Better Builder Magazine, Issue 27 / Fall 2018

ISSUE 27 | AUTUMN 2018PUBLICATIONNUMBER42408014
INSIDE
Tribute TIPS the Scales
Tackling the GHG Enigma
Holistic Water Conservation
Strategies for Comfort
Dual-fired Appliances
New Uniform Energy Factor
The
Mechanical
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BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 27 | AUTUMN 2018
16
1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
2
Taking a Closer Look at Mechanicals
by John Godden
THE BADA TEST
3
New Plumbing Requirements are
Putting Builders Under Water
by Lou Bada
INDUSTRY NEWS
7
Gas Hybrid Compromise Tackles
GHG Enigma
by Paul De Berardis
BUILDER NEWS
11
The Smarter Approach to
Holistic Water Conservation with
Logic Plumbing
by Kim Bliss
INDUSTRY NEWS
14
Boiling Over the Competition
A Canadian manufacturer is making
history with its combination boilers.
by Rob Blackstien
INDUSTRY EXPERT
22
by Gord Cooke
INDUSTRY NEWS
26
Two independent heaters in
one wall-mounted cabinet.
by Michael Lio
and Dave Henderson
SITE SPECIFIC
28
In Hot Water
Geoffrey Holloway explains the
new Uniform Energy Factor
by Alex Newman
FROM THE GROUND UP
31
The Times They Are
A-Changin’
by Doug Tarry
FEATURE STORY
16
Tribute TIPS the Scales
By listening to its customers, Tribute Communities carved out a
value differentiator.
by Rob Blackstien
22
ISSUE 27 | AUTUMN 2018
Images internally supplied unless otherwise credited.
11

W
e know that hindsight is 20/20, and clarity comes from trying new things and
discovering what works. I didn’t wear glasses until my mid-fifties. On my second
prescription I’m amazed at the clarity and detail with which I see things. The same
applies to our experience with mechanical systems, which are the focus of this issue. Clarity
comes from trying new things and discovering what works.
Thirty years ago, I was designing and installing combination heating systems in R-2000
houses. A combination system uses the same heating source for space and domestic hot
water heating, and it seems logical to integrate these into one system. The irony is that water
heating, like space heating, is one of the largest loads (see the chart below). As Michael Lio
and Dave Henderson explain on page 26, the highest efficiency combination unit is the
best choice. We also provide some perspective from leading
Canadian manufacturer AirMax on page 14.
On page 7, Paul De Berardis explains NRCan and Canmet-
ENERGY’s recent research, testing and cost-benefit analysis
of hybrid heating systems. They report that an integrated
combination gas hybrid system – which uses off-peak
electricity for supplemental space heating from a heat pump –
may be the best way forward for Ontario’s energy challenges.
Choices can be confusing with gas hot water heaters, with
different efficiency requirements used based on the type of
heater installed. But soon, a new test standard – the uniform
energy factor (UEF) – will be adopted in Canada, which will
make choices much clearer. A.O. Smith has created an app
which helps contractors, builders and home owners make
right-sized equipment choices (page 28).
Equipment size is very important for HVAC, too: over-sized
heating and cooling systems don’t run long enough and can
create discomfort. On page 22, Gord Cooke reviews ASHRAE 55
and cites strategies for maintaining comfort with respect to
window selection, moisture management and controls.
New homes have more bathrooms. On page 3, Lou Bada reports on how home owner
complaints about hot water performance are leading the local permit requirements for
plumbing supply layouts. A structured approach to hot water distribution layout by Logic
Plumbing provides faster delivery, more water savings and fewer complaints (page 11).
It’s no surprise that builders may need help navigating all the variables in mechanical
systems – but imagine a home buyer requesting better-than-Code energy performance at
the decor centre. Few production builders would respond to this type of request. This issue
features Tribute Homes, who are the exception to the rule. Read about Tribute’s Innovative
Performance Standard (TIPS) program on page 16.
Lastly, Doug Tarry brings clarity to the discussion about future Code changes amidst
Ontario’s political roller coaster ride. Fasten your seat belts adjust your goggles and look
forward to the curves and bumps the future is bringing our way. Keep your focus on
mechanical systems that promote low energy and affordable housing. BB
Taking a Closer Look
at Mechanicals
publisher’snote / JOHN GODDEN
 Domestic hot water
Hot water is a fairly
large load
 Air conditioning,
lighting, appliances
 Envelope heat losses
 Ventilation losses
32% 31%
18% 19%
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PUBLICATION NUMBER
42408014
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Household Energy Use

New Plumbing Requirements
are Putting Builders Under Water
3
T
he Residential Construction
Council of Ontario (RESCON)
recently released the highly
anticipated report “Streamlining the
Development and Building Approvals
Process in Ontario – Good practice
concepts and a guide to action.” It can
be found at www.rescon.com.
This new report provides industry
stakeholders with a set of recommen
dations to facilitate the more timely
delivery and supply of housing and
to address the levels of availability
and affordability in Ontario and the
GTA. It was a collaborative effort
between the residential industry and
an impressive list of experts from
many disciplines. Most notably, it was
headed by Michael de Lint (RESCON’s
director of building regulatory reform
and technical standards and chair
of the technical council), whose
previous experience in government,
professionalism and insight really
brought the report together in a way
that leaves little room for argument.
Without sensationalizing it too
much, it’s fantastic.
As the final touches on the report
were being made, we received
a Builder Bulletin from a GTA
municipality requiring builders of
low-rise housing to prepare a water
distribution plan, together with a
water service sizing chart, for every
building permit application in the
municipality. This will all have to
be prepared by a qualified person or
professional. The new requirements
will add time and money to the
process – the very things the report
strongly recommends reducing.
The city will have to take more
thebadatest / LOU BADA
time, need more examiners and raise
permit fees. Builders will also bear the
cost of preparing and administering
the plans. The time to prepare an
application and acquire a building
permit will be extended. Costs for
construction will increase.
“Why these new requirements?”
you may ask. We reached out to the
municipality and received a less than
satisfactory answer (verbally, and not
in writing). Paraphrasing, we were told
that plumbing work was being carried
out incorrectly; it was a problem for
the city’s inspectors. This new policy
would help plumbers and inspectors
get it right.
As far as I know, builders and
contractors were never consulted. As
well, there was no cost-benefit analysis
or checking whether there is the
capacity in the design industry to do
this work (there isn’t). It was a proposal
to be evaluated for inclusion in the
Ontario Building Code – but it’s only
one proposal of hundreds, and it has
not seen the light of day (and hopefully
never will). This was a local policy set
under the authority of the local chief
building official.
Water distribution plumbing work
is currently being done following the
Code, manufacturers’ robust design
guidelines and a pre-consultation
on site with the local inspector to
address anything they are particularly
concerned with.
I asked three large plumbing
contractors working in the field if they
were getting inspector call-backs on
water piping problems in homes they
work on. All three said “no.” I also
asked the contractors and our own
service department if we were getting
customer complaints and the answer
was “yes.” Interesting.
A little background for you: water
pipe diameter sizing addresses
having an adequate volume of water
getting to a fixture(s). This is not to be
confused with water pressure, which
is a different matter and is not directly
affected by the size of a water pipe
going to that fixture. The pipe should
be the correct size, but you don’t need
a degree in physics to understand the
following: even if you have a properly
sized pipe and volume, it doesn’t make
much difference if the flow coming out
of a faucet is restricted. Try plugging
your garden hose with your thumb
and leaving a small, quarter-inch
hole – you’ll find you don’t get much
water, irrespective of the diameter of
the hose. All new homes today have
water restrictors on the showerheads,
lavatory faucets and kitchen faucets;
not to mention that low-flow toilets
are now mandated to be only 4.8 litres
RONJOE/DEPOSITPHOTOS

