Better Builder Magazine, Issue 38 / Summer 2021

PUBLICATION
NUMBER
42408014 ISSUE 38 | SUMMER 2021
INSIDE
Low Carbon Or No Carbon?
The Best IAQ Checklist
Indoor Air Quality
Evolving Within A
Dinosaur Industry
Embodied Carbon Challenge
WINNERS OF THE
CROSS BORDER
CHALLENGE
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BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 38 | SUMMER 2021
18
1
FEATURE STORY
18
Why Merely Survive When You Can Thrive?
How a struggling Denver builder transformed itself
to an award-winning leader in its niche.
by Rob Blackstien
14
ISSUE 38 | SUMMER 2021
Cover and individual awards photographed by Mike Day, theartofweddings.com.
Images internally supplied unless otherwise credited.
33
34
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
2
Low Carbon or No Carbon?
by John Godden
THE BADA TEST
3
The Best IAQ Checklist
by Lou Bada
INDUSTRY EXPERT
5
The Heightened Interest
in Indoor Air Quality
by Gord Cooke
INDUSTRY NEWS
8
Scripting Our Own Path
by Marc Huminilowycz
BUILDER NEWS
11
Cleary Homes – Just Better
by Alex Newman
BUILDER NEWS
14
Going Vogue
by Alex Newman
BUILDER NEWS
16
Rosehaven Homes
by Rob Blackstien
INDUSTRY NEWS
22
Embodied Carbon Challenge
by Paul De Berardis
INNOVATION NEWS
27
Campanale Homes
by Marc Huminilowycz
BUILDER NEWS
30
Empire Communities
BUILDER NEWS
32
2021 Cross Border Builder
Challenge Winners and a
Tribute to Vince Naccarato
FROM THE GROUND UP
34
Evolving Within a
Dinosaur Industry
by Doug Tarry

Low Carbon
or No Carbon?
2
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Better Builder Magazine is
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“W
ords matter. Especially ones with four letters.” — Bob Saget
Like the word “love,” “zero” can mean different things to different
people. The word “zero,” as we know it, first emerged in India a long time ago. Its
original meaning is a placeholder or concept that marks nothingness. “Net zero” is
an accounting term meaning neither a surplus nor a deficit when things are added
together. “Net zero energy” connotes a balance of onsite energy produced against
energy consumed, usually by a building. However, “net zero emissions” is an entirely
different story, as we must consider not only operational energy but embodied
energy as well.
Words are very important when we are describing our goals for carbon reduction.
Goals are important, but they are usually referred to as absolutes. Someone wisely said,
in contradiction to themselves, “there are no absolutes in the universe.” It’s easy to get
lost in semantics, but it’s also important to be pragmatic. As Paul DeBerardis points
out, the embodied carbon discussion needs to be addressed when we are talking about
net zero energy houses (page 22). Ideally, homes should not create more carbon debt
(emissions) than they offset. I would prefer we drop the “zero” rhetoric and set our
goals as low-energy and low–carbon-embodied houses – “low-carb houses” for short.
Many builders are doing just that. They’re reducing energy use with the smart use
of natural gas and employing more insulated wood fibre sheathing on thinner concrete
foundations, thus reducing embodied carbon and not covering roofs with solar panels.
This year’s RESNET/CRESNET Cross Border Builder Challenge reminds us that
international co-operation is key for any success. The challenge is a friendly annual
competition between American and Canadian home builders to determine just how
energy efficient builders can build. The rule is simple: the lowest Home Energy Rating
System (HERS)/Energy Rating Index (ERI) score wins. Royalpark Homes (page 8) and
Thrive Home Builders (page 18) were the big winners of the President’s Award on either
side of the border. All the winning Canadian builders are graduates of Enbridge’s
Savings by Design (SBD) program. This year’s winners also surpassed the HERS 46
score recommended for Ontario under ASHRAE 90.2, Energy-efficient Design of
Low-rise Residential Buildings. Well done!
Meanwhile, Gord Cooke discusses the heightened interest in indoor air quality
(IAQ) (page 5), and Lou Bada describes the best IAQ checklist, for builders, for
breathing easy (page 3).
Lastly, Doug Tarry acknowledges the great advancements we’ve made in the
home building industry and the old habits we are having trouble breaking (page 34).
