The green, green home

By Pepper Rodriguez
February 21, 2023

Green means go; and for greener, more environmentally sustainable homes, it is go all the way. Edmonton’s homebuilders are coming up with new, and varied processes that enable homebuyers to save energy and save the planet, as the next generation of environmentally sustainable homes become more readily available.

Today, more new homes come with energy-saving features and solutions, including better insulation, triple-pane windows, high-efficiency furnaces, and even their own solar panels that enable homebuyers to save on energy costs. And these features are welcome now more than ever, as rising energy and utility costs take a big bite out of the household budget.

Edmonton’s homebuilders are taking initiatives to help consumers in the fight against rising energy bills and help save the environment as well. Many have taken up the Built Green™ program, and some are already taking the next level to building Net Zero homes.

Jayman BUILT, Cantiro and Excel Homes are among those who have taken up the green cause in a big way. All have taken a firm leadership role in coming up with more exciting home designs that bring out the best in energy-saving capabilities. In fact, both Jayman BUILT and Cantiro are finalists in the 2023 CHBA Edmonton Region Awards this year for Best Net Zero Homes.
All three have partnered with the Built Green™ program to give their homebuyers the satisfaction of living in a home that matches their aspirations to live a greener lifestyle.

A greener industry

“Jayman BUILT is not only a member of Built Green™, but the founding member in 2005 and the first builder to register a Built Green™ home. Our commitment to ‘green’ building practices goes back many years,” says Dave Hooge, COO at Jayman BUILT.
“Consumers today expect that their builder, or any other vendor for that matter, take the Built Green™ practices seriously and contribute to a greener world. So, for us, Built Green™ is just how we do things.”
Jayman BUILT has already programs like Core Performance and the Path to Net Zero and they are adding more to this, as they introduce new standard features for 2023 that can reduce a home’s carbon footprint and provide up to 50 per cent in electrical savings per year.

Gary Hoeft, General Manager, Cantiro Homes, says they are proud of all the accomplishments they have been able to achieve in developing and refining building standards to create high performance homes.

“Cantiro is proud to have built a number of Net Zero projects in Edmonton over the last few years and we are preparing to break ground on British Columbia’s first entirely Net Zero community, with 38 Net Zero luxury homes situated on the shores of the Okanagan’s Lake Kalamalka,” Hoeft says. “Our Net Zero homes have three distinct enhancements when compared to a standard high-performance home: reduced heat loss, electrification of the HVAC system, and energy generation.”

Hoeft adds that reducing energy loss is the first critical piece. “By increasing the insulation and air tightness of the building, we can then right-size the mechanical system for heating and cooling. By incorporating Air Source Heat Pump Technology, we can utilize the same equipment for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Lastly, the generation of electricity back to the grid through solar energy will offset the electric heat pump consumption creating a lasting home that creates as much (and in most cases more) energy than it consumes.”

Excel Homes believes building a home through sustainable practices is “win/win” for the builder and the buyer.
“Every Built Green™ home we build for our customers is third-party certified to be top-performing with a healthier indoor environment,” says Excel homes Marketing Manager Kristina Plank, adding that the company is the second largest registrant of Built Green™ homes in Canada.

 

 

“In time, a home that is certified as being Built Green™ will be more resistant to overall deterioration in our contrasting Alberta climate, have reduced utility bills saving you more money in the long run and also be less impactful on the environment utilizing the effectively efficient resources to construct your home.”
She adds that Excel values “responsibility” towards the environment and their customers. “Working with the Built Green™ program helps us be more aligned in building our customers affordable, healthy, and sustainable homes.”

National initiative

Built Green™ Canada is an industry-driven, national, non-profit organization committed to working with builders interested in responsible sustainability practices in the residential building sector. It uses a certification program that promotes healthy building measures, such as no or low volatile organic compounds, heat recovery ventilators for fresh air and high efficiency features. It also serves to underline the economic and health benefits of building “green.”