per flush. The requirements for water
conservation in new construction
have increased significantly over the
years, as they should.
Back to the problem. We are often
called by our customers to address
a few common issues: pots of water
take too long to fill in the kitchen,
people with long hair take too long to
rinse their shampoo out in a shower,
and sometimes it takes two flushes
to clear a toilet. We try to educate our
customers and explain that these
are normal due to the water-saving
features of their home. Customers
believe we are incorrect and that
there is a problem because their old
home was better than their new one.
They then call the local plumbing
inspector and post a scathing report
on Twitter, Facebook or some other
form of social media: “Do you know
how much I paid for this home, in
property taxes and in water charges?
And I can’t fill a pot of water or take a
shower properly!”
Inspectors, municipal staff and
local councillors hate dealing with
irate ratepayers (so do I). I believe
what this municipality has decided to
do is create another set of documents
to “paper over” the issue and deflect
criticism to someone or something
else. I also believe home owners will
still be unconvinced.
What does this do to solve the
problem? Nothing. What does it do to
costs? It makes houses less affordable.
All cost, no benefit to the end-user. It
exacerbates the problem.
As I’ve stated many times in the
past, imprudent and uninformed
regulation of this sort not only costs
more but actually makes a builder
less likely to voluntarily do things
that may truly be of benefit to the
environment. Regulations need to be
put through a sieve and then a cost-
benefit microscope. Bureaucratic
opportunism has no place in a world
where we are trying to achieve the
best outcomes for people and the
environment. Both consumers and
the environment have lost here –
fewer incentives for builders to build
sustainably, less housing supply and
less affordability. BB
Lou Bada is vice
president of low rise
construction at Starlane
Home Corporation
and on the board of
directors for the Residential Construction
Council of Ontario (RESCON).
4

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O
ntario’s cap-and-trade carbon
tax regime is dead, and so are
several affiliated programs
that it funded. And with it, we hope,
comes the extinction of a flawed
pursuit to regulate net zero houses.
If you have been following this
space in past issues, you will have
read that the previous Ontario
government’s goal – through the
Ministry of the Environment and
Climate Change, guided by the
Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP)
– was to “adopt low- and net zero
carbon energy solutions in homes.”
Although fighting climate change
is an important issue for us all, there
must be a balance between housing
affordability, home owner operating
costs and reducing greenhouse gas
emissions (GHGs).
The previous ministry’s directive
and the CCAP sought to shift the home
building industry away from natural
gas-sourced heating to electricity
when constructing new homes. This
was an attempt to eliminate the
reliance of greenhouse gas-emitting
energy sources. That would have
meant the demise of economical,
natural gas-fired heating systems.
Luckily, we think there is a more
balanced and affordable approach
through a hybrid heating system, and
research released earlier this year by
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
and CanmetENERGY have supported
this concept.
Let’s start off with the goal: we
all want to have a better, cleaner
environment. There is no question
about that, whether you are a devoted
treehugger or a climate change denier
– greener construction and producing
a smaller carbon footprint means a
healthier planet and population. And
those values are reflected (some might
argue) in the Pan-Canadian Framework
on Clean Growth and Climate Change
agreed upon by the federal, provincial
and territorial governments – a range
of actions to meet 2030 emissions
targets across all Canadian sectors,
including housing and buildings.
So let’s look at the low-hanging
fruit: is there a way we can build new
homes to emit fewer GHGs, while still
being cost-conscious for the home
owner? The short answer is yes.
There is a tremendous amount of
energy end use in Canada, considering
the temperature swings from summer
to winter, for space heating and cooling
loads. This is especially true for space
heating, as this represents the single
largest energy end use in Canada.
This creates enormous potential to
reduce GHGs from natural gas-burning
heating sources.
And that’s where the electric-
powered air source heat pump comes
in. It is similar to a traditional air
conditioning unit as it sits outside
of your home. However, it has a dual
function: it can draw heat from outside
air during the heating season, and
remove interior heat during the summer
cooling season. About 700,000 homes in
Canada already use electric heat pumps.
But let’s not forget that energy
prices have a big impact on decision
making when considering the use of
natural gas or electric space heating
equipment across Canada. Here in
Ontario, with relatively high electricity
prices and low natural gas prices, there
is no payback period in the economic
analysis to justify complete reliance
on an electric heat pump system over
7
Gas Hybrid Compromise
Tackles GHG Enigma
industrynews / PAUL DE BERARDIS
COMBINATION HYBRID HEAT WITH ERV
ENERGY RECOVERY VENTILATOR
AIR CONDITIONER HEAT PUMP
VENT TERMINATION
GAS LINE
AIR HANDLER
A/C COIL

the current use of a natural gas furnace. An all-electric
heating system will remain more expensive to own and
operate than a natural gas furnace for the foreseeable
future, even when considering utility rate escalation and
potentially a government-imposed carbon tax. Although
this switch would reduce GHGs, it would lead to higher
upfront equipment costs and overall utility expenses.
This presents an opportunity for hybrid systems.
In the Ontario marketplace, emission reduction strat-
egies will likely continue to rely on highly efficient natural
gas furnaces with electric heat pumps as a secondary
heating source. This concept is known as a gas hybrid
system, where a furnace and heat pump can alternate.
With this setup, natural gas can be used when it’s
coldest outside and the heat pump has a lower coefficient
of performance (COP); on the contrary, the heat pump
can be used when it’s moderate outside and the heat
pump has a higher COP. This allows home owners to
switch between energy sources depending on which one
is cheaper to operate. It also offers flexibility to switch
between energy sources as prices change in the future.
There was a parallel research report with supporting
results titled “Future of Home Heating” through a colla
boration of Advanced Energy Centre/MaRS Cleantech
and Enbridge Gas Distribution. Among its findings,
the report says: “Although the hybrid scenarios utilize
natural gas, with smart controls and operating strategies,
deep GHG emission reductions are achievable.”
With heat pump technology rapidly evolving, the
incremental cost to substitute a traditional central air
conditioning unit with a heat pump is drawing closer.
Using the gas hybrid system in Ontario is a compromise
toward lowering GHGs while still being mindful of
home owners’ utility costs. Our industry needs to move
together with governments and climate change policy
in incremental, cost-conscious stages in order to achieve
lower GHGs.
Implementing a gas hybrid system for Ontario and
Canada is a fantastic idea, and we’re proud to support
the innovative research, testing and cost-benefit analysis
undertaken by NRCan and CanmetENERGY. BB
Paul De Berardis is RESCON’s director
of building science and innovation.
Email him at deberardis@rescon.com.
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While trunk-and-branch and
home-run systems have been the
staple for plumbing designs in the past,
the new (and smarter) way to plumb
a home is with an engineered Logic
layout. The Logic approach leverages
the flexibility of PEX pipe to minimize
connections and reduce potential
leak points, while also incorporating
multiport tees located near fixture
groupings to improve system efficien
cies with reduced wait times for hot
water and better water pressure.
The innovative multiport tee
Right now I’m sure you're wondering:
“What’s a multiport tee?” It’s essen
tially a bunch of tees all moulded
together to create one long tee with
multiple outlets. This intelligent design
minimizes the required pipe and
connections in a home’s plumbing
system and is the heart and soul of a
Logic layout.
For example, six regular tees will
have 18 connections, but a flow-
through multiport tee with six outlets
will only have eight connections (six
connections for the ports with a main
flow-through inlet and outlet). And
while multiport tees may resemble
a manifold, they have the benefit of
being hidden behind walls without the
need for an access panel.
Multiport tees are made
of engineered polymer (EP), a
thermoplastic material that has
superior mechanical, chemical and
thermal properties that provide
dimensional stability in demanding
applications, including areas of high
stress, heat and moisture.
And, like PEX, the EP material in
multiport tees resists corrosion, pitting
and scaling, so it creates a highly
durable system that’s designed to last.
Best of all, multiport tees (as well as
11
The Smarter Approach to
Holistic Water Conservation
with Logic Plumbing
buildernews / KIM BLISS
I
f you’ve been in the home building business for the past decade, you most likely
know about PEX pipe. It’s a flexible, durable, plastic piping material that’s now
used in virtually all new-home construction.
However, you may not know there’s a smarter way to design and install a resi-
dential PEX plumbing system that uses less material, improves water conservation
efforts, minimizes leak liability and operates more efficiently for the end user.
A multiport tee installation.

all EP fittings) are approved for direct
burial in the soil or concrete slab, so
they are ideal for in-slab plumbing
applications.
How a Logic design
conserves water
In a Logic layout, you have what is
called a spine and ribs. The spine is
the main line and the ribs are the
distribution lines going out from the
multiport tee. These individual lines
extending from the single multiport tee
provide water to all fixtures in a single
or adjacent grouping.
This design offers significant
advantages for clustered or consecutive
uses of hot water to help improve wait
times at the fixture by up to 35%. Once
hot water arrives at a multiport tee,
it is readily available to all fixtures
connected to that tee. Essentially, that
multiport tee's fixture grouping is
“charged” with hot water. This design
not only reduces the wait time for hot
water, it also limits the energy required
to reheat the water, making the system
much more energy efficient.
In a home-run configuration,
however, hot water is not necessarily
readily available for clustered uses
that occur at faucets other than the
original (first-use) fixture. Hot water is
available only at the central manifold.
The system must still deliver hot water
all the way from the manifold to the
faucets where subsequent clustered
uses are taking place.
Using multiport tees is also
advantageous for hot water
recirculation systems because it’s easy
to install recirculation “loops” that
return water to the heater. This is not
as easy with a home-run configuration
where recirculation can typically only
be done between the central manifold
and the water heater, but not between
the fixtures and the water heater
(because it would be necessary to
recirculate from each fixture).
Less pipe, fewer connections,
better performance
A Logic design also uses significantly
less pipe than a home-run layout.
For example, a 2,300-square-foot,
two-storey home using a Logic design
requires only 637 feet of pipe while
a home-run system uses 1,515 feet
of pipe. That’s more than twice the
amount of piping necessary.
Why is this a problem? In addition
to the added costs required for more
product and the labour it takes to
install that additional product, all
the extra pipe means there’s a lot of
stagnant water sitting in a home’s
plumbing system – stagnant water
that goes right down the drain when
a home owner is waiting for hot water
to arrive at the fixture. Plus, there’s
more water to heat when it comes time
to run a hot water line, reducing the
energy efficiency of the system.
The extra pipe also means reduced
water pressure, which can lead to water
waste when it takes longer to wash
dishes or rinse shampoo out of the
hair. Additionally, all that extra pipe
can lead to issues isolating hot and
cold water lines. When hot and cold
water lines are too close to each other,
it increases heat transfer from hot to
cold and reduces the energy efficiency
of the system.
On the flip side, a Logic layout
UPONOR LOGIC
Over 65% fewer fittings and
connections than trunk-and-
branch
40% less tubing than home-run
Delivers hot water 45% faster
than trunk-and-branch
M Typical trunk-and-branch
M Home-run
M Uponor Logic
40
30
20
10
0
100
80
60
40
20
0
FITTINGS
CONNECTIONS
FEET OF PIPE
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

greatly reduces the number of required connections in
a home compared to trunk-and-branch systems. In the
same 2,300-square-foot, two-storey home, a Logic design
uses a mere 16 fittings and 59 connections compared to a
whopping 96 fittings and 165 connections for trunk and
branch. That’s six times the number of fittings and nearly
three times the amount of connections.
Those added connections greatly limit system
performance with increased pressure loss, not to
mention the issues that can come with all those extra
connections behind a wall (fewer connections always
mean fewer potential leak points).
And extra pipe and fittings add extra length to the
piping system as a whole, requiring more stagnant
water in the system that must be heated when it comes
time to run a hot water fixture. This, of course, reduces
the system’s energy efficiency and also results in more
wasted water down the drain.
So, it’s easy to see there’s a logical (and smarter) way
to plumb homes that provides faster hot water delivery,
reduced pressure loss and less water waste for greater
system performance and improved water – and energy! –
conservation.
If you would like to learn more about Logic
plumbing, visit uponor.ca and select “Plumbing” in the
“Residential” section of the website.
Kim Bliss is the content development
manager at Uponor, a provider of plumbing
and indoor climate solutions for homes
and business around the globe. She can
be reached at kim.bliss@uponor.com.
13
Using multiport tees is also
advantageous for hot water
recirculation systems because
it’s easy to install recirculation
“loops” that return water to
the heater – not as easy with
a home-run configuration.