His description of home building as a “dinosaur industry” is very apropos, as the
large reptiles we see in museums are now extinct. Measuring serious reductions
in CO2 emissions from home building must also dig up discussions about how we
construct our homes, the materials we use and how we describe them. “Zero” means
nothing. “Low” means something. When it comes to carbon, whether it’s embodied
or operational, we must go as low as we can so that we don’t end up like the dinos. BB
publisher’snote / JOHN GODDEN

(which is highly debatable), there are
a few tools that may be helpful: a good
builder checklist for IAQ and an IAQ
score. Our friend (and publisher) John
Godden and his team have proposed
this checklist (above), and I added the
following explanations:
Setting aside the very important
issue that so many are under-housed
for the moment, what makes a good
home? It’s a loaded question. It
depends who you ask. Essentially,
what constitutes a good home is much
of what we discuss in this magazine.
It’s not a matter of enormous debate
within the builder and construction
community. I would venture to
guess that builders and the wider
construction industry are the major
ity of our readership. If you read
this magazine, we’re likely already
preaching to the choir. What I am
hoping for is that the buyers of new
homes begin to see (and breathe)
differently, but hope is not a strategy.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) should
be a familiar term to everyone in
our business (remember “build it
tight and ventilate it right”?). Good
ventilation is important to occupant
health and safety and an important
element of IAQ. The importance of
IAQ has become abundantly clear
over the last year or so. It would be
great if IAQ became part of the home
buyer’s vernacular.
Insofar as home builders can
influence home buyers’ decisions
1. Getting the flow rate verified by a
third party is easy these days if builders
use HRVs/ERVs that have auto-balanc
ing features. OBC 9.32 requires flow
determination, and many installations
have not been balanced properly. If
this is true, then occupants may not be
getting the required amount of fresh air
outlined in the OBC (15 cfm) per person.
2. Hi-static bathroom fans verified
at OBC capacities for spot ventilation
could be used. Exhaust fan vent
terminations are a major source of air
leakage during a fan depressurization
test, as roof vent terminations are not
properly sealed. If proper sealing is
undertaken, low static fans cannot
provide enough pressure to open the
rooftop damper and displace humid air
from bathrooms.
3. A MERV 13 air filtered for COVID-19
is a smart, low-cost addition, especially
since construction heat requires a
MERV 12 filtration during construction.
COVID-19 droplets are >5 microns and
can be filtered with MERV 13 one-inch
furnace filters. The challenge is that
home owners forget to replace filters
on a regular basis, which leads to
service calls.
4. Best air filtration could be sold as an
upgraded bypass HEPA filter system on
your furnace. This bypass system does
not impede air flow in the duct work
and has pre-filters so that the HEPA
filter has a three- to five-year lifespan
and picks up very small particles (down
to 0.3 microns). This is 10 times better
than MERV 13 and can almost catch the
3
thebadatest / LOU BADA
The Best IAQ Checklist for Breathing Easy
“All I need is the air that I breathe…” —The Hollies (1974)
I
’m sure it’s been a difficult and tumultuous year for everyone, and I pray that we are
as well as can be expected. I hope that some permanent improvements in the post-
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic era are seen in our relationship with our environment and
with each other. A reminder of the fragility and tenuousness of our health – coupled
with a strong dose of fear and the realization that we are a worldwide community –
may spur a re-examination of our goals and values. Although the pandemic was – and
is – a terrible tragedy, it would only be made worse if we didn’t learn anything from it.
We’ve seen that airborne transmission of a virus can be deadly. It has been clear that
the chronically under-housed and poorly housed populations
have borne the brunt of the pandemic.
GOOD BUILDER
CHECKLIST FOR IAQ
1. FLOW RATE ON PRINCIPAL
EXHAUST (HEAT RECOVERY
VENTILATOR [HRV]/ENERGY
RECOVERY VENTILATOR [ERV])
VERIFIED BY THIRD PARTY
2. HI-STATIC BATHROOM FANS
VERIFIED AT ONTARIO BUILD
ING CODE (OBC) CAPACITIES
FOR SPOT VENTILATION
3. MERV 13 AIR FILTRATION
FOR COVID-19
4. BEST AIR FILTRATION:
BYPASS HEPA FILTER
ON FURNACE
5. ERV REDUCES NEED FOR
HUMIDIFIER FOR WHOLE-
HOUSE VENTILATION
6. PRE-OCCUPANCY FLUSH (48
HOURS BEFORE OCCUPANCY)

4
COVID-19 virus (0.125 microns). Con:
it must be sold as an upgrade, as the
home buyer may not be living in the
home but buying on spec.
5. ERVs for whole-house ventilation
reduce the need for a humidifier.
Best practice is to avoid a simplified
installation and use a hybrid approach
without an interlock with the furnace.
ERVs hold on to 50% of moisture
in winter to keep relative humidity
(RH) higher in the colder months.
Conversely, they reject 50% of the
moisture in the summer, which
lowers air-conditioning run time.
Simplified ventilation installations
require an interlock, which puts the
furnace into high speed for ventilation
distribution but depressurizes the
basement, which could contribute
to soil gas infiltration in radon areas.
Hybrid ventilation installation provides
exhaust ducting to the main floor
bathroom and reduces the need for an
exhaust fan at that location.
6. A pre-occupancy flush 48 hours
before closing is a smart, no-cost
service that a builder can offer. The
whole-house ventilation (HRV/ERV)
system and spot ventilation (bathroom
exhaust fans) are checked by a third
party. This ventilation system is run
continuously with the furnace blower
motor to off-gas the new home at least
two days before occupancy.
The previous checklist should be
viewed as a tool and should be used
as part of a strategy. It can be used to
generate a score or a label. Granted,
scores and labels have their own
difficulties; however, they may also
provide a vehicle for our customers to
assess the important IAQ features in
the construction of their new home.
Of course, there are other extraneous
elements to be considered for IAQ, but
an awareness is a step towards everyone
breathing a little better. 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).

In fact, the high-performance new
homes you are building offer many
air quality advantages that should
be of interest to your clients over the
next several years as we recover both
physically and emotionally from these
most trying of times. In the short
term, there is no doubt that physical
distancing, isolation when you are
sick or caring for someone who is sick,
the wearing of masks and personal
hygiene are still the most effective
approaches in keeping safe from
the COVID-19 virus. In the longer
term, let’s expand the conversation
to overall indoor environmental
quality (IEQ) and consider the
benefits high-performance homes
can have on the overall health
and wellness of home owners.
There are four clear strategies for
improving and controlling indoor
air quality generally, and they are
specifically effective when consider
ing the impact of viruses. These steps
should always be applied in this order:
1) Remove potential pollutant
sources. In a new housing
context, flashing of windows,
application of water-resistant
barriers and basement drainage
layers to eliminate water leaks are
all removal strategies. Even the
selection of low volatile organic
compound (VOC) finishes qualifies.
2) Isolate pollutants from susceptible
occupants. Airtightness, specific
ally between the house and an
attached garage, is a good example.
Go further by considering a “clean
bedroom” in a home to provide
respite for a family member with
specific health concerns such as
asthma or allergies (for example,
a bedroom with a separate HEPA-
filtered fresh air duct and kept
under positive pressure).
3) Properly ventilate occupied spaces.
4) Provide appropriate filtration.
With respect to those two mechan
ical strategies, ventilation and filtra
tion, the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE) has stated HVAC
systems can reduce the concentration
of airborne contaminants, such as the
COVID-19 virus droplets.
Fortunately, the capacity for con
tinuous mechanical ventilation has
been a Building Code requirement in
Canada since 1990. However, there
is a great opportunity right now to
fine-tune your ventilation offering to
home owners. For example, switch to
energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) to
get better humidity control, and specify
equipment that has both better fan
speed range and filtration effectiveness.
For example, I am very excited
by the new Venmar/vänEE offering
(referred to as VIRTUO technology).
The intelligence built into the fan
speed controls allows the unit, upon
startup, to calculate, adjust and display
the maximum balanced airflow
rate that can be achieved within the
installed duct work. It then allows
the installer to select the low-speed
range desired for the house. 35 years
ago, we developed the flow measuring
station that enabled HVAC contractors
to measure and balance airflows in
heating recovery ventilator (HRV)
systems, and yet balancing and flow
verification continued to be the most
frequent deficiency in installations.
5
The Heightened Interest
in Indoor Air Quality
industryexpert / GORD COOKE
W
e were very pleased to have Dr. Jeffrey Siegel, from the University of
Toronto, speak at our Building Knowledge Spring Training Camp for
Advanced Building Science. Dr. Siegel has been doing great research on
air quality control in buildings for many years, but interest in the topic has been
heightened over the past year.
For example, Dr. Siegel recently appeared in a CBC Marketplace episode
discussing approaches home owners could take to minimize COVID-19 risks in
their own homes. In that episode, and in the session he presented at Camp, his
focus was on filtration effectiveness as one aspect of overall indoor air quality
(IAQ) control. He was very clear, of course, that filtration is just one strategy for
optimizing the quality of air in a home.
VIRTUO technology allows for auto-
balancing and features a flow display.

6
Finally, there is a unit that truly
balances itself and displays the
results right on the control panel.
Healthy indoor air is optimized with
consistent mechanical ventilation,
and this new line of HRV/ERVs by
Venmar/vänEE facilitates better
ventilation.
With respect to filtration, you
will find ASHRAE supports offering
residential air handling system filters
with an efficiency rating of at least
MERV 13. (MERV is an abbreviation for
minimum efficiency reporting value.)
A MERV rating tells you, on a scale of
1 to 16, how effectively a filter traps the
small particles – the higher a MERV
rating, the higher the percentage of
particles the filter traps. The new
VIRTUO ventilators mentioned above
can accept a MERV 13 filter.
Knowledgeable readers will
recognize that filters with higher
MERV ratings typically have higher
resistance to airflow; higher pressure
drop, especially as they get dirtier.
Your HVAC contractor can mitigate
this concern by providing a filter
slot capable of accepting a four- or
five-inch thick filter that has lower
initial resistance and can collect
more particles without clogging up
as quickly. Dr. Siegel noted in his
presentation that continuous operation
of furnace fans at low speed enhances
filtration effectiveness, as does better
gasketed filter cabinets to reduce air
bypass of the filter. These three simple
enhancements offer your home buyers
much better filtration effectiveness.
One final benefit of high-perform
ance homes with respect to IEQ is
the ability to properly manage the
relative humidity (RH) of indoor
spaces. We have long known that
appropriate RH levels are an important
element of healthy, comfortable
environments – but in the context of
viruses, appropriate RH levels can
both strengthen the human body’s
own defences and lower the viability of
viruses such as influenza.
Much of that knowledge can be
visualized in the chart at left (referred
to as the Sterling Chart), first published
in 1985 but still referenced in ASHRAE
handbooks today. This chart forms
the basis for recommendations of
proper humidity control. It may seem
counterintuitive, but living organisms
such as a virus or bacteria have higher
mortality rates, and viruses lose much
of their virulence at RH ranges of 40%
to 60%.
Here then is a good connection to
the capabilities of high-performance
homes and occupant health and
comfort. In our cold Canadian climate,
we have struggled to maintain an RH
above 30% in houses in winter, and
Optimum Zone
Bacteria
Viruses
Fungi
Mites
Respiratory Infections
Allergic Rhinitis & Asthma
Chemical Interactions
Ozone Production
Percent Relative Humidity 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Source: E.M. Sterling, A. Arundel, and T.D. Sterling, Criteria for Human Exposure
to Humidity in Occupied Buildings (ASHRAE Transactions, 1985), Vol. 91, Part 1.
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we often see basements above 60%
throughout the spring and summer.
The key word is control. As much as
we might like to suggest 40%+ all
winter long, we know on very cold days
that would create excessive window
condensation or even moisture issues
in attics and wall cavities. Thus,
triple-glazed windows and tighter
house construction support healthier
humidity levels. For spring and sum
mer, encourage your HVAC contractor
to provide controls that adjust the
dehumidification capacity of the air
conditioner by increasing run times
or lowering discharge temperatures,
and you should be promoting
whole-house dehumidification.
Finally, you may well get questions
about technologies that kill or deacti
vate viruses, such as UV germicidal
irradiation (UVGI) or bi-polar ioniza
tion. ASHRAE publications make it very
clear that both of these technologies
require specialized application engin
eering to be effective and safe and thus
are most appropriate only in specific
health care applications with very clear
design, operational and maintenance
directives to ensure occupant safety.
In my opinion, home buyers
will have a heightened awareness
and interest in optimized indoor
environmental quality for at least the
next three to five years as they imagine
working from home more. Consistent
ventilation, enhanced filtration,
airtightness, warmer windows, water-
managed walls and basements, and
year-round humidity control are all
important aspects of that optimized
environment. Thus, remind them that
the high-performance homes you build
are safer, healthier, more comfortable
and more efficient. BB
Gord Cooke is
president of Building
Knowledge Canada.
7
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8
industrynews / MARC HUMINILOW YCZ
“Our company’s vision is to always
incorporate environmental features
in our projects,” says Royalpark
president Marco De Simone. “When
you’re pioneering, as we are, you
need to be sure about your decisions.
Sometimes, we’ve needed to hold
ourselves back and not include too
many green features in our homes.
The trick is being careful, not reckless,
and always staying focused on the
vision of your program.”
Royalpark was an early adopter
of ENERGY STAR for New Homes
but, over time, found the program
to be “too bureaucratic,” says De
Simone. “We decided that the best
road to achieving energy and cost
efficiency was to script our own path.”
Royalpark decided to participate in
Savings by Design workshops and
program implementation strategies,
which helped the company create
energy-efficient homes.
“Our team worked with leading
individuals in construction and
manufacturing, who educated
us and motivated us to go down
that road,” De Simone explains. In
addition, the company adopted the
Better Than Code energy-efficient
home design and building platform.
Thanks in large part to the adoption
of these programs, Royalpark won
the CRESNET President’s Award
in this year’s Cross Border Builder
Challenge for building over 120
homes with a lowest average HERS
score of 42, well below the threshold
for net zero-ready homes in climate
zone 6 (see chart on page 31).
Among its innovative green
achievements over the years,
Royalpark built eight homes in a small
Ontario community that utilizes
a Panasonic solar energy storage
system to supply shared power when
utility prices are at peak – a first
in Canada. The company’s 8 Haus
condominium – billed as “brighter,
better, smarter” – is the first condo
project in Toronto to utilize a “geo-
exchange” or “geothermal” system
that uses the consistent temperature
below the ground to provide energy
saving, consistent heating and cooling,
and better air quality to every suite,
with the added benefit of no power
blackouts.
Beyond its mission to build better
homes, Royalpark is also committed
Scripting Our Own Path
Progressive Builder Wins
Cross Border Builder Challenge Award
F
or over 30 years, Ontario builder Royalpark Homes has earned a reputation
for high quality, innovative ideas, community partnership and green
building practices. This year, the company won the Cross Border Builder
Challenge for its Pineview Greens single-family home subdivision in Barrie, Ont.
42
2012SB-12REFERENCEHERS60
Royalpark Homes — Winner, President’s Award

to helping create more sustainable
communities through greener
infrastructures. Five years ago, the
company proposed, sponsored and
spearheaded Green Earth Village,
a project in partnership with
the Ontario municipality of East
Gwillimbury, which aims to “reinvent
living” by creating a self-sustainable
community envisioned as a model for
developments of the future, today.
Current and future sustainable
and energy-reducing technologies
are showcased in Green Earth
Village, such as community energy
production, water reduction and
reuse, food production and greener
water/wastewater systems. “We’re
thrilled to be actively involved in this
groundbreaking project,” says De
Simone. “The land is being worked on
now, and we hope to be selling homes
here in another five years.”
Asked if his company’s adoption
of Savings by Design, Better Than
Code and inspired green building
innovations have had a positive impact
on marketing its homes, De Simone
replies, “Sometimes you need to make
a blind investment in a better way
of doing things. I believe that today,
all the leaders in our industry are
moving in this direction. The fruits are
ripening. Programs like these promote
creativity versus conformity.”
According to De Simone, the
pursuit of excellence is a never-ending
process. “Although we know that
we’re doing a fantastic job, we’re never
satisfied, and we’re never complacent,”
he says. BB
Marc Huminilowycz
is a senior writer. He
lives and works in
a low-energy home
built in 2000. As
such, he brings first-hand experience
to his writing on technology and
residential housing and has published
numerous articles on the subject.
9
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As respected home builders in
the Peterborough area for the past
60 years, Cleary Homes is proud of
the reputation they’ve developed as
builders of quality.
All three Clearys – Monique, her
husband, Pat, