 200 building professionals joined the event online, representing HBAs, municipalities, and more than 100 companies, including homebuilders, architects, engineers, energy advisors, building officials, tradespeople, manufacturers, and product and service providers.
This year’s event featured the Innovation Gauntlet – an exciting pitch session where manufacturers present their new solutions to optimize the high-performance new construction and renovation industry – and attendees voted on the most innovative new solution.
“Builders are committed to building better and creating innovative, energy-efficient homes they are proud of, and homeowners seek out,” says Rose Benedetto, managing director of EnerQuality. “This drive is matched by the ability of leading manufacturers to anticipate the market direction, as shown by the finalists in the Innovation Gauntlet.”
The event draws nominations from across the building industry, with builders, licensed professionals, and energy advisors from more than a dozen Ontario HBAs represented. The winners also show a cross-section of the building industry with newer builders alongside established, generational building companies.
“Increasingly, homeowners’ consciousness about their environmental footprint shapes their housing priorities,” says Curtis. “The EQ Awards showcase how the industry is building homes that use less energy, are more comfortable, with better indoor air quality and lower emissions overall. As the market shifts to focus on carbon, we expect to see even more builders certifying their homes and building better than code.”
2020 EQ Award Winners
- Best Green Marketing: Terra View Homes
- Builder Achievement: Doug Tarry, Doug Tarry Ltd.
- Building Innovation – Low: Far Sight Homes, Beeton Creek
- Champion Of the Year: Marc Huminilowycz, Sideroad Communications
- Enbridge – Optimum Home: Mattamy Homes
- Enbridge – Savings by Design (Affordable): Spotlight Developments Inc.
- Enbridge – Savings by Design (Commercial): Drewlo Holdings
- Enbridge – Savings by Design (Residential): Dietrich Homes
- Energy Advisor of The Year: Huso Ashimi, Building Knowledge Canada
- EnerQuality’s Energy Star For New Homes – Large Volume Builder: Activa
- EnerQuality’s Energy Star For New Homes – Mid Volume Builder: Huron Creek Developments
- EnerQuality’s Energy Star For New Homes – Small/Custom Builder: Terra View Homes
- Green Renovation Project of The Year: RND Construction Ltd., Art Deco
- HBA of the Year: Durham Region HBA
- Impact Award: Tamarack Homes
- Leader of the Year: Susan Cudahy, Enbridge Gas Inc.
- Licensed Professional of The Year: Wil Beardmore, Bluewater Energy
- Net Zero Builder: Terra View Homes, Hart Village
- Ontario Green Builder of The Year – Lowrise: Minto Communities
- Ontario Green Builder of The Year – Mid/Highrise: Doug Tarry Ltd.
- Product Innovation – Lowrise (OBC Part 9): Panasonic Canada Inc., Nanoe X Technology
- Product Innovation – Highrise (OBC Part 3): Sageglass, Sageglass Harmony
- Rising Star Award: Austin Todd, Evergreen Building Science
2020 Leader of the Year – Susan Cudahy
The 2020 EQ Leader of the Year was awarded to Susan Cudahy. This award recognizes an individual or company for their commitment, advocacy and leadership in driving the growth of energy efficient housing in Ontario in 2020. Cudahy leads the residential new construction team at Enbridge, where she is supervisor of strategic builder relations. In 2020, she and her team enabled nearly 1,500 learners to take training programs to help their organizations build more energy efficient buildings.
“This is an incredible honour to be nominated for this award, and one that I truly would not have received without the full support of Enbridge Gas and our entire residential new construction team,” says Cudahy. “We were so pleased that we could take a challenging situation like the pandemic and turn it into a province-wide opportunity to advance the training and education of our builders. We are very proud of the Enbridge support we provided to our training associations to assist them in adapting, shifting and changing to meet the needs of the new environment we all found ourselves in. Together, we were able to create a positive opportunity that has increased builder energy efficiency certifications and offered new insights and learnings into the art of advanced building science.”
2020 Impact Award Winner – Tamarack Developments Corp.
Tamarack Developments Corp. is the 2020 recipient of the Impact Award. This EnerQuality-selected award is given to a builder that has made significant long-term voluntary progress in reducing carbon emissions and showed outstanding achievements through energy efficiency and sustainable practices.
NextHome is an official Media Sponsor of the EQ Awards.