Better Builder Magazine brings together premium product manufactures and leading builders to create better differentiated homes and buildings that use less energy, save water and reduce our impact on the environment. The magazine is published four times a year.

1. ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016PUBLICATIONNUMBER42408014
Brookfield Blazes Own Trail
Near Zero at Echo Haven
Refining HRV/ERV Choices
Exceptional Customer Service
Outstanding Custom Home
Clean50 Award Winner
Proofing
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Energy savings,temperature control and comfort
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3. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
16
1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
2
Everything in Moderation
by John Godden
THE BADA TEST
3
The Planning Act, the Ontario
Building Code, Energy
Efficiency and Building Permits
by Lou Bada
INDUSTRY NEWS
6
Ontario’s Mandatory
Home Energy Rating and
Disclosure Program
by Patricia Duffy
10
Dow Celebrates 75 Years of
Innovation with STYROFOAM™
by Dow & Better Builder Staff
20
Near Zero at Echo Haven
by Alex Newman
29
New, Higher Performing
Insulated Exterior Sheathing
by Amvic
INDUSTRY EXPERT
12
Refining Your HRV/ERV Choices
by Gord Cooke
14
Exceptional Customer Service
by Michael Lio
BUILDER NEWS
9
Congratulations Award Winners
by Better Builder Staff
24
Translating and Quantifying
Appraisal Value for
Better Than Code Homes
by Teresa Lopez
SITE SPECIFIC
27
Meet Clean50 Award Winner
Candice Luck
by Alex Newman
FROM THE GROUND UP
31
The 2017 SB-12
by Doug Tarry
FEATURE STORY
16
Brookfield Blazes Own Trail
North American builder continues to innovate in energy efficient housing
by Rob Blackstien
9
20
ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
On our cover: CHOATphotographer / SHUTTERSTOCK
Images internally supplied unless otherwise credited.
27

4. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 20162
T
here are two axioms I live by: (1) there are no absolutes
and (2) moderation is key. In home building, the terms
“net zero” or “zero carbon” convey lofty goals – but they
smack of extremism. I much prefer the terms “near zero” or
“low carbon,” which imply a process or continuum over a longer
timeframe and are more pragmatic for discussing the reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs).
The past two building code cycles have singled out low-rise
housing to reduce GHGEs. The 2017 reference house built to
package A1 has a small load at 28,000 BTU/hour at the outdoor
winter design temperature – a 43.5% reduction in GHGEs from
1990 levels. Current reduction targets are set at 30%. This means
that new homes have already surpassed this goal and are subject
to diminishing returns from further upgrades to the envelope.
The package A1 homes produce 4.7 tonnes of GHGEs annually.
The average gasoline-powered car produces 5.0 tonnes. With
current provincial incentives, an electric car would cost
approximately $20,000, completely offsetting the footprint of the
new house. The cost of the GHGE reduction is about $4,000 per
tonne. A net zero approach increases the price tag of a home by
$75,000, equaling $15000 per tonne for the GHGE reduction. The
provincial government would be wise to incentivize charging
stations for electric cars in new homes rather than push the
construction of net zero houses.
Electric heat pumps, used in many net zero homes, are
another factor to consider. Heat pumps use refrigerants like
R410A, which are 2,000 times more damaging to the atmosphere
than C02 if released. The wide adoption of heat pumps in net zero
homes could actually increase demand for electricity.
In Ontario, nuclear reactors run 24/7. At night or off-peak hours,
they have “stranded capacity” (a surplus). This excess power could
be used to charge electric cars or solar battery storage systems for
use during the day. Nuclear energy has been described as efficient
and clean. In contrast, centrally generated power can lose up to 15%
of energy in transmission, and Ontario Power Generation is facing
an estimated $24 billion cost to store two million highly radioactive
fuel bundles (their deep storage plan hasn’t been approved).
We all know renewable energy is the right answer for the long
term. But should nuclear energy be the bridging fuel in the short
term? A well-insulated hybrid home with a small combination
heating system and a solar battery storage system makes sense to
me. A mixed fuel approach will produce less GHGEs and nuclear
waste, helping us get to near zero.
So the next time you’re constructing a new code building, just
remember: everything in moderation. Good luck. BB
Everything in Moderation
PUBLISHER
Better Builder Magazine
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Toronto ON M4B 3N5
416-481-4218 | fax 416-481-4695
sales@betterbuilder.ca
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PUBLISHING EDITOR
John B. Godden
MANAGING EDITOR
Wendy Shami
editorial@betterbuilder.ca
To advertise, contribute a story,
or join our distribution list, please
contact sales@betterbuilder.ca
FEATURE WRITERS
Rob Blackstien, Alex Newman
PROOFREADING
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CREATIVE
Wallflower Design
www.wallflowerdesign.com
This magazine brings together
premium product manufacturers
and leading builders to create
better, differentiated homes and
buildings that use less energy,
save water and reduce our
impact on the environment.
PUBLICATION NUMBER
42408014
Copyright by Better Builder
Magazine. Contents may not be
reprinted or reproduced without
written permission. The opinions
expressed herein are exclusively
those of the authors and assumed
to be original work. Better Builder
Magazine cannot be held liable
for any damage as a result of
publishing such works.
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER
All company and/or product names
may be trade names, trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of the
respective owners with which they
are associated.
UNDELIVERABLE MAIL
Better Builder Magazine
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Better Builder Magazine is
published four times a year.
publisher’snote / JOHN GODDEN
John Godden
Alex Newman
Gord Cooke
Michael Lio
Lou Bada
Doug Tarry
CONTRIBUTORS

5. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016 3
O
ne person I have a lot of
time to talk about new
housing with is Richard
Lyall, President of the Residential
Construction Council of Ontario
(RESCON).
In RESCON’s latest newsletter,
Lyall represents most high-, mid- and
low-rise GTA new home builders when
he rightly points out the following:
“The provincial government’s plans to
eliminate sprawl and rapidly pursue
net-zero new housing are going to
put new housing shelter further out
of reach for working families. While
there is no doubt we need to curb
sprawl, intensify, and cut energy use
and greenhouse gas emissions, it can’t
be on the back of new housing supply.”
So why does the homebuilding
industry have a big red bull’s eye
on its back? Why is it targeted by
our governments so often? Please
forgive the following lesson in civics.
Legislation and regulation are the
tools of the four levels of government
by which they implement policy,
ostensibly for the public good. The
public good is a subjective political
matter and should be determined
through an open public discourse.
Hopefully it is arrived at with some
goodwill and based on sound
evidence, a cost–benefit analysis and
good advice (and, dare I add, common
sense). Theoretically, compliance
with rules and regulations should
be straightforward if the debate on
public policy has already been settled.
Unfortunately, compliance is neither
simple nor easy.
In Ontario, we have the Planning Act
and the Building Code Act. Within the
lengthy Planning Act, it clearly states:
“Part IV. Exclusions for Site Plan
Control:
“3. The manner of construction and
standards for construction 2006,
c.23, s.16(5).”
Essentially, this means that the
municipal approving authority does
not have jurisdiction in determining
how we build when reviewing a
development proposal. How a builder
goes about building would be the
purview of the provincial Building
Code Act (for good reason). The
Planning Act, however, gives lower-
tier governments the ability to review
development applications through
the lens of what they deem desirable
or appropriate for the municipality
and gives them the right to enter into
“voluntary” agreements with parties
towards that end.
I won’t mince words here: the word
should be “extorting,” not “voluntary.”
Here’s why: these “voluntary”
undertakings involve many facets of
development, have many financial
consequences adding to the cost of
already unaffordable housing, and
also often increase the required energy
efficiency of buildings (standards of
construction) within a development
proposal, further eroding affordability
without regard to costs and benefits. In
an already excruciatingly long process,
municipalities delay approvals if
a developer doesn’t sign on. In an
environment of constrained housing
supply, it only makes matters worse.
Anyone trying to assert their rights
with a municipality on the written
word of the Planning Act is in for a very
rude awakening.
On the other hand, when we look to
the Building Code Act and its regula­
tions, SB-12 in particular has prescrip­
tive compliance paths and perform­
ance path methods of compliance. The
proprietary ENERGY STAR label has
also been accepted as a method of
compliance. ENERGY STAR as a
prescriptive alternative shouldn’t be
problematic if it is truly voluntary and
if there is a rational, workable and
flexible way of dealing with the
performance path method of compli­
ance. Unfortunately, neither is true.
I would challenge anyone to
deal with alternative methods of
compliance for any Ontario Building
Code (OBC) regulation, or SB-12 for
that matter, as a normal course of
business in most municipal building
departments. See if you come out
of that situation with a satisfying
The Planning Act, the Ontario Building Code,
Energy Efficiency and
Building Permits
thebadatest / LOU BADA
Total Household Energy Usage by Year
of Construction
2000
Ontario
Building
Code
171.9
GJ/year
2006
Ontario
Building
Code
147.9
GJ/year
14%
reduction
2012
Ontario
Building
Code
127.9
GJ/year
26%
reduction
2017
Ontario
Building
Code
96.4
GJ/year
44%
reduction

6. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 20164
outcome. Trying to propose an
equivalent energy efficiency standard
to ENERGY STAR with the municipal
planning departments to meet their
imposed voluntary agreements and
council’s political aspirations is even
more daunting.
Honestly, municipalities do not
have the resources to deal with
evaluating, assessing and verifying
alternative solutions for building,
even though the OBC regulations
have allowances for them. This is
exacerbated by the fact that some
municipal councils are looking to get
even further ahead of the OBC with
experimental and expensive net zero
and net zero-ready homes through
the approvals process.
This is an overly ambitious,
foolhardy approach by the Ontario and
municipal governments, especially
without a robust discussion with its
industry partners to develop a flexible
approach to achieve reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions. I honestly
believe that the success of these
government targets is in jeopardy
without providing the flexibility we
require. We’re not asking for much –
but a continued strong dialogue and
partnership is a place to start.
Frankly, governments may
want to consider taking a break
from penalizing our industry and
consumers even further and allowing
the industry to flourish and continue
to drive this province’s economy
(as well as make a huge impact on
Canada’s overall economy).
The misguided beliefs that we can
grow and progress through innovation
in the current regulatory environment
are unachievable. If we need to
provide consumers a choice of housing
types, build more affordable housing
and thrive as an industry, we need
governments to roll out the red carpet
instead of the red tape. BB
Lou Bada is vice president of low-
rise construction at Starlane Home
Corporation and is on the board of
directors for RESCON.
vanee.ca
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8. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 20166
industrynews / PATRICIA DUFFY
A
s we have been hearing
now for several years, ever
since the adoption of the
Green Energy Act in 2009, Ontario
has had a conservation-first focus
– and this includes the authority to
implement a home energy rating and
disclosure program. The reality of
such a program came into sharper
focus with the release last June of the
Climate Change Action Plan:
“7.1 Provide free energy audits
for pre-sale homes
“Energy audits would be required
before a new or existing single-family
home can be listed for sale, and the
energy rating will be included in the
real estate listing. These audits are
intended to be provided free of charge
under this plan. The Home Energy
Rating and Disclosure program will
improve consumer awareness by
allowing homebuyers to compare
homes by energy rating. It will also
encourage uptake of retrofit incentive
programs. To meet the expected
demand for home energy auditors,
Ontario will support development of
energy audit training programs and
will further consult before launching
this program in 2019.”
The board of directors for both
the Canadian Residential Energy
Services Network (CRESNET) and
the Sustainable Housing Foundation
(SHF) have made a commitment
to engage in a lobby effort with the
provincial government to ensure
that the politicians voting on the
implementation of any regulations
around this proposal are aware of
the complexity of the issues involved
in a mandatory program. Both
organizations are also reaching out to
other organizations and partnering
with them to ensure a coordinated
lobby effort with all political parties
is undertaken. After all, there will be a
provincial election between now and
the proposed 2019 launch date!
July 8, 2016
CRESNET and SHF board members
meet with John Yakabuski, Progressive
Conservative energy critic.
September 14, 2016
CRESNET and SHF board members
meet with Lisa Thompson, Progressive
Conservative climate change critic.
October 6, 2016
CRESNET and RESCON meet with
members of Glen Murray’s staff,
Ministry of the Environment and
Climate Change. BB
Patricia Duffy is executive director
of CRESNET and the Sustainable
Housing Foundation.
Making Our Voice Heard:
Ontario’s Mandatory Home Energy
Rating and Disclosure Program
Both organizations are
reaching out to ensure
a coordinated lobby
effort is undertaken
with all political parties.
(L to R) Patricia Duffy, John Godden, The Honourable John Yakabuski and Michael White.

9. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016 7
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10. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
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Toronto East
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11. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016 9
Congratulations Winners of the
OHBA Awards of Distinction
buildernews / BETTER BUILDER STAFF
63 Yorkview – Toronto
Castleform Developments Inc.
OHBA Award of Distinction for
Room Design 2016
WINNER, Most Outstanding New Home Kitchen
(new low-rise home 2001 square feet and over).
Peter Voong, president of Castleform Developments
Inc., would like to give special thanks to My Design
Studio for their creativity in designing the kitchen, and
D.O.T. Custom Millwork for the manufacturing and
installation. This prestigious award was won two years
ago in 2014 with the same designer and manufacturer.
“It’s great to be working with talented people in the
industry,” says Peter Voong. “The people that I surround
myself with, I consider them part of the Castleform
team. This shows you that great things are achievable
when everyone works together as a team.”
The Twisted Willow – Brighton
Gordon Tobey Developments Ltd.
OHBA Awards of Distinction for
Architectural Design 2016
WINNER, Most Outstanding Custom Home
(up to 3000 square feet). Credit to Monaghan Lumber
Specialties, Hollandale Nurseries Ltd., Clearsphere.
Additional recognition:
CHBA National Awards, Housing Excellence 2016
FINALIST, Custom Homes Detached
(from 2,500 – 3,500 square feet).
RESNET Cross Border Home Builder Challenge
San Diego, California 2015
WINNER, awarded to the Canadian custom home
builder with the lowest Home Energy Rating System
(HERS) score with a HERS rating of 36.
Heather and Steve Tobey celebrate their award. Castleform Developments’ award-winning kitchen.

12. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201610
industrynews / DOW BETTER BUILDER STAFF
Rooted in sustainable
technology, STYROFOAM™
facilitates a future of
innovation in the building
and construction industry
Dow Building Solutions (DBS), a
business unit of The Dow Chemical
Company, is celebrating the 75 year
anniversary of STYRO­FOAM™
Brand
XPS Insulation, which has continued
to facilitate sustain­ability, innovation
and community success in the
building and construc­tion industry
since its discovery in 1941. Dow
marked the anniversary while
attending the 2016 NAHB Inter-
national Builders’ Show®
, among the
largest annual light construction
shows in the world, that brings
together the industry’s most important
global manufacturers and suppliers.
Builders today face a bewildering
number of products and technologies
promising better building perform­
ance. Dow’s portfolio-based approach
offers solutions for the entire building
envelope, offering energy efficiency
that can stand the test of time.
STYROFOAM™
has a long and rich
heritage as a sustainable building
product, insulating to meeting core
thermal, moisture, air and vapour
performance requirements through
its rigid foam board technology. Over
its lifetime, STYROFOAM™
can help
save more than 30 times the energy
embodied in it.
STYROFOAM™
has been part of
Dow’s commitment to sustainable
chemistry innovations for the last 75
years and will expand this legacy well
into the future through continual
optimization of building energy
efficiency and performance. Dow has
been a proud national insulation
partner of Habitat for Humanity, with
STYROFOAM™
donations leading
Dow’s pledge to the address the need of
affordable housing around the globe.
More than 2,500 Habitat builds in 2015
used Dow products to help home­
owners reduce their home’s overall
natural gas and electricity usage.
“New possibilities for resilient,
energy efficient and well-designed
homes and buildings are being
realized in neighbourhoods and
communities around the world
thanks to imagination, science and
engineering,” said Tim Lacey, global
business director for Dow Building
Solutions. “We are proud to offer
75 years of product innovation that
addresses the need for long-term value
as a sustainable building solution and
look forward to improving, innovating
Dow Celebrates 75 Years
of Innovation with STYROFOAM™
Rear view of Brookfield Discovery house. Dow CLADMATE™ CM20 was used as insulated sheathing plus air barrier and weather resistant barrier,
which Dow calls the Total Barrier System. Third-party tested per CAN ULC S741 S742 as referenced in 2015 National Building Code (NBC).

13. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016 11
Dow’s full house of insulation, air sealants and
adhesives work together to create an airtight,
moisture resistant structure from roof to
foundation, helping builders and contractors
meet or exceed building codes, reduce
callbacks and create a comfortable, durable,
energy efficient structure for their customers.
Dow BuilDing SolutionS
1-866-583-BluE (2583)
www.insulateyourhome.ca
®™The DOW Diamond Logo is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company © 2014
Whole-House
SolutionstHAt HElP BuilDERS AnD
ContRACtoRS outPERFoRM
and perfecting building envelope
science well into the future.”
About Dow Building
Solutions
Dow Building Solutions serves the
residential and commercial building
and construction markets with an
industry-leading portfolio of products
and integrated systems designed to
insulate and seal the whole house.
Beginning more than 70 years ago
with our flagship STYROFOAM™
Brand
Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Foam
Insulation, Dow has continued to offer
innovative insulation, weatherization
and air sealing solutions that work
behind the scenes – above grade,
below grade – to help builders and
contractors deliver more comfortable,
durable and affordable homes. Follow
Dow Building Solutions on Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn or subscribe to
our News Release RSS Feed.
About Dow
Dow combines the power of science
and technology to passionately
innovate what is essential to human
progress. The Company is driving
innovations that extract value from
the intersection of chemical, physical
and biological sciences to help address
many of the world’s most challenging
problems such as the need for clean
water, clean energy generation
and conservation, and increasing
agricultural productivity. Dow’s
integrated, market-driven, industry-
leading portfolio of specialty chemical,
advanced materials, agrosciences
and plastics businesses delivers a
broad range of technology-based
products and solutions to customers
in approximately 180 countries
and in high-growth sectors such as
packaging, electronics, water, coatings
and agriculture. In 2014, Dow had
annual sales of more than $58 billion
and employed approximately 53,000
people worldwide. The Company’s
more than 6,000 product families
are manufactured at 201 sites in 35
countries across the globe. BB
References to “Dow” or the “Company”
mean The Dow Chemical Company and its
consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise
expressly noted. More information about
Dow can be found at www.dow.com

14. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201612
industryexpert / GORD COOKE
The changes in SB-12 (2017)
should spur you to review and fine
tune your HRV and ERV selections
to take advantage of the hard work
manufacturers have put in to provide
cost-effective solutions to meet the
new prescriptive and performance
pathways described in the code.
One significant change in the
2017 code requirements is the
addition of the following words: “the
minimum SRE (Sensible Recovery
Efficiency) required is based on a test
temperature of 0 °C at an air flow rate
equal to the principle exhaust flow but
need not exceed 30 L/s.” In previous
codes, an HRV or ERV efficiency could
be selected at any airflow. Now, it is
tied to the principal ventilation rate of
the house. The example below should
help illustrate this. It shows the SRE
required for prescriptive package A1.
If you are going to use one of the
prescriptive packages A1 through
A6, for homes in southern Ontario,
you will be looking for HRVs or ERVs
with an SRE of between 65% and
81%, with the most likely packages
requiring an SRE of 75%. Fortunately,
leading manufacturers such as vänEE
and Venmar are responding quickly
with cost-effective units that will
still fit nicely into the ever-smaller
mechanical spaces builders like to
provide. This is something you will
want to check up on, because higher-
efficiency HRVs are by definition
bigger, and not all manufacturers will
have choices available in compact
models. The good news is that all HRVs
or ERVs installed in Canada must be
independently rated and listed by
the Home Ventilating Institute. Just
confirm that your HVAC contractor
is able to provide you with this
independent listing showing that the
equipment they are installing meets
code requirements.
Of course, more thoughtful builders
may well decide to use the more
flexible performance path options in
SB-12. Using REM/Rate or HOT2000,
or simply building to ENERGY STAR
specifications, allows total flexibility
in choices of efficiencies of HRVs
or ERVs. For example, if you are
using a 65% efficient HRV as part of
your ENERGY STAR specifications
now, you can continue to use those
specifications and that appliance
under the 2017 code requirements.
In other performance path software
evaluations, you will find that higher
efficiency HRVs or ERVs may be more
cost-effective than other envelope
upgrades. For example, choosing one
of the new high-performance HRVs or
ERVs would offset or allow a builder
to reduce basement insulation from
R20 back down to R12 or eliminate the
need for a drain water heat recovery
unit. Ask your energy rater to run
some comparisons for you so you can
best match your selections with your
building process.
I do feel inclined to ask you to
tune up a few other things now that
HRVs are as normal and as common
P
lease don’t blame me, but the new 2017 Ontario Supplementary Standard
SB-12 for energy efficiency requires all Part 9 dwellings to meet the
principal ventilation requirements with a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) or
energy recovery ventilator (ERV). Certainly I have been an advocate for properly
balanced ventilation for over 30 years, but I think most readers will know that this
specific new requirement is a natural progression.
The requirement for mechanical ventilation first appeared in 1990. With
recognition that ventilation without heat recovery can easily represent 15% to
20% of the annual energy loss of a home, it stands to reason there needs to be an
energy efficiency requirement on ventilation, in the same way that other house
components such as furnaces, water heaters and even windows and walls are
required to meet minimum energy efficiency levels.
Refining Your HRV/ERV Choices
Number
Bedrooms
Compliance
Package
Minimum SRE Requirement
0 ºC –25 ºC
1 A1 75% at 15 L/s (31.8 cfm) 55% at 30 L/s (63.6 cfm)
2 A1 75% at 22.5 L/s (47.7 cfm) 55% at 30 L/s (63.6 cfm)
3+ A1 75% at 30 L/s (63.6 cfm) 55% at 30 L/s (63.6 cfm)
An example illustrating the SRE required for prescriptive package A1.

15. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
as furnaces or water heaters. It’s
time we cleaned up a few things.
Improper installation and balancing
of HRVs continues to be the most
common defect in ENERGY STAR
and other energy programs. This
occurs despite extensive efforts by
manufacturers and representatives,
such as ourselves, to offer training
and installation assistance. Here are
three things to check in on with your
HVAC contractor. I will ask you, the
builders, to step up and expect to
pay perhaps $30 to $50 more for your
installation, but expect the following
three improvements:
1. There has been an important
change to the fire ratings of
insulated flexible duct. You will
find that the cheapest of duct,
typically characterized by a black
or grey plastic outer liner, can no
longer meet the required flame
spread ratings. As of this fall, you
will see that your contractor will
be switching to a higher-quality
flex that is more durable and has
an attractive metalized (silver)
jacket, for just $7 to $8 more per 25'
length.
2. Ask for better quality exterior
hoods. The cheapest hoods have
a plastic bird screen on the face
of the duct that restricts airflow
significantly. In order to get good
airflow performance out of the
better and better HRVs you are
buying, pay $4 to $5 more per hood
and get one with a 1/4” mesh wire
screen – or better yet, a sloped hood
that has a proper rain-screen fitting
that minimizes potential water
intrusion.
3. Lastly, ask your HVAC contractor
to partner with a leading
manufacturer to have their
installers regularly and repeatedly
trained on how to properly balance
and verify flow of the units they
install. Leading manufacturers
offer experienced field personnel
to do this at no charge. I suggest
a touch-up training every six
months or so. It can be done in
the field or in their office and
takes 45 minutes or less. You will
benefit from fewer callbacks due to
window condensation and cold air
complaints. BB
Gord Cooke is president of Building
Knowledge Canada.
13
A low-cost hood
with a restrictive
plastic bird screen.
A “tandem” hood that allows fresh air and
exhaust air through one-vent penetration for
when you have limited wall space for venting.
A great hood by
Primex that has a
built-in brick flange.

16. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201614
industryexpert / MICHAEL LIO
C
ustomer service delivery has
become the most important
factor contributing to
customer satisfaction. Builders
are always looking for better ways
to understand and to serve their
customers.
In the 1980s, service culture
captured the attention of North
America with the publication of
landmark books such as In Search of
Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert
H. Waterman and Service America!
by Karl Albrecht and Ron Zemke.
A decade later, service companies
realized that better service was a
business strategy that was critical to
their success. Customers would seek
out ratings for various products and
services such as those from J.D. Power
Associates before they buy.
Historically, builders have not
fared well in customer service. In
the earliest Canadian J.D. Power
Associates ratings of new home
buyer satisfaction in 2005, only 33%
of customers responded that they
were satisfied with their homes. In
the same year, Jim Adair wrote an
article in Homes Cottages which
also reported that customer service
tops the list of complaints about
builders, according to focus groups
conducted by the Canadian Home
Builders’ Association. Less than half
of the homeowners in the focus group
felt their builder had set realistic
expectations and prepared them for
what to expect with their new home
purchase experience. In 2009, the
great recession took its toll on the
building industry. The 2009 J.D. Power
survey of new home buyer satisfaction
in four major Canadian cities reported
that satisfaction declined significantly
as builders diverted resources away
from customer service.
Builders today recognize that bad
customer service affects customer
satisfaction and their reputations.
They are eager to adopt practices that
improve the efficiency or profitability
of their company, but may fail to
address customer satisfaction as
a critical component to building a
resilient organization.
Few builders understand the full
range of policies and procedures that
they can adopt within their companies
to enable them to deliver the customer
outcomes that they want. In her book,
The House that Service Built, Nancy
Bandy suggests that for all their good
intentions to establish responsive
customer-service capabilities, most
companies today still can’t tell you
exactly what “good” customer service is,
or how effective they are in providing it
to satisfy their customers’ needs.
Bandy defines customer care
as the process of understanding,
communicating with and supporting
the needs of a builder’s customers
before, during and after the product
is purchased. In fact, the customer
experience at each customer contact
point needs to be appropriately
engineered to produce the desired
customer outcomes. This is only
possible if each contact point is
supported by detailed policies and
procedures that guide the actions of
the builder’s staff.
Builders need to create a service
culture that is driven by empathy and
that is informed by the customer’s
home buying journey. Failing to
understand the customer’s journey can
mean that the customer’s expectations
and the builder’s actions become
misaligned. Service strategy should
be founded on what customers think,
say, feel and do. Understanding the
customer’s explicit expectations –
and their seldom-spoken implicit
expectations – is key. Business
schools across North America teach
methods that can be used to better
understand customers and their needs
and expectations. Closing the gap
between reality and their expectations
minimizes disappointment and
improves satisfaction.
When the disagreements arise,
good builders need to have the tools
to be able to dissect the conversation
and shift from arguing positions to
learning from one another. Good
builders recognize the elements of
difficult conversations and are able to
pivot toward constructive resolution.
This Is Exceptional
Customer Service
Expectations
Reality Disappointment

17. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016 15
Learning to listen, to understand and to respond are
abilities that require effort and investment on the part
of every building company. There are proven techniques
available to move from confrontation to collaboration.
Our new book, This is Exceptional Customer Service:
A Definitive Guidebook for Builders, establishes a set of
best practices to help builders deliver improved customer
satisfaction and achieve the desired customer outcomes.
The book identifies the critical contact points between
the buyer and the builder, and acts as a catalogue of
best practices that the very best Canadian builders have
adopted. It identifies the most important factors of service
excellence and how to implement them as part of an
effective customer service strategy and plan.
Whether you’re a new or experienced builder, your
reputation hinges on how you treat your customers. The
trust that you seek to build every time you engage with
your customers depends on the competence and the
character of everyone who interacts with your buyers.
In the same way that you invested time to learn how to
build a house, time must also be invested to learn how to
deliver exceptional customer service. In return, you’ll get
fantastically loyal customers who drive your reputation
and lower your costs.
This is Exceptional Customer Service is available from
www.buildability.ca/training/. For more information,
contact Edith Yu at edith@buildability.ca. BB
Michael Lio is the former executive director of the Consumers
Council of Canada and the Homeowner Protection Centre.
Roof truss and wood
sill connection.
Simpson Strong Tie
MGT system shown
Drywall
screwed
into amvic
polypropylene
webs as per
building code
Electrical
outlet
Wood sub-floor
installed as per
local building
Simpson strong tie
ICFLC and wood floor
joists connection
Amvic insulating
concrete forms
Amdeck floor
roof system
Exterior wood
siding installed
as per local
building code
Amvic high
impact
polypropylene
webs
Acrylic,
standard
ptucco or eifs
applied to
exterior face
of Amvic ICF
Brick veneer
Parge face of
exposed
brick ledge
Grade
Peel-and-stick
waterproofing
membrane (or
equivalent)
as per local
building code
Perforated
weeping tile
INSULATED
CONCRETEFORMS
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:
AMVIC.COM
Most companies today still can’t
tell you exactly what “good”
customer service is, or how
effective they are in providing it
to satisfy their customers’ needs.

18. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
Brookfield
featurestory / ROB BLACKSTIEN
The Brookfield Residential home at 4 McCabe Lane in Tottenham,
Ontario is 57% better than code. (Rating date October 20, 2016.)
HERSSCORE
30

19. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016 17
“The goal here is simple,” explains
Bob Stewart, director, land develop­
ment, “build great communities that
meet the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.”
Brookfield aims to be ahead of
the curve in the development of their
communities as well as their home
building techniques. In a nutshell,
the company’s philosophy is “the best
places to call home,” he says. That
ethos encompasses all aspects of the
process, from land development and
design all the way through to the end
product and end user. “We try to do the
right thing for the community and our
stakeholders,” Stewart says.
Brookfield’s focus on the future
is very much centred on developing
more energy-efficient housing – at a
cost that won’t bankrupt potential
North American builder continues to innovate
in the area of energy-efficient housing
T
he Ontario (Canada) division of Brookfield Residential is celebrating its
60th anniversary this year – but instead of revelling in its past, this North
American development giant continues to look towards the future.
Brookfield has spread its wings far across North America, currently developing
in 12 cities across the continent, with a particular focus in the western U.S.,
including Hawaii, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento and San Diego.
home owners. This is currently a huge
issue in Ontario, with the provincial
government’s climate change policy
combining with a new Building
Code set to be enacted in 2017 that is
expected to be among the strictest in
the country.
This could present a perfect storm
for builders trying to grapple with all
these changes while continuing to
try to provide top-quality housing at
a price that hopefully won’t reach the
stratosphere. There are many moving
parts that make this a big challenge for
the building community, Stewart says,
not the least of which is the fact that on
the building science side of Ontario’s
climate change policy, the province is
essentially encouraging municipalities
to ask for better-than-code standards
within proposed communities.
This is an issue of concern for the
Blazes OwnTrail

20. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201618
building community, one which we
explored in the summer issue (see
“Misguided Municipal Regulation
of the Home Building Industry”).
It’s especially difficult for builders
that develop across the province,
as they can be faced with several
municipalities asking for varying
standards.
In a nutshell, the issue is this:
the province wants a carbon-free
solution, but by pushing electricity –
which costs 10 times what natural gas
does per energy unit – the price of the
home can skyrocket.
Achieving net zero energy with
solar and high-efficiency electrical
products will deliver a HERS (Home
Energy Rating System) score of zero
(the lower the HERS score, the better).
Given the current cost of electricity,
including these items is what causes
the home costs to rise so significantly.
However, given the current price of
natural gas, a hybrid home that is
also powered by natural gas makes a
lot more sense, especially when the
end goal is – or at least should be – to
save the home owner the most money
possible.
Brookfield has taken it upon
themselves to experiment with
different building techniques in an
effort to balance high energy efficiency
with affordability. This has manifested
itself in the company’s discovery home
project in Tottenham, Ontario. (See
“The Tottenham Discovery Home”
sidebar for complete project details.)
And yes, staying on brand matters
to this company. “Sustainability will
continue to be a focus for our brand,”
Stewart maintains. That’s why the
discovery home project is right in
Brookfield’s sweet spot as an innovator.
“We pride ourselves on pushing the
envelope and seeing what it takes to get
to the next level on building science.”
The ultimate goal here, Stewart
explains, is to take the Tottenham
findings and be able to commoditize
them in different tiers for homebuyers:
If you want a home that’s, say, 20%
better than code, this is how you get
there, and this is what it will cost. For
a home that’s 50% better, here is the
process and the price. And so on. By
being able to offer their customers
packages like this, Brookfield will be
able to provide flexible options to home
buyers, depending on their specific
needs. “We’ve got to try to make this
feasible, especially if municipalities
are wanting it,” he says.
It’s a process of education.
Brookfield continues to educate itself
through practices like the discovery
home, and then passes that knowledge
on to municipalities, its trades and
its home owners. “So the education is
required on all levels,” Stewart says.
The other issue facing the industry
as we head towards net zero building
is figuring out how these homes can be
financed. Currently, there seems to be
a disconnect between how homes that
include major energy-saving features
are assessed and, in turn, financed
In a nutshell, the issue is this:
the province wants a carbon-
free solution, but by pushing
electricity – which costs 10
times what natural gas does
per energy unit – the price of
the home can skyrocket.
Members of Brookfield’s Near Zero
discovery team (L to R) Jimmy Neto,
Tiago Moura, Ghazal Kheradpisheh.

21. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016 19
The Tottenham Discovery Home
Brookfield is currently building a discovery home in
Tottenham, Ontario, that will help drive the company’s
direction in energy-efficient housing. The aggressive goal
of this near zero energy home was to be 80% better than
Building Code standards. It has a HERS rating of 13 and
is 77% above code when solar battery storage is included.
Among the features of this house are:
• Fuel switching: There’s a gas-fired furnace, but also
an air conditioner heat pump. In the shoulder months,
the heat pump can provide the space heating with the
furnace kicking in when it gets really cold outside.
• Insulation: There’s two inches of exterior polystyrene
foam on the outside (R10), plus Roxul (R24) in the
main walls. It’s a panelized home featuring less wood
in the cavity, meaning more insulation can be added.
• Windows: The home features triple-glazed windows
with a U-value of 1.0.
• Photovoltaics: Brookfield is considering using the
Panasonic solar battery storage system.
• Exhaust fans: The home includes Panasonic
WhisperGreen fans, which displace more air while
using a lot less electricity.
• Grey water: Brookfield chose Greyter Water
Systems, a unit that supports drain water heat
recovery, collecting water in a holding tank to use
shower water to flush toilets. —RB
see “Translating and Quantifying
Appraisal Value for Better-Than-Code
Homes” on page 24.) Brookfield has
taken notice of this initiative, and
Stewart thinks it’s “a possible option
on getting the banks to understand
what goes into these homes.”
Financial institutions don’t tend to
deal with shades of grey, so expecting
them to understand the value of
adding grey water systems could be a
difficult task. “It’s that learning curve
again and it’s taking a while to get
there, but I think a lot of people are
onside. It just takes time and the right
people to push it.”
In the meantime, Brookfield
will continue to gather data from its
Tottenham home, with full results
expected by the end of the year. Stay
tuned for a followup report in a future
issue once Brookfield shares what it
has learned. BB
Rob Blackstien is
a Toronto-based
freelance writer.
Pen-Ultimate.ca
by banks. It’s become somewhat of a
catch-22 as governments are pushing
green building, but there aren’t the
means within financial institutions
to finance these homes based on
their true value from a total cost
of ownership perspective. Stewart
concedes that “it’s a fine line to walk.”
The answer may lie in a model
conceived by Austin, Texas-based
Green Energy Money, Inc. (GEM).
GEM provides the financial analysis
tools needed to help fund green
home building. (For more on GEM,
Component Package J Discovery
Ceiling w/ Attic R-50 R-60
Ceiling w/o Attic R-31 R-31
Exposed Floor R-31 R-40
AG Walls R-22 R-24+R-10 @ 24” O.C.
BG Walls R-12 R-24 + R-5
Slab 600mm R-10 R-10
Slab — R-10
Windows Sliding Doors 1.8 R = 1.0, SHG = 0.20
Skylights 2.8 2.8
Space Heating 94% 96% c/w ECM
Space Cooling — 21 SEER VS Heat Pump
Domestic Hot Water 67% 90% Eff
HRV Efficiency 60% 75%
Air Tightness 2.5 1.5
Insulation Grade III I
Renewables — 2 x R3-48
Grey Water System — Complete System
Lighting — 100% LED
Solar — N/A
HERS Score 59 30
Energy Consumption (kWh/yr) 41,596 17,804.0
% Better Than Code — 57%

22. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201620
buildernews / ALEX NEWMAN
What they found was that Echo
Haven was developed by four like-
minded individuals, on land compiled
10 years before, in a spectacular
natural landscape in northwest
Calgary. The aim was net zero – homes
that produce as much energy as they
use – and on creating minimal
environmental footprint. With
expectations of reducing up to 80% of
grid power and zero greenhouse gas
emissions, the individuals who bought
there would build healthy and efficient
homes using solar heating strategies
and water conservation initiatives to
reduce water consumption by 72%.
It was music to Christen’s ears
and she immediately told her sister,
Amanda Robertson, and brother-in-
law, Ronnie Blow. The two couples had
always talked about building their own
homes, and the community was aligned
with what they all believed in. Plus it
would allow them to build themselves
rather than use a designated builder.
The couples lived near each other
and spent a lot of time together. But
undertaking a building project can
test even the best relationships, and
Christen admits there were “definitely
times when it got tense. But none of us
really fights, and we all had the same
goal. At the end of the day I get to live
beside my sister, brother-in-law and
nephew, and that’s the coolest thing.
You just have to remember it’s not a
forever [construction] process and that
there’s an end in sight.”
Theirs is the only duplex in Echo
Haven, the rest being single-family
dwellings. Before securing approvals
from the city of Calgary, they needed to
demonstrate to the community board
of directors that the house would have
an EnerGuide rating of 84.
To help them with this, they found
an architectural draftsperson, Kim
Walton of Bow Crow Design, who
specializes in green design. “She
had been involved in some of the
other projects in this community
and did the drawings for our duplex,”
Christen says. “We worked with her
to design the home, and she provided
information on the green aspects –
window placement and design, R-value
of walls and ceiling – and did the
design on how to meet those specs. We
worked with her to balance what we
wanted in our home and how to get the
best green design to achieve it.”
Walton also put the couples in
touch with John Godden, who provided
guidance throughout the construction
of the project. Most notably, she adds, he
did energy modelling and guided them
in the duct design to make it as efficient
as possible. He also made recommend­
ations on drain water heat recovery,
which they will eventually add.
A duplex experiences less heat loss
from its shared wall, but Walton also
aimed to avoid bump-outs to minimize
heat loss even more. Cantilevers, for
example, are very inefficient, Amanda
says. The aim was to “strike the
right balance between esthetics and
efficiency, and for the most part it’s a
box with very few cantilevers.”
Each side is 2,000 square feet (not
including the basement), with three
bedrooms and three baths. At street
level are the front doors and a drive
down to the garage, which is built
under the house and takes up a portion
of the basement. The rest of the
finished basement features a rec room,
home gym and media room.
The home at 25 Rockhaven Green in NW Calgary, Alberta has a HERS score of 35 and is 68%
better than code. (Rating date October 17, 2016.)
O
n a crisp fall day two years ago, a bike ride around the neighbourhood
set Calgary couple Christen and Jordan Gray on a whole new path. They
happened to ride by Echo Haven, a 25-lot subdivision that is aiming for
net zero homes. Intrigued, the Grays stopped to investigate, went home to research
further and grew more excited about the prospect of building their own home.
HERSSCORE
35
Near Zero at Echo Haven

24. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201622
The building envelope
Because the couples didn’t have the
budget to accomplish net zero, they
aimed for near zero, which is 50%
better than code. This meant beefing
up the building envelope, making it
tighter so that less energy is consumed.
The exterior walls are constructed
like a sandwich – a one foot-thick
sandwich – with 2' x 4' walls on either
side with R-14 bats and the middle
gap filled with Roxul R-22 comfort bat
insulation, creating an overall R-value
of 50 (think extra thick Wonderbread
slathered with PBJ and you’ll get the
idea). That value doesn’t include the
drywall; the roof is filled with loose
cellulose fill for an R-value of 50.
Under the basement slab, two
layers of two-inch rigid foam
insulation were added. As Ronnie
explains, one typically packs down
gravel and then pours the slab – but
after they compacted the gravel in
place, they added two layers of rigid
foam insulation before pouring the
concrete slab. As well, the basement’s
outside cement walls were covered in
rigid foam insulation before exterior
cladding was applied.
Before adding the drywall, a
blower door air test was conducted by
Tyler Hermanson of 4elements design,
a local Calgary company, in order to
identify any leaks in the walls. Triple-
glazed windows with multiple coats
of low-e argon and selective coatings
were used to maximize solar heat
gain. Operating awning windows
were strategically placed to maximize
natural ventilation. As Amanda says,
the house is “very cozy” and draft-
free, as R-2000 levels of airtightness
were achieved.
The biggest thing about the energy
efficiency of this house is the building
envelope, says Christen. After that’s
done, you can work on the interior
efficiency: HVAC, heat recovery and
drain water recovery, right down to
LED lights, low VOC finishes and
energy-efficient appliances.
A key component in the mechanical
system was the Zuba central heat
pump system by Mitsubishi, which
looks like a furnace but isn’t. The
community does not have natural
gas hookups, because the aim is
to eventually go solar to produce
electricity. The Zuba has a compressor
in the back yard, an air handler inside
the mechanical room and a backup
heater because Calgary’s harsh winters
can dip below –30° C.
A Lifebreath high-efficiency double
core heat recovery ventilator (HRV)
constantly exchanges and circulates
fresh air from outside into the house
while exhausting stale air from each
bathroom. In the ensuite master
bathroom, a Panasonic WhisperGreen
exhaust fan manages the excess
humidity created by the large shower
stall with two shower heads.
For hot water, they have a hybrid
air source heat pump hot water heater,
which they purchased through Sears,
because it had the best rating on noise
and was very efficient, Ronnie says.
The water heater will be enhanced by
drain water heat recovery, which will
be supplied by Renewability.
Since the community has no storm
sewers – to reduce burden on the city’s
storm sewer infrastructure – rainwater
runoff is to be managed within each
yard and on common grounds by the
condo development. (Only common
land is under condo ownership, not
homes, which owners maintain
themselves.) Calgary does not allow
grey water recycling at present, but
the community plans to implement it
when the bylaw changes.
Although the houses (at around
$480,000) were about 30% more
expensive than a regular home,
the final cost brought them better
insulation, more expensive windows
and rough-ins for solar panels and for
separate greywater plumbing. The
land for each home was $215,000 – but
condo ownership gives them access
to large common areas like a pond,
skating rink and village green.
The couples found that
construction was more demanding
than they expected, especially since
all four work full time, but it was also
richly rewarding. Jordan oversaw
the building envelope, exterior
finishing, interior finishing and on-site
coordination of trades, while Christen
and Amanda researched interior
finishing and Christen looked into
windows. Ronnie handled plumbing,
electrical, HVAC, interior finishing and
on-site coordination of trades.
The biggest challenge, say Amanda
and Ronnie, was having a small
child – their son was just a year old
through the whole endeavour and, not
surprisingly, they are later moving in
than Christen and Jordan. Amanda’s
advice? “Don’t build a house when you
have a one-year-old.” BB
Alex Newman is a writer, editor and
researcher at www.alexnewmanwriter.com.
Calgary Near Zero owner/builders Ronnie
Blow and Jordan Gray.

26. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201624
buildernews / TERESA LOPEZ
Quantifying and monetizing the
value of homes built better than code
is possible today through a certified
third-party Home Energy Rating
System (HERS) energy audit as well as
education that teaches appraisers and
lenders how to interpret and monetize
building performance data.
The Appraisal Foundation (TAF)
provides appraisers with critical tools
to make proper comparisons and
adjustments to appraisal valuations.
Appraisers are now being armed with
guidance for homes that are better
quality, more durable and energy
efficient. Still, many appraisers are not
competent in interpreting or adopting
green premium guideline adjustments.
The potential value the high-
performance building market repre­
sents is only beginning to be under­
stood. Collateral in current loan
portfolios may be discounted (brown
discount) in the near future as inven­
tory and demand increases for homes
built beyond code (green premium).
Market research and studies show that
building performance represents a
new era of risk mitigation, and high-
performance building can serve as a
buffer to those risks.
TAF’s 2013 first exposure draft
report, Valuation of Green Buildings:
Background and Core Competency,
included a definition of a brown
discount noted in their research:
“Potential for obsolescence, also
known as the brown discount, for
existing buildings that don’t ‘green up’:
Just as green buildings that outperform
the market may show a value premium,
brown buildings that underperform
relative to their market may show a
discount.”
Building science quantifies
durability, quality of construction
and efficiency. HERS audits provide
baselines on energy savings and
costs, allowing for an industry-
accepted present-value formula
calculation. This practice combines a
paired sales analysis with an income
adjustment for energy savings.
Appraisers typically can’t factor
the costs associated with high-
performance building upgrades in
value. However, the costs to operate
and the savings can be quantified to
make income adjustments in value.
This is a critical factor for appraisers
who need data in order to support
energy cost-savings adjustments and
who can now use HERS analysis data.
This methodology can impact higher
green value premiums in appraisal
valuations.
A recent Green Energy Money, Inc.
(GEM) economic analysis conducted
for a Brookfield Residential, Toronto
project compares a better-than-code
Translating and Quantifying Appraisal Value
for Better-Than-Code Homes
A
s building science and technology continue to evolve, scale and become
more affordable, innovative builders are finding ways to meet and exceed
mandated energy building code requirements. However, builders are
finding that projects built better than code can pose new challenges with trans­
lating the extra costs to buyers, lenders and appraisers, even though the energy
savings are at least 50% greater than comparable conventional new homes.
ADAPTEDFROMCOSTAR.COM/UPLOADEDFILES/JOSRE/JOURNALPDFS/11.221_248.PDF
Green Premium and Brown Discount Appraisal Valuations
GREEN PREMIUM
• Demand for green
• Sufficient supply of green buildings
• High-quality asset
• Premium value assignment
BROWN DISCOUNT
• High deferred maintenance-energy
operating costs
• Low-quality asset
• Declining regional markets
EARLY
ADAPTER
MID
ADAPTER
LATE
ADAPTER
2013
2014–2016
TIPPING POINT
Critical Mass
Mortgage Write-Downs

27. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
home with and without solar power.
The analysis proves the potential
return on investment that the savings
represent over conventional homes;
adding solar actually provides an
excellent financial investment.
Brookfield’s test cases are proving
that building better than code
offers greater community and buyer
investment potential.
Even though the sales price
was $40,000 higher due to the solar
equipment price (which doesn’t
include any rebates or incentives
that could reduce the costs), the
energy savings and reduced operating
expenses can be absorbed in value.
Cost benefits also account for a
potential future value and can be
applied to pay off the loan sooner.
GEM developed an energy-efficient
rating methodology that includes
over 39 points of certified data for
appraisers to properly quantify value.
GEM offers a nationally accredited
(TAF-approved) green appraisal course
for appraisers.
GEM conducted a beta green
appraisal program with several
U.S. mortgage lenders from 2014 to
2016. The $38 million loan portfolio
conducted in nine U.S. cities achieved
a $2.8 million, or an 8% to 10%, green
premium appraisal value increase
in incremental property value. The
portfolio’s HERS Index averaged 41 on
78 loans, all were better than code and
over 30% of the portfolio were near-
to-net-zero homes producing as much
energy as they were using. For more
information, visit www.greenenergy.
money. BB
Teresa Lopez is the CEO of Green
Energy Money.
25
BETTER THAN CODE (BTC) HOME ECONOMIC ANALYSIS BTC HOME WITH SOLAR SYSTEM
$715,000 SALES PRICE $755,000
45 HERS INDEX 25
$8200–$9000 ESTIMATED VALUE INCREASE $27,000–$30,000
$543 ($45 per month) ENERGY SAVINGS $1799 ($150 per month)
21.8 YEARS POTENTIAL LOAN PAYOFF 20.8 YEARS
$34,430 INTEREST SAVINGS @ 3% FOR 25 YEARS (3.29 APR) $46,753
$14,593 FUTURE VALUE (FV) ENERGY SAVINGS @ 3% FOR 20 YEARS $49,222
Brookfield Residential economic comparison between Better Than Code Croyton Model Homes (Toronto, CA) — with and without solar system.
2016©GREENENERGYMONEY,INC.

28. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201626

29. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
As part of the project, Luck
was responsible for selecting five
participating home builders who
would think – and act – outside the
box when it came to energy efficiency.
In addition to adopting net zero
energy in some of the homes within
their regular projects, the five home
builders would also be “influencers”
by educating others in their region
– builders and the general public –
about the benefits of net zero.
The point of the Buildability
initiative, Luck says, was to demon­
strate that it was possible to build
quality, energy efficient homes
that were also affordable. “Cost is
obviously an issue,” she admits.
“But if we don’t demonstrate that it’s
technically feasible, costs will never
come down, so our team studied the
type of builder who might be ready
and able to adopt this.”
Finding the five participants
wasn’t all that easy, and the team
interviewed several builders to ensure
that each one would understand the
Buildability approach. They also had
to be of a certain size, Luck adds, to
absorb the higher cost of building
the net zero ready housing, since
production builders generally keep
construction costs down by working
assembly-line style. In contrast to
the Equilibrium Project launched
in 2007 by the Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation, which invited
custom builders constructing homes
for families or clients who had “bought
into the idea of net zero already,” these
five builders took on the task because
“it helped them know what their trades
were capable of.”
Each builder took a different
approach to the challenge. In Calgary,
Mattamy is offering some of the net
zero upgrades as part of their standard
package. In Ottawa, Minto is offering a
single detached model as a net zero
option at an upgrade cost of about 15%.
Reid’s Heritage Homes in Guelph has
committed to building all of their single
detached homes as net zero ready – a
strategic move that Luck says will
leverage national, and even interna­
tional, presence for this small builder.
For these builders, doing better
than capacity and being the only one
in a particular region to build a set
of net zero homes is a point of pride.
But the project – and the award – also
boosts the builder’s exposure and
enhances marketing efforts. They’ve
produced videos on each site’s progress
so that the public and buyers can see
what is being done and when.
At the end of the day, though, it’s
also a business investment. “They
aren’t there out of the goodness of their
hearts,” Luck says. “They’re looking
at ways to make building better, and
we were able to define how this would
work for them business-wise.”
This is also the first time Natural
Resources Canada will provide a label
that reflects the modelled energy
consumption of a home. Because it
produces as much energy as it uses, a
net zero home garners a zero rating.
But the rating and the attention from
Natural Resources Canada were non-
existent when the project first began,
Luck says. “Nobody was talking about
27
Meet Candice Luck
Clean50 Award Winner
sitespecific / ALEX NEWMAN
I
n the recent national Clean50 awards, 50 companies or individuals were
honoured for their efforts to “advance the cause of sustainability and clean
capitalism in Canada.”
Among them was Candice Luck, director of strategy and programs with
Buildability. At just 30, she is project leader of Buildability’s $4 million initiative
aimed at demonstrating to home builders that building net zero energy homes is
technologically feasible.
The experience ended
up teaching Luck
much more: “It wasn’t
about the technology
itself, but about how
people could adopt
it and how trades
would understand it.”

30. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
mandating net zero in government. It
was only recently when the Climate
Change Action Plan came out that
this idea of achieving net zero carbon
footprint has been all over the news.”
Since the five builders are all on the
Canadian Housing Council, their
involvement in the project helps move
the net zero discussion forward.
Luck, who has an architecture
degree from the University of Toronto,
met Buildability’s president Michael
Lio when he taught her building
science. The course, which explored
the “nuts and bolts of the built
environment – what went between
the walls, how materials interact
with environment, the health of
the built space,” was challenging.
But during the exam, while Luck was
“frantically” calculating a difficult
R-value equation, Lio tapped her on
the shoulder and asked if she would
send him a resume.
Having already agreed to an
internship in New York, she took a
pass, but contacted him on her return
and accepted a position in his code
consulting practice. “It was very
educational, we looked a lot at the
technical aspects of building.”
At the time, Lio was also president
of EnerQuality, which had piloted
a program to help builders adopt
ENERGY STAR. Luck was brought
in to help him coordinate meetings
and ensure builders met action lists.
“I was quite impressed with these
people, these executives of building
companies, when they talked about the
new technology.” But the experience
ended up teaching her much more than
that: “It wasn’t about the technology
itself, the insulation or whatever,
but about how people around could
adopt the technology and how the
trades would understand it, and
how important it was for people to
understand they were building homes
and how much they care about that.”
Better Builder would like to congra­
tulate Candice on her achievements
and recognize her contributions for
making Canada a cleaner country. BB
Alex Newman is a writer, editor and
researcher at www.alexnewmanwriter.com.

31. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
A
s codes and standards change, it is important to
constantly find innovative ways to maintain and
improve the quality of a building. For Amvic, that means
providing builders with the right products to achieve that
quality. That is why SilveRboard Graphite exterior sheathing
was developed. SilveRboard®
Graphite XS is an expanded
polystyrene (EPS) base material that is embedded with carbon
“Graphite” particles which increase the thermal performance
of the EPS insulation. The Graphite EPS beads reflect radiant
heat energy similar to the effect of a mirror that reduces
thermal conductivity and increases the material’s ability to
resist the flow of heat (or R-value).
SilveRboard®
Graphite XS is a combination of graphite
embedded EPS beads surrounded by air pockets, laminated on
both sides with perforated reflective film. 98% of the EPS in
SilveRboard®
Graphite XS is air; Amvic calls this insulation
“engineered air.” “We wanted to provide one of the most energy-
efficient, environmentally friendly, sustainable and cost-effective
insulation products available today,” says Victor Amend, presi­
dent and CEO of Amvic Building System. “And we did just that.”
SilveRboard®
Graphite XS performs better than traditional
flat-sheet insulation by providing a built-in vapour and air
barrier – the colder the climate, the higher the thermal resist­
ance (R-value). This unique property of EPS insulation is not
commonly found in other rigid insulation boards. SilveRboard®
Graphite XS holds its R-value for the life of the product and is an
ideal exterior sheathing for the Canadian environment.
SilveRboard®
Graphite XS eliminates the need for house
wrap and is effectively durable to resist construction site and
weather damage. It is also lightweight, easy to handle and
highly flexible for radius walls. “This type of insulation is
perfect for builders looking for a sheet with reduced thickness
that provides more flexible options and a leveled rigid surface
for exterior finish materials,” Amend says. “It also accepts
taping which adheres quickly and permanently to the
SilveRboard film.” SilveRboard®
Graphite XS creates a higher
performing thermal envelope, maximizes heating and cooling
efficiency and improves indoor air quality. It is designed with
built-in air and moisture barriers and delivers a higher, long-
term, stable R-value.
“SilveRboard®
Graphite XS is the new innovation of insulation,”
says Amend. “It’s designed to build to a higher standard.” BB
29
A higher performing
wall sheathing
SilveRboard®
Graphite XS
industrynews / AMVIC

32. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201630

33. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 2016
T
he new Ontario Building Code
SB-12 takes effect on January
1, 2017. While there are still
prescriptive paths (down from 13 to
six for natural gas), I think of this as
the first performance-based code,
and a greater number of builders are
likely to choose this path to meet the
energy requirements of SB-12.
In our stakeholder training
sessions, we are outlining the
three key objectives the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs and Housing had
for the 2017 SB-12 regulation:
1) Preserve and reinforce investment
in the building envelope;
2) Encourage airtightness and
associated depressurization testing
(blower door); and
3) Prepare the industry for movement
towards net zero-like housing by 2030.
The 2017 SB-12 provides several
options that builders can use to
reduce requirements in other areas
by demonstrating an airtightness
performance of 2.5 ACH. There are
also performance path options
to consider, which may provide
for more cost-effective building
performance designs. There are two
constants: first, thermal efficiency
cannot be reduced by more than
25%, and second, a heat recovery
ventilator (HRV) or energy recovery
ventilator (ERV) must be installed.
That means you cannot make up for
a poorly performing wall assembly by
installing a massive solar wall; it also
means occupants have the ability to
have fresh air all year long.
So what does the new SB-12 look
like? As noted, there are fewer packages
to choose from and an emphasis has
been put on the key points above.
Package A1 is likely to be the most
common path chosen by builders.
This path enables builders to use a 2
x 6 wall without rigid insulation and
install R20 bag wrap insulation in the
basement (up to 8” from the top of
the basement slab), windows with an
Energy Rating of 25, a 96% efficient
furnace, a 75% efficient HRV and a
.80 EF rental water heater. Oh, and
you have to install a drain water heat
recovery unit.
But is this a good thing? If everyone
is doing it, what is the risk? Are you
ready for a deeper conversation about
occupant health and comfort weighed
against operation costs?
I think we can all agree that
electricity prices are going to continue
to climb over the next decade. And
as noted above, we will be building
increasingly tighter homes. This
combination will result in the need
to take a serious look at latent energy
(moisture) and how to control it.
Let’s talk about windows
Energy Rating (ER) is a measure of
performance that actually favours
heat gain. The higher the rating, the
better the window is supposed to
perform. But here is the challenge.
When you gain heat in a tighter home,
it becomes very difficult to get rid of
it – to the point where your client will
be extremely uncomfortable in rooms
with high solar exposure and have to
pay a high energy penalty to stay cool.
However, this code permits the use
of low solar glass on walls exposed
to potentially high solar gain. By
choosing a window with a low solar
heat gain co-efficient (SHGC) and a low
U-value, rather than a high ER, you can
dramatically reduce heat gain and still
have a window that performs well. In
our experience, the incremental cost
should be only a few hundred dollars.
However, by working with your energy
rater or HVAC consultant, you should
be able to reduce your air conditioner
(AC) capacity at least half a ton.
Windows account for about half
of the heat gain in our homes. Using
windows with a low SHGC can reduce
the window gain by 50% or more. So
31
The 2017 SB-12
Efficiency and performance
vs. occupant health and comfort
fromthegroundup / DOUG TARRY
Windows account for
about half of the heat
gain in our homes ...
windows with a low
SHGC can reduce that
gain by at least 50%.

34. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 20 | WINTER 201632
if you have a home needing a two-
ton AC, it is not unrealistic to see a
reduction in the AC sizing of half a
ton, which should typically save a few
hundred dollars on the cost of the
unit. So for effectively no additional
cost, you can save your homeowner
hundreds of dollars per year on their
electrical bill. Best of all, you can
avoid the comfort complaint.
HRV vs. ERV
Let’s be honest: we as builders are
now building all of our homes as
giant plastic bags and then asking
our homeowners to live in them. So
we need to consider strategies for
controlling excess humidity within
the home.
Package A1 requires an HRV
or ERV with a sensible recovery
efficiency (SRE) of 75%. While there
are many options for HRVs that meet
this requirement, there are very few
ERVs that do so. On the other hand,
package A6 requires an SRE of only
65%. So builders wanting to use
an ERV might wish to choose this
path instead. Or, if you are doing
blower door testing and can get your
home under 2.5 ACH (or equivalent
measurement), you can reduce your
HRV from 75% to 65%, which again
gives you a number of options.
So why use an ERV?
Because an ERV will help to manage
latent energy (moisture) loads. In
the wintertime, it can reduce over-
drying of the home, whereas an HRV
can over-dry the home, causing health
and performance issues. If you want
to talk about wasted energy, using a
humidifier to compensate for an HRV
over-drying the home might be one of
the worst decisions you can make for
a tighter high-performance home. It’s
literally pouring money down the drain
while creating the potential for indoor
air quality issues such as mould.
In the summertime, an ERV can
reduce the amount of humidity that
enters the home, which in turn reduces
the load on the air conditioner and
improves its performance. By having
control over the humidity level of
the home, the homeowner will not
need to set the temperature as low
to maintain comfort. This also helps
control humidity levels within the
home, reducing the opportunity for
problems such as mould buildup and,
in most cases, eliminating the need for
a dehumidifier and thereby reducing
operating costs further.
Unfortunately, the new SB-12
does not reflect the importance of
controlling latent (moisture) energy.
This is an issue that we need to
advocate strongly with the Ministry
so that better decision options are
available for builders and their energy
advisors.
Performance as an option
I understand that there will be markets
where the competition for trades,
particularly framers, may make it a
challenge for builders to build a better
performing wall, and that builders may
feel that using the R22 wall and R20
blanket wrap is their best option.
But what if a builder were able to
use these wall options and model the
home to meet the energy performance
requirements? For example, if you
were to replace the drain water heat
recovery system with triple-glazed
windows, the incremental cost should
be only a few hundred dollars – and
that’s including using low solar glass
on the worst orientation (this is from
my recent costing exercise, and
builders would need to verify costs
with their suppliers). By combining
this with an air source heat pump and
a smaller high-performance furnace,
builders should be able to meet the
energy requirements while providing
their homeowners with a more
comfortable, healthy and cost-effective
home to operate.
And that’s worth thinking about.
If this seems like an unknown
language to you, it might be time to
reach out to a certified energy rater to
explore your options. At the very least,
we as builders should start to consider
if a performance path is a viable option
so you can make an informed decision
as to what is best for your company. BB
Doug Tarry Jr is director of marketing at
Doug Tarry Homes in St. Thomas, Ontario.
An ERV will help to manage latent energy (moisture)
loads. In the wintertime, an ERV can reduce over-
drying of the home, whereas an HRV can over-dry
the home, causing health and performance issues.

35. Your reputation is built, or crumbles, long after the keys have been handed over.
That’s why projects like The Edelweiss Home – Canada’s first LEED®
v4 home, and
second in the world to achieve Platinum status – rely on the continuous insulation of
ROXUL®
COMFORTBOARD™
exterior sheathing. Its vapour permeability enables your
wall assembly to dry to the outside, providing your clients with durability and comfort.
See why ROXUL is a better fit for your next project at roxul.com/comfortboard
A BETTER WAY TO BUILD YOUR HOMES –
AND YOUR REPUTATION.
CAVITYROCK
®
and COMFORTBOARD
TM
.
For a better way to build.
COMFORTBOARD™
.
For the better way to build.LEED®
is a registered trademark of United States Green Building Council.

36. The demand for energy efficient homes is increasing and building codes will be changing in 2017. Enbridge can help.
Our Savings by Design (SBD) program offers free access to design and technical experts, plus over $100,000
in incentives and benefits.*
It’s the support you need to construct energy efficient, healthy and sustainable homes
beyond code requirements. Find out how the SBD program helps builders like you at residential.savingsbydesign.ca
Over80Ontariobuildershave
participated.Jointhem.
*Builders can earn $300,000 in incentives by participating in the program three separate times. To qualify for the program, your project must be located in the
Enbridge Gas Distribution franchise area. Participation is a three-year commitment. During that time, builders are expected to design and construct at least one
new construction home based on resulting recommendations. In order to receive incentive payments, you must agree to all program terms and conditions, must fully
participate in all stages of the program and must meet all program requirements.