“Built Green’s™ programs … address energy performance, and then go one to address other integral aspects of sustainability. As building code with minimum energy requirements is now in place, other areas are being considered more—water conservation and waste management, for example,” Built Green™ Canada CEO Jennifer Christenson tells Calgary New Home + Condo Guide.
In 2021, Built Green™ Canada launched its Net Zero Energy+ program for single family new homes, which it calls “a new level of achievement within the organization’s long-held, industry friendly green building program.” They’ve created a labelling program which provides the industry and consumers with clear and precise technical requirements for two levels of labelling: Net Zero and Net Zero Ready Homes.

She adds that Built Green™ has long been committed to affordability – for the builder and the homeowner – and to providing support to builders working to progress the industry through its holistic certification programs. “As such, for those units required to be built as part of the inclusionary housing mandate, Built Green™ is offering financial support: a full financial waiver for the home certification fees on inclusionary units, and for those builders new to the program, a waiver on the Built Green™ Program Fundamentals Training course fee. This applies to those units within a High-Density project that are inclusionary (as per the requirements of the municipality you’re building within).”

“We do recognize that the cost to jump to a fully net zero certified home can be cost-prohibitive for many home buyers,” Jayman’s Hooge says. “So, we do ensure we include as much added value in our homes while exceeding the building and energy codes, while still being priced competitively.

Jayman BUILT

Jayman BUILT recently announced that beginning this year, all new Jayman homes will come standard with 10 solar panels (as opposed to the previous six). This is an important addition to the already amazing suite of energy efficient inclusions home buyers get when purchasing a Jayman home.

These 10 solar panels will generate enough electricity to cut homeowner’s electricity bills by 50 per cent - nearly half-way to Net Zero energy generation! Jayman, already an established leader in the home building industry, is one of the only homebuilders in Alberta taking this important step to a greener future. Find out more at jayman.com.

Excel Homes

At Excel Homes, every Built Green™ home they build comes with a suite of sustainable building process and materials at a base level. “All the wood and lumber in our homes come from third-party certified sustainably harvested sources (CSA, FSC and/or CFI). Furthermore, we use products that contain recycled/recovered content such as doors, window frames, wall insulation, carpet padding, etc.,” Plank says.

“The concrete we use utilizes 40 percent supplementary material which is more environmentally sustainable than typical concrete. During the home construction, we space the wall studs at 24-inches to reduce thermal bridging or weak points in the building envelope. To keep your home moisture-tight and “breathing”, we use an advanced sealing package combined with a HRV and smart thermostat to keep heating and cooling costs to a minimum. Our appliance packages come with ENERGY STAR® rated appliances which are 20 percent more efficient than non-rated appliances. These are just a few of the sustainable practices that go into our homes.”

Excel Homes, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, is still seeking to improve even more its sustainable homes production.

For us, as a homebuilder, it is important to provide our customers with different, affordable options and upgrades that offer a pathway to more sustainable homes. We are currently working on enhancing our standard specifications to provide even more sustainability options and value to our homeowners this coming year,” Plank says. Go to excelhomes.ca for more.

Cantiro

Cantiro works towards utilizing the right people, products and processes to make sure your home is built right the first time – minimizing ongoing operating & energy costs and maximizing overall value. Each Cantiro home offers added value through their commitment to energy efficiency, and high-performing ENERGY STAR® windows, equipment and appliances. Their homes also include smart home features so you can experience a higher quality of lifestyle.

Cantiro Homes is recognized by the CHBA as a Net Zero Qualified Builder. If you are seeking to build a new Net Zero they can work with you to determine the optimal combination of products and design to match your lifestyle and location to build.

“We have a team who are members of Passive Haus Canada which is the gold standard for leading the way in Net Zero and we are constantly testing new applications and techniques. This will help us to improve our product offering while giving our clients the peace of mind that their home is built for the future,” Hoeft says. For more information, visit cantiro.ca.

About Pepper Rodriguez

Pepper Rodriguez is a writer, editor of New Home + Condo Guide's Calgary and Edmonton editions.

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