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The consensus view represents that green building is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources — energy, water, and materials — while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment during the building's lifecycle, through better siting, design, construction, operation, and maintenance. It can be helpful to think of green building as the convergence of three principles :
However, there is no clear consensus on the level of increase in the efficiency with which buildings use resources constitutes green, and it is this fact that can create a headache for builders or homebuyers looking to go green. BEC defines a green home as a home that is built substantially better than a typical code-built home and that will deliver exceptional performance. Exceptional performance in energy efficiency is the foundation upon which we design green homes. The sound design choices we help implement result in a high level of energy efficiency (EnerGuide 80+, 30% better than code) and exceptional performance in comfort, and durability, as well as providing the potential for greatly enhanced indoor air quality. Our experience over the past 20 years illustrates that these are the area that resonate most with homeowners. Additionally, the payback from energy efficiency upgrades can help offset the costs to achieve exceptional performance in areas that do not have their own financial clear payback to the owner or builder such as environmentally responsible use of materials or water efficiency. Many home buyers expect a typical code-built home to not only hold aesthetic appeal, but to also keep their family comfortable, safe, and operate at a high efficiency and low cost. Those of you who follow Mike Holmes hear that too often this isn't the case. Most people do not realize the building code represents the minimum performance standard acceptable; a code-built home is the lowest performing home that a builder can legally build, period. How many consumers consider buying the base package on an automobile? How many manufacturers only offer a single engine package on a car model? How many dealers ignore a potential car buyers desire to discuss fuel efficiency and/or performance packages? Yet in the homebuilding industry sales agents routinely ignore opportunities to sell performance and upgrade opportunities to potential homebuyers. Our research demonstrates that this is due to the fact that most builders do not offer performance improvement packages or energy efficiency upgrades |
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Exceptional performance in comfort, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and durability are all benefits that resonate with potential homebuyers and that buyers are willing to pay a premium to obtain. The energy costs savings obtained by many green homes will pay the cost of the upgrade. Additionally, the payback from exceptional energy performance can even help offset the costs to achieve improved performance in areas that do not have a financial payback such as environmentally responsible use of materials or water efficiency. Payback from exceptional energy performance can also be used to offset the cost of aesthetic improvements such as granite countertops. The exceptional performance of a green home is an outcome of the green building process, that process also results in higher build quality, which in turn can lead to greater customer satisfaction, lower warranty costs, faster turnover, and greater word of mouth sales, which reduce sales and marketing costs. Many home buyers expect a typical code-built home to not only hold aesthetic appeal, but to also keep their family comfortable, safe, and operate at a high efficiency and low cost. Those of you who follow Mike Holmes hear that too often this isn't the case. Most people do not realize the building code represents the minimum performance standard acceptable; a code-built home is the lowest performing home that a builder can legally build, period. A new home is more than just a commodity, as a builder you have there is an opportunity to differentiate your product from other builders, and to give potential homebuyers a reason to stop looking at homes based on price per square foot. Yet how much of an effort do you make to market performance improvements, or look for cues from potential homebuyers that they would desire improved performance in their new home purchase? In essence, buyers want green homes that will last longer, cost less to operate, and won’t harm the health of residents, would you like to be one of the builders who profit from providing such homes? |
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With the rise of the green economy and a rising interest in green technologies, products and services, many organizations are moving to capitalize on green marketing opportunities. Unfortunately, the efforts of some people in the industry, from product manufacturers, to builders often include greenwashing their products benefits to various extents. Greenwashing is the dissemination of misleading or false information designed to make an organization or product appear more environmentally friendly than it actually is. Greenwashing can be brazen and transparent, but often it can be subtle and difficult to detect. Consider the difficulty greenwashing can present in a case such as a manufacturer claiming their foam insulation product which uses potent greenhouse gasses as a blowing agent is still eco-friendly. Such manufacturers tout the "superior efficiency" of their product and a little recycled content as contributing factors that make their product green. But such a product be truly green when there are many other insulation techniques and product options available that would contribute the same level of performance and yet not contain damaging greenhouse gasses? Fortunately, there are standards and certifications which define green homes across the country. Not all are created equal, but most are an improvement upon the minimum building code. The best of these programs include those programs and standards which BEC has chosen to deliver :
A foundation of each of these programs is the Natural Resources Canada’s EnerGuide rating system. The EnerGuide rating system determines the home’s level of energy efficiency on a scale from 1 to 100. The average newly built home across Canada rates at approximately 74 on the EnerGuide scale. Highly energy-efficient homes such as R-2000 and ENERGY STAR® qualified homes achieve EnerGuide ratings of 80 or higher. These homes are evaluated, inspected and tested for energy efficiency by independent professionals such as those affiliated with BEC consulting who have been trained and licensed by the Government of Canada. NRCan conducts random quality assurance on the R-2000, ENERGY STAR and EnerGuide Rated homes evaluated by these professionals. If you are planning on purchasing a new home ask your builder the following questions :
Finding out if your builder is constructing your home in partnership with one of these initiatives or if the home will receive an EnerGuide rating of 80 or higher will go a long way to determining if their homes are green. |
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An Integrated Design Process refers to an approach to design that considers the house as a system. It is a team-based approach, where all participants are involved early in the process. Decisions are made as a team, so that potential impacts across the project can be assessed. By considering all building components and systems together and how they interact, the overall performance of the building is optimized. Integrated design is a cornerstone in achieving exemplary home performance. |
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HOT2000 software was developed by Natural resources Canada for use by trained and certified R-2000 Plan Evaluators, and EnerGuide Certified Energy Advisors. The HOT2000 software helps these professionals to estimate how much energy each home will use and determines the EnerGuide rating of a home. HOT2000 software is in widespread use across Canada as the basis Here’s how it works :
HOT2000 energy analyses are used as part of the integrated design process to assist with design optimization. |
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As one of the performance verification measures we employ, energy advisors use “blower door” test equipment to measure your home's rate of air leakage. Air tightness performance may be used both as a general indicator of build quality as well as to assess the potential for homeowner discomfort or the potential for future moisture related issues. As part of the EnerGuide Rating Service, the blower door test is performed after the house has been built so that the “as built” results of the test are incorporated into the rating and the new house label. R-2000 has a maximum allowable air leakage rate that a home must not exceed The blower door itself is comprised of a variable-speed fan mounted in an adjustable panel that can fit into an exterior door opening of home.  |
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When the fan is turned on, the pressure inside your home is gradually reduced to allow outside air to flow into the house through unsealed openings or cracks in the house structure. Pressure gauges connected to the fan measure the rate of airflow required to keep your home at a constant pressure so that the advisor can calculate your home's resistance to air infiltration. The blower door test equipment then calculates the air leakage rate of the home. The results of the test are considered in your home's energy efficiency rating. Because airtight homes are energy efficient, a house that has little air leakage will result in a higher rating than a home that has a lot of air leakage. |