industrynews / ROB BLACKSTIEN
Hydronic air handler manufac
turer AirMax was founded in 2008
with three products, growing to
around 28 to 30 SKUs today. It started
with a high-velocity product before
launching a low-velocity product, then
moved into zone units and through-
the-wall cooling units. “We’re contin
ually developing more products for
the future for the new construction
and retrofit markets,” he says.
In 2010, sister company FlowMax
was born, selling tankless combi
water heaters that were OEMed in
Italy. Van Beurden says the company
is still selling off its remaining stock
but has pretty much run its course,
hence the decision to create Glow
Brand last summer.
Glow Brand, originally launched as
a tankless water heater line, is where
the company is breaking new ground
with its new line of combi American
Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME) standard boilers.
Highly efficient design
Released in July, the C95 and C140
condensing combination boilers
provide both heating and on-demand
hot water supply. Thanks to a highly
efficient, compact design, the boilers
have an annual fuel utilization effi
ciency (AFUE) rating of 94%. Two-inch
PVC provides for venting up to 100 feet.
“Precedence is given to domestic
hot water,” says Brian Jackson, the
company’s P. Eng. “Once that load is
satisfied, then you have an appliance
that can heat hot water for space
heating.” Van Beurden says these
boilers can easily generate enough
heat to replace a furnace, once the air
handler component is installed.
The advantages of this dual-
function system are plentiful. For
starters, he says, it has a lot more
flexibility as it can meet many different
loads, whether small or large.
Jackson says the days of simply
building a house, slapping in a furnace
and a hot water tank and “not really
paying too much attention to comfort
or efficiency” are gone.
Creating better solutions
With regulations changing and
efficiency levels moving so quickly
now, better solutions are needed.
“Furnaces have gotten more efficient,
but hot water tanks really haven’t,”
Jackson says.
With their hydronic-based system,
you can burn fuel and make hot water
that can either be provided to domestic
fixtures or used to heat the home
through a range of devices, such as
an AirMax fan coil, hydronic in-floor
heating or a hydronic radiator. It’s a
system that allows users to introduce
ancillary items like in-floor heating in
the basement, Jackson adds. Hydronic
heating is prevalent in Europe, but is
now “a growing market here,” says Van
Beurden.
Besides the flexibility of such a
system, Jackson says it offers a greater
degree of control of your space, as each
floor or zone can be run independent of
another using individual thermostats
when a zoned air handler is installed.
“So you can put the heat or the cool air
where it needs to be.”
Greater comfort
The upshot is a greater control of
comfort levels for customers.
Jackson points out that there’s also a
greater degree of modulation with their
system, so it can be a 95,000 BTU unit
or just 9,000, if that’s all that’s required.
“That modulation leads to more con
servation, a more energy-efficient
appliance.” You can simply tailor the
load to the heat source, he adds.
Before reuniting with the sister
companies, Van Beurden and Jackson
worked together for a decade at HVAC
manufacturer Don Park. Now, they’ve
built AirMax/FlowMax/Glow Brand
into a 20-plus employee firm, with
Jackson overseeing the design and
technical sides of AirMax and Glow
Boiling Over the Competition
A small Canadian manufacturer is making history
with its new line of combination boilers.
I
f your suppliers aren’t providing you with what you need, why not make it
yourself?
That’s the situation AirMax/FlowMax found itself in when trying to get its
Italian original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to engineer boilers to higher
North American standards. The solution was to launch a sister company – Glow
Brand – to manufacture combination boilers in Canada.
Now, says Jack Van Beurden, general manager of Concord, Ontario-based
AirMax/FlowMax/Glow Brand, “we’re probably one of a few true combi
manufacturers in Canada [that’s Canadian owned].”

Brand while Van Beurden handles the
day-to-day operations for all three
companies.
When AirMax was originally
launched, Van Beurden says there was
only one company in the field and
“the market needed competition and
a better built product.”
He says the companies are built
on three pillars: service, quality and
efficiency. They stock a lot of products
and carry a great deal of inventory, so
“we can service our customers that
same day.”
Ahead of the stream
In terms of energy efficiency, they
are “trying to be ahead of the stream
because codes continue to change.”
Clearly, it’s working.
Jackson says that for the first
eight months when ENERGY STAR
released its ratings for instantaneous
water heaters, they were the most
efficient manufacturer – in all of North
America. Not bad “for a small, little
Canadian company,” he says.
“So we’re ahead of the curve there,”
Van Beurden adds. “We actually had
our products tested to a new standard
before anyone else in North America.”
Down the road, Van Beurden says,
more boilers and tankless water
heaters will be developed under the
Glow Brand umbrella.
Where the company offers a big
advantage is that everyone they
compete against either makes air
handling units or water heaters,
Jackson says. But by using those
components together, the way in
which they are matched determines
the overall system efficiency. Being
able to offer that integration as a single
vendor is hugely advantageous. “We’re
the only entity that has an air side and
a water side manufacturing, so there’s
synergies between our water heating
units and our air handling units.
We made them to basically operate
efficiently together,” he explains.
Jackson says that the company took
a big step forward when it brought the
manufacturing of the water heater
in-house. “We gained a lot more
intelligence and a lot more flexibility to
be able to advance the product.”
The challenge they had in buying
from an OEM is that you can’t tell them
“this is what we want,” because they
reply “this is what we have,” Jackson
says. Making the product themselves
gave the company the agility to move
to market much quicker.
It’s a great success story of a
company that took matters into its
own hands when the market couldn’t
provide what it needed. As Milton
Berle once said, “If opportunity doesn’t
knock, build a door.” BB
Rob Blackstien is a
Toronto-based freelance
writer. Pen-Ultimate.ca
1515
Glow combination boiler at 94% AFUE with AirMax low velocity air handler.

featurestory / ROB BLACKSTIEN
Tribute
40

TIPS the Scales
By listening to its customers,
Tribute Communities carved
out a value differentiator.
I
f we had a dime for every time we heard
about a company that claimed to listen to
its customers’ needs, we wouldn’t be writing
this article...we’d be lying on a beach, binging
on all-you-can-eat Twinkies.
But by doing exactly that (listening to its
customers, not eating Twinkies), builder/
developer Tribute Communities managed to
create a program that differentiates itself from
the pack.
Of course, Tim Clarke wasn’t just any
customer.
As a software engineering consultant who
had done work for Greyter Water Systems, he
likely knew more about energy efficiency than
the average home buyer. So after buying a
home in Tribute’s Grandview development in
Oshawa, he was interested in finding out what
kind of upgrade package he could get that
would make the home more energy efficient.
This was not a typical home buyer request.
Oh sure, the décor studio will field demands
for hardwood flooring, marble countertops
and even the odd energy-efficient feature,
such as a two-stage furnace, higher seasonal
energy efficiency ratio (SEER) air conditioners
and water-efficient appliances. But to be faced
with an upgrade package as sophisticated as
Clarke wanted was new territory for Tribute.
Tim’s wife Candice and their two children.

“We often have requests for
upgrades to the furnace or other
things, but not to the extent that he
wanted a better than Code home,”
says Wally Kunz, options manager at
Tribute’s Décor Studio, who was the
first point of contact for Clarke.
In fact, trying to figure out how to
price what was expected to be a one-
time deal and still make its margins
proved to be a challenge for Tribute.
Making the numbers work
That’s where John Godden, whom
Clarke had met at an event, came in.
When they met, Clarke explained his
situation to Godden, who provided
him with some suggestions of what to
ask for. But when Tribute had issues
making the numbers work, Godden
came in and helped them understand
what could be done on a production
level to make the package feasible.
“When he talked about this
comfort package, my mind started to
think, ‘how can I sell this?’” recalls
Frank MacPhee, Tribute’s contract
manager and the person ultimately
responsible for green lighting this
program. (More about the comfort
package later.)
MacPhee had sensed this was
coming down the pike for quite
some time, so when Clarke made
his request and the company finally
determined it could work, it acted as
the catalyst for something he had long
hoped to employ within the company.
“I just kept hearing on the news
[about] the $4.5 billion Hydro One
debt that our children are going
to have to absorb. I just thought
[…] what happens when one day
someone comes in and says, ‘you know
what, forget about the countertops,
forget about the tile, forget about the
hardwood – what can we do to make
my house more energy efficient?’”
MacPhee says. Clarke’s request “just
pushed it quicker to the forefront of our
mandate,” he adds.
Seeing the potential in this initia
tive, MacPhee worked with Godden to
integrate this package into Tribute’s
offerings.
A differentiator
“It sort of differentiates what we
typically sold and creates something
new,” MacPhee explains.
Clarke received the “comfort
package,” consisting of: a Lennox
two-stage, 96 AFUE furnace; a
Lifebreath energy recovery ventilator
(ERV); HVAC balancing; a drainwater
recovery unit; greywater rough-in; a
WhisperGreen Select bath fan; and
Excel sheathing (which included a
sponsor discount of material).
Ultimately, the upgrades Clarke
received morphed into TIPS (Tribute’s
Innovative Performance Standard),
a package available to all of Tribute’s
home buyers. Not only does the
advent of TIPS give Tribute a value
differentiator over its competitors, but
it may actually be unique in that no
one seems to know of another energy-
efficient upgrade package being
offered on a production level within
the province.
Among its extensive features, TIPS
includes:
M A high-performance envelope:
the home’s performance-based
energy rating is tested by a third
party; Excel sheathing is employed
as an exterior air barrier, with all
penetrations sealed; and an air
barrier surrounds the insulation on
all six sides.
M High-performance HVAC:
the furnace has a two-stage
burner (96% efficiency) with an
electronically commutated motor
(ECM) blower (offering 80% savings
in electrical consumption) to
ensure maximum air distribution
and comfort and comes with a web-
based programmable thermostat.
M Indoor air quality: the HEAT
recovery ventilator has a minimum
Wally Kunz at Tribute’s Décor Studio.
“Home owners are
great when they
understand they are
paying for something
that will bring back
some money to them.”

75% sensible heat-recovery
efficiency (SRE); the flow rate is
third-party verified; there are eco-
vent bathroom fans; and the home
includes a four-inch pleated MERV
12 filter for maximum air filtration.
M Reduced water usage: toilets use a
maximum 4.85 litres per flush.
M Efficient lighting and material
management: 90% of the home
uses compact fluorescent lamp
(CFL) or LED lighting; the attic
insulation features 40% recycled
content; and the thermal insulated
sheathing is 90% recycled content.
Any concerns over how TIPS
(launched in February) will sell
have now disappeared, and it’s
now providing Tribute with a value
differentiator – especially since the
market has softened in recent months.
“Eight months ago, when the real
estate market was sky high, it didn’t
matter what we were putting in the
houses; they were selling them for
whatever they wanted,” MacPhee
says. “When the market died, we
had to differentiate this company
from the guy across the street. And I
believe if we can get the value of this
package or this better than Code to a
sustainable number that we can use,
that we are building a better house
from the guy across the road.”
Building a better house
Given the nice margins builders
typically make in a home decor
centre, adding energy-efficient
features to the mix came with some
risk in terms of cannibalizing its own
offerings.
Kunz says there are still issues
when customers have a specific budget
and are torn between granite tops and
hardwood or upgrading the energy
efficiency. However, while there’s room
for improvement, MacPhee says he’s
satisfied with the results so far.
He says that the return-on-
investment case Tribute can present
makes selling this much easier. “Home
owners are great when they understand
they are paying for something that
will bring back some money to them,
[through] cost savings. I think it makes
it easy for them to jump into.”
Adds Kunz: “It’s a wonderful option
for us to be able to offer. It shows that
we are pushing the envelope, that we
are listening to the public who are
concerned with hydro rates and where
they could possibly go 10 years from
now, and this is one way of being able
to say to them, ‘look, we’re offering this
option and it will save you 18% energy
annually. You can add up the numbers,
you can add it to your mortgage.’”
TIPS now standard fare
In fact, TIPS has been so well received
as an upgrade package that Tribute is
now offering it as standard fare in its
new Ajax community, Quantum Falls.
Kunz says this move dovetails nicely
with one of Tribute’s key philosophies.
“This whole process is linked very
closely to one of our core values, which
is continuous improvement.”
In MacPhee’s mind, the fact that the
decor centre originally wasn’t prepared
to answer Clarke’s questions was a
red flag that needed addressing. “Our
position at Tribute is – for instance,
when Tim came in here – even if one
person asks and we never had that
information available for Wally at the
decor centre, I felt that we were behind.
We weren’t the leaders.”
Thanks to this initiative, the com
pany is well positioned for the coming
changes to the Building Code. “Most of
the stuff that we’re doing with TIPS is
going to have us segue right into that
new Building Code,” MacPhee says.
19
Tribute site staff from left to right: Jacob Tough (Site Supervisor), Russ Anderson
(Customer Care Manager) and Simon Rego (Finishing Supervisor).

Feather in the cap
It’s another feather in the cap for
Tribute, which, in its 35-plus year
history, has built over 30,000 homes
across southern Ontario. The 2016
Tarion Ontario Homebuilder of the
Year creates both high-rise and low-
rise developments.
According to MacPhee – who got
his start with Tribute as a labourer
in 1989 – a cornerstone of the
240-employee company’s philosophy
is “respect for our customers...
and to this end, we have created a
comprehensive Total Service policy to
look after customer needs.”
Tribute’s initiatives at the 25-house
Quantum Falls development “drew
the attention of the energy suppliers
like Enbridge,” MacPhee says.
He says Enbridge approached
Tribute to join Savings by Design,
a program that provides builders
with a $2,000 rebate for every home
(up to a maximum of 50 houses per
community) that is rated 15% better
than the 2017 Ontario Building Code.
(For more on Savings by Design,
please see pages 3 and 11 of the
Summer 2018 issue.)
MacPhee was driven to use that
rebate to make further improvements
to the homes. “My thought was not
putting that money back in our
pockets; I wanted to throw that into
the energy efficiency of the home to
get us a better number.”
Tribute sure won Clarke over. Con
sidering he had a room in his previous
home that always seemed to have a
different temperature than the rest of
the house, and his home now is “pretty
consistent throughout,” he’s thrilled.
Major utility savings
Clarke’s satisfaction in his new home
goes beyond how comfortable it is –
there’s also a sweet financial benefit
when comparing the bills.
For perspective, his old house
was 2,500 square feet – 1,000 square
feet smaller than this one. In the new
home, which has a HERS score of 40
and is 21% better than Code, monthly
hydro bills have dropped from $150 to
$100, while gas is down from around
$170 to just over $100. To recap, that’s
about 37.5% savings in utility costs for
a home that’s 40% larger. “That’s the
major benefit right there,” Clarke says.
The fact that his request prompted
Tribute to offer similar things to
other customers has become a source
of pride. “That’s a great thing if
everybody can benefit from something
that my wife and I started, because
it’s definitely a nice thing to have
when you know that your home is very
efficient and we don’t have to worry
about the bills being excruciatingly
high,” he says.
For Tribute, that’s simply business
as usual, given what MacPhee says the
company’s philosophy is: “Build every
house as if you were the one moving
into it.” BB
Rob Blackstien is a Toronto-based
freelance writer. Pen-Ultimate.ca
Tim Clarke’s heating system balanced with
less than 15% duct leakage.
Homeowner and software engineer
Tim Clarke beside his new Greyter
greywater recycling system.
Clarke’s satisfaction
in his new home goes
beyond comfort –
there’s also a sweet
financial benefit when
comparing the bills.

Barrie, GTA West, GTA North
Eric Byle | 416-937-8793
Toronto East
Al Crost | 416-676-0168
Available to water heater customers whose equipment is not operational (i.e. no hot water)

industryexpert / GORD COOKE
22
In my world, those expectations
are for dramatically increased
thermal comfort – so much so that in
our Construction Instruction (Ci) Live
Training Center in Phoenix, builders
have become very interested in the
instrumented total HVAC system
we have installed, which is able to
demonstrate strategies for better
comfort control. Fortunately, at least
in the opinion of this engineer, there
are science-based resources and a
variety of products, new and old, that
are available to help you achieve the
expectations of your home buyers.
Let’s explore a few of these.
First, I would ask you to become
familiar with the American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-
Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
Standard 55, Thermal Environmental
Conditions for Human Occupancy,
or at least be aware of its existence
and the value it can offer you as we
implement better HVAC solutions.
I found Standard 55 very valuable
as it outlines the six factors that affect
thermal comfort. Two of these are
characteristics of your home buyers –
clothing and metabolic rate – but four
are characteristics of the environments
you build. These are air temperature,
humidity, air speed and radiant
temperatures. That last one probably
needs a little explanation. Our bodies
transfer approximately 50% to 60%
of their sensible heat via radiation
to surfaces around us. Realizing
that modern home designs include
dramatically more windows, you can
imagine the impact this can have
on the comfort of your home buyers.
Fortunately, there are some strategies
I
am sure the regular readers of this magazine have recognized the fact that,
the more you promote the high-performance features of your homes, the
higher the expectations your customers have.

available to address the radiant
temperature factor.
Start with a conversation with your
window supplier. They should have
at least three or four glazing options
available for you that can meet the
Code requirements for window
performance while minimizing the
impact of cold glass surfaces in winter
and hot glass surfaces in summer.
For comfort reasons alone, triple-
glazed windows will be on your list
of technologies to include in your
high-performance homes. The costs
of these have been coming down
nicely and they perform very well in
energy performance modelling to
offset other more expensive energy
upgrades. Even with double-glazed
windows, investigate the impact
between high solar gain and low solar
gain low-e coatings. Some window
manufacturers use high solar gain
coatings to optimize winter energy
gains at the risk of creating comfort
concerns in the summer. Have your
energy evaluator work with your
window supplier to find a better
balance between energy and comfort
performance.
Recognize as well that the solar
gain from windows is a highly
variable or intermittent load. It’s no
longer good enough to measure and
try to control temperatures from
one thermostat located in a hallway.
Great new, cost-effective technology,
such as the ecobee4 thermostat,
offers specific remote room sensors
for the main thermostat to allow
quicker response in occupied spaces.
Ultimately, you will be offering
zoned heating and cooling solutions,
but start offering these multi-sensor
approaches immediately to help
offset the comfort implications of
intermittent window loads.
We have covered one strategy for
the radiant temperature comfort
factor and one for the air temperature
comfort factor, so allow me to remind
you of a simple change to impact the
humidity comfort factor. You have
undoubtedly seen the literature that
says a healthy, comfortable indoor
relative humidity level is 30% to 50%.
We need to fine tune that a bit to read
30% to 40% in winter, recognizing that
at over 40%, window condensation
would be an issue on cold winter
days (another great reason for triple-
glazed windows). And it should be
45% to 50% in summer, recognizing
that getting lower than even 50% is
difficult in most parts of Ontario with
our high outdoor humidity levels. In
fact, through much of the spring and
early summer, dehumidification is at
least as important as cooling – so much
so that credible information sources
such as the Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation suggest strongly
that dehumidifiers or air conditioners
be used to control moisture during
non-heating seasons in most Canadian
houses. In addition, you will find that
energy recovery ventilators (ERVs)
are very useful in helping to manage
moisture loads.
Let’s start with a comfortable
indoor condition of 23°C and a relative
humidity (RH) of 50%. The dew point
at this condition is 12°C (the higher
the dew point, the higher the moisture
content). Compare this to the outdoor
design conditions for Toronto. When
considering humidity factors, we won’t
use the hottest day design condition,
but rather the most humid design
condition. In Toronto on that day, the
dew point temperature of the air is
a whopping 22°C and yet the simple
dry bulb temperature (what the
thermometer would read) would be
just 27°C. These are days when an air
conditioner wouldn’t be running very
much and yet there would be a need
for dehumidification as a separate
function to control indoor RH levels.
As you ventilate at, say, 60 cubic feet
per minute (CFM) (the typical Code
requirement for a three-bedroom
house) with a principal fan or HRV, the
ventilation system will introduce an
additional 24 litres of water vapour into
the home per day. Using an ERV rather
23
An energy recovery ventilator manages the
moisture in both summer and winter.
OLLY18/DEPOSITPHOTOS
VENMARVENTILATION

than an HRV would cut this design
day moisture load in half. This can be
very important given that, in a typical
2,400 square foot home, the difference
between a comfortable and healthy
50% at 23°C and a sticky, risky 65% RH
condition is just an extra three or four
litres of water dispersed throughout
the air in a home. While you should
be reminding home owners to run a
dehumidifier, the standard portable
dehumidifiers only have a moisture
removal capacity of 15 to 30 litres
per day, and even the whole-house
dehumidifiers that professional HVAC
contractors promote have capacities
of about 30 to 60 litres per day. It
should be obvious that a simple, cost-
effective change to an ERV from an
HRV is an important comfort strategy.
ERVs help manage dehumidification
loads in non-heating seasons and avoid
over-drying houses in winter.
These three simple, cost-effective
strategies – appropriate window
coatings, remote room sensors for
your thermostats and a switch to ERVs
– will get you started on the path to
providing better comfort control for
your home buyers.
For more information on the Ci
Live Learning Center in Phoenix, go to:
www.constructioninstruction.com. BB
Gord Cooke is
president of Building
Knowledge Canada.
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ERVs help manage dehumidification
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industrynews / MICHAEL LIO AND DAVE HENDERSON
A
s houses become more
efficient and use less and less
energy, the big heating plants
of the past are giving way to small,
multi-functional heating appliances
– appliances that can heat your house
and your water at the same time.
Navigating the range of new heating
appliances can be a challenge.
Figuring out the difference
between “combo” and “combi”
heating systems is the first step. Now,
you should understand the newest
appliance to emerge: the “dual-fired”
appliance. It’s not to be confused with
a dual-fuel appliance – an appliance
that uses more than one fuel source,
like a heat pump with propane
supplementary heat. That’s not what a
dual-fired appliance is at all.
According to IBC Technologies
Inc., a dual-fired appliance is a very
distinctive piece of equipment that’s
used in many parts of Europe. Their
line of wall-mounted boilers, as they
explain, are unique in the heating
industry. The IBC boiler combines
space heating and domestic hot water
heating in one unit. Now, before you
say there are plenty of other systems
like this on the market, the IBC boiler
is very different. It has incorporated
the space and water heating functions
independently within the one wall-
mounted cabinet.
Realizing that there are two
independent appliances in the one
wall-mounted cabinet is key to
understanding how it works. The unit
is not a combi or a combo system.
Water is drawn into the boiler section
completely isolated from the domestic
hot water side. “This gives the IBC
boiler the ability to heat water (and
fire) at two different rates, improving
overall fuel efficiency, comfort and
convenience,” explains Peter Kinsey,
eastern Canada sales manager for
IBC Technologies Inc. Because the
two internal systems are completely
independent, this also allows one
half to use other heat distribution
fluids – like glycol – without fear of
contamination or the need to have a
separate unit altogether. Innovative,
yet simple.
Because the appliance performs the
two heating functions independently,
it required applying different testing
methods to test each efficiency. The
appliance was tested for annual fuel
utilization efficiency (AFUE) for the
space heating component and was
tested for energy factor (EF) for the
water heating component. The space
heater has an AFUE of 96% while
the water heater has an EF of 0.87 (in
accordance with CAN/CSA P.2). With
a 96% AFUE and 0.87 EF, the IBC units
can be used as part of Ontario Building
Code compliance packages A1, A2, A4,
A5 and A6 from SB-12 Table 3.1.1.3.A
and all of the compliance packages
from Table 3.1.1.2.A.
With convenience and simplicity
all packed into one box, more builders
and HVAC contractors will likely begin
Two independent heaters in one wall-mounted cabinet.
Water is drawn
into the boiler
section completely
isolated from
the domestic hot
water… giving
the IBC boiler
the ability to
heat water at two
different rates,
improving overall
fuel efficiency,
comfort and
convenience.
Unique and innovative single pass Copper /
Aluminum Heat Exchanger with 96% AFUE.

specifying dual-fired appliances. Indeed, the appliance
recently won EnerQuality’s Innovation Gauntlet,
competing against other innovative products at this
spring’s Housing Innovation Forum in Toronto. Simply
put, the appliance reduces costs immediately for new
home buyers.
For most builders, there is nothing more comforting
than the tried and true. Builders wrestle with questions
of performance and efficiency, the risk of call backs and
the dreaded comfort complaints from home owners.
Often it is the concern about Tarion warranty obligations
that causes the most worry. While builders may be
nervous about new or innovative products, cost is a key
driver and factors prominently in the decision to try a
new technology. Avoiding the water heater rental can be
a big marketing incentive in a tightening marketplace
where builders are starting to look for an edge.
For trades, there are similar, yet different, concerns.
Jeff Martino, vice president of business development
with Martino HVAC, notes that innovative products are
great provided they meet several key tests: are quantities
of the units readily available?; are they serviceable?; are
parts easy to get?; are units complicated to install?; and,
of course, are they reliable?
Fortunately, IBC has a great track record, a
solid warranty and a long company history. Its vast
installation history in Europe should also allay the fear
of the new. In fact, IBC appliances command 40% of the
market in the Netherlands. There have been over two
million appliances installed worldwide over the past 20
years with not a single heat exchanger failure to date.
As the Building Code continues to evolve, more
energy-efficient, right-sized equipment options will be
necessary for the industry. Dual-fired appliances will
likely raise eyebrows – perhaps if only for their name –
but now you know. BB
Michael Lio is President of
buildABILITY Corporation.
Dave Henderson is
Director of Builder Services
at buildABILITY Corporation.
27
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sitespecific / ALEX NEWMAN
That led to work as a management
consultant, and then to a contract
assignment with Direct Energy (now
known as EnerCare). Soon, he was
asked to join their team. As manager
of new business development,
Holloway was overseeing residential
water heating operations at new
construction sites.
After four years with Direct Energy,
he was headhunted by A.O. Smith,
the largest manufacturer of water
heaters in North America. Starting
in 2005 as Director of Canadian
Sales, Holloway managed the
commercial water heating side of the
business – but by 2011, that role had
expanded to include all residential
and commercial business in Canada.
In 2013, he became Vice President of
Canadian Sales for A.O. Smith.
As a regular attendee at industry
events, Holloway became aware
of Clearsphere’s work in energy
efficiency – particularly the Savings
by Design workshops – and he has
been invited to give builder talks
about industry changes and efficient
new products. “These are things
builders really need to be aware of,”
Holloway says. “Especially as changes
become mandatory.”
A prime example, he says, is
the new uniform energy factor
(UEF) rating for hot water heaters.
Implemented in the U.S. in 2017, it will
become mandatory in Canada this fall.
But as Holloway explains, “hot water
heaters themselves aren’t changing –
just the way they’re being tested and
then marketed to consumers.”
However, the label change does
reflect a necessary product and
industry change, since previous testing
did not accurately reflect or assess the
relative efficiency of each different hot
water heater.
Previously, the old energy factor
(EF) testing rated all the products
the same. It was unable to accurately
reflect energy efficiency across a
wide range of different technologies,
especially between tank and tankless
water heaters.
The UEF gets its new name –
“uniform” – because it compares
efficiencies within one category
of residential use. This is what the
industry also calls “usage bins,” which
allow one to compare “apples to
apples,” says Holloway. For example,
a family of six will likely take a high
number of daily showers, putting them
into a higher bin usage group than an
empty-nester couple who will probably
require a low bin usage water heater.
The new UEF rating is determined
by comparing similar heaters with
similar hot water output. However, this
rating only applies to residential water
heaters. (In other words, it doesn’t
apply to commercial water heaters
such as those you’d find in a high-rise
condo building.)
Water heaters are separated into
bins determined by first hour of usage
for tank water heaters and gallons
per minute for tankless heaters. The
heaters, once gathered into their own
categories, undergo simulated tests
and are compared to heaters in the
same usage bin. Tests differ for each
In Hot Water
Geoffrey Holloway explains the new
Uniform Energy Factor
A
lthough Geoffrey Holloway had a degree in civil engineering, he’d always
wanted to do his MBA. So in the late 1990s, after working in heavy civil
construction as a design engineer, he headed to Wilfrid Laurier University
and graduated from their MBA program in 2000. Further to this he completed his
Certified Management Accounting (CMA) designation in 2004.
Implemented in the
U.S. in 2017, the new
uniform energy factor
will become mandatory
in Canada this fall.
Geoffrey Holloway.

bin, and the energy use is determined
during a typical 24-hour period. For
heaters in the same bin, a higher UEF
means a more efficient water heater
that costs less to operate.
This way, consumers can choose
a water heater based on needs and
ease of operation, and not based on
what they’ve heard is more efficient.
“A condensing storage hot water
heater is comparable to tankless; its
thermal efficiencies are comparable,”
Holloway says. “The tankless has
a slightly higher UEF factor than
[the] condensing tank but [it] is
more confusing for builders and
consumers, and a lot of education
is required. I have included a chart
(above) to avoid further confusion.
There’s been a lot of marketing
around the tankless product for the
past 15 years or so, and consumers
now believe it’s the only one, or at
least the best one. But that’s just
not the case. Start with a condensing
technology first and then match with
the application.”
The real challenge for builders is
helping new home owners understand
that, in order to get the right water
heater with the highest UEF rating,
they must first determine their hot
water needs. But A.O. Smith has
come up with a mobile app that is
currently available in the US and will
be introduced in Canada in the near
future, that makes it easy to do this,
Holloway says. More accurate than
energy guide labels, the app comes up
with the right product based on the
individual’s hot water needs. The app
also helps contractors to correctly size
a water heater.
New home construction has a host
of hot water options and different
provincial codes and standards. This
can lead to confusion. Choosing a
high-efficiency water heater will help
builders achieve a higher rating, as
well as real monthly utility savings for
the home owner. BB

Alex Newman is a writer,
editor and researcher at
alexnewmanwriter.com.
29
M Usage patterns/consumer
behaviour
M Installation design
constraints
The real challenge
for builders is helping
new home owners
understand that, in
order to get the right
water heater with the
highest UEF rating, they
must first determine
their hot water needs.
UNIFORM ENERGY FACTOR (UEF)
BIN
BIN
Daily Usage
gallons
First Hour Rating
tank-type
water heaters
Max GPM
tankless
water heaters
water
heater
EF
Energy
Factor
UEF
Uniform
Energy Factor
TE
Thermal
Efficiency
Very small 10 Less than 18 gallons Less than 1.7 A x x 94%
Low 38 18 to 51 gallons 1.7 to 2.8 B 0.80 x x
Medium 55 51 to 75 gallons 2.8 to 4 C x 0.88 x
High 84 75 gallons or larger 4 or more Combo
TPF Thermal
Performance
Factor
TPF Thermal
Performance
Factor
TPF Thermal
Performance
Factor
WATER HEATER SELECTION FACTORS
M Total installed costs
(installation, capital,
maintenance & operating
costs etc)
M Depending on building
design configuration; will
still need to understand
equivalency
M UEF – under 75,000 btu
M TE – over 75,000 btu
M May have different spec
sheets for USA vs Canada

Check out our website at www.gsw-wh.com

The Ontario Home Builders’
Association (OHBA) is looking
forward to working with Premier Ford
and the Ontario government on some
outstanding issues related to the
Climate Change Action Plan and its
unintended consequences, as well as
some of the Code creep we are seeing
in local jurisdictions.
There are two areas involving
climate change that are especially
relevant to home builders:
M Fighting climate change by
building more energy-efficient
homes to reduce our carbon
footprint, and
M Accepting that climate change is
happening and adapting to more
frequent, and more severe, climate
events by building more resilient
housing.
The previous Ontario government
under Premier Wynne was intensely
focused on reducing our collective
carbon footprint throughout the
overall economy. While the aspiration
was commendable, the method was
not. It became increasingly difficult
to have meaningful conversations
around the Ontario Building Code
and what should be reasonably
included within a Code change cycle,
as the government’s philosophy shifted
to being the greenest jurisdiction in
North America. Even if what they were
asking for made little sense, if the
special interest groups got there first,
then we became powerless to argue for
alternatives or express concerns. We
are now reaching out and requesting
that these concerns be revisited.
For example, we have consistently
argued that the 200-amp service
requirement for car charging was an
extremely bad idea, as there would be
unintended consequences. Recently,
we became aware of a situation in
Ottawa where the electric vehicle
requirements from Ottawa Hydro
were forcing the builder to reduce the
number of units on the property from
12 units down to eight. That is a very
significant impact on affordability and
it goes against the provincial mandate
of intensification.
The OHBA, on behalf of its
members and industry stakeholders,
is now requesting that the provincial
government put a hold on recent
changes to the Ontario Building Code,
including, but not limited to: drain
water heat recovery, larger stair tread
requirements, Part 11 inspection
requirements and blower door testing
requirements. We would prefer to see
further technical consultation and
examination on affordability impacts,
labour impacts and technical impacts
of these changes.
To be clear, the OHBA is in favour of
increased energy efficiency. But does
it make sense to require new homes to
be built to net zero-ready requirements
if the industry is not ready and the
existing housing stock (where a
significantly greater problem exists)
is not being addressed? The OHBA
has long advocated for mandatory
labelling of existing homes prior to
resale, and, in general, the new Code
requirements around renovation are
a needed step – but not if it drives the
underground economy, and not if there
aren’t enough building inspectors to
do the work.
On the other hand, it also does not
make sense to require homes to be
built to net zero-ready standards if we
are not going to look at more resiliency.
What good does a net zero requirement
do if your roof is damaged in a storm
and you lose all your contents in the
The Times They Are A-Changin’
fromthegroundup / DOUG TARRY
B
ob Dylan was onto something with this song and his lyrics: “Come senators,
congressmen / Please heed the call / … / There’s a battle outside and it’s
ragin’ / It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls / For the times
they are a-changin’.”
Whether it is the recent election in Ontario that signals a significant change
in philosophy, or the recent weather events that are bringing the climate change
issue closer to home, the times truly are a-changin’. So I thought I would explore
the connection between the two.
CHANGE
AHEAD

home? I’ve had first-hand experience
in Puerto Rico of why we need to
address resiliency, but many have
asked if this applies in Ontario.
May 5, 2018 was the day before our
most recent rebuild mission to Puerto
Rico. On the way to the airport, we
endured a five-hour long wind event
that was only five kilometres per hour
less powerful than Hurricane Hazel,
and there was a great deal of wind
damage. Had this storm also been a
rain event, it would have acted just
like a hurricane (although it had not
formed in the same manner) and
would have caused immeasurable
content damage for homes where the
roofs were compromised. This is only
one of countless examples that clearly
show the climate is changing and we
need to adapt.
However, it would be concerning
to mandate a certain type of
hurricane strap, for example, when
there are other options available.
My company is currently testing a
new six-inch screw from Simpson
Strong-Tie that has the same hold-
down strength as an H2.5A hurricane
tie, and it takes about seven to eight
seconds to screw in compared to the
50 to 60 seconds required for the 10
nails of the hurricane tie. We need to
be at the table working on the Code
process to ensure good decisions are
made about what can and should be
implemented in the field.
That is why I’m working with
the Western University engineering
department on more resilient
construction methods, and then
road testing the details in Puerto
Rico. If we are able to train an
unskilled workforce on how to do
so simply and cost effectively, then
there is much greater opportunity to
have success implementing it here in
Ontario. This would be practical to
do under voluntary programs where
we can build critical mass and gain
the knowledge needed to bring these
details to the wider industry, just
the same way that our industry had
success on energy efficiency with the
voluntary ENERGY STAR program.
That leads me to my final point.
I am a very strong advocate for one
Code for Ontario. For one thing, it
is illegal for municipalities to adopt
increased energy efficiency and/
or resiliency requirements that
are forced onto builders through
subdivision agreements. Secondly,
it is also dangerous as there will be
unintended consequences, with an
even greater risk if the work is being
done by builders who are not trained
on these new methods and details, or
the methods and details have not been
fully vetted. We may complain about
the Code process – especially when
there is something that urgently needs
addressing – but there is a reason
why it has its checks and balances in
place, and we are urging the Ontario
government, under Premier Ford’s
leadership, to address this concern as
urgently as possible.
Municipalities have no business
being involved in Code development,
no matter how noble their goals, and
especially when they do so without
consultation with the industry experts
that build these products every single
day. Ontario home builders, trades,
suppliers and building inspectors have
consistently proven that if government
shows us what the goal is, we can get
there in faster, better and smarter ways
if we are able to do so voluntarily within
programs designed to keep our industry
on the path of continual improvement.
So yes, the times they are
a-changin’ – but we’ve proven that we
are very capable of getting there. The
home building industry was the only
industry in Canada to meet the Kyoto
Protocol climate change targets. And
we did it voluntarily. Let’s have that
conversation about resiliency. Let’s
work on some voluntary programs
where the most proactive builders can
work with industry experts and figure
out the challenges so that we can
continue to adapt to climate change.
Postscript: I would like to dedicate
this article to Shawn Good, our former
technical code expert at the Ontario
Home Builders’ Association. Shawn
had the great ability to understand the
subject and make it simple enough
for others to understand as well. We
worked on many files together over the
last few years. Gone too soon. You are
greatly missed. BB
Doug Tarry Jr is
director of marketing at
Doug Tarry Homes in
St. Thomas, Ontario.
The home building
industry was the only
industry in Canada
to meet the Kyoto
Protocol climate
change targets. And
we did it voluntarily.

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Better Builder Magazine, Issue 27 / Fall 2018

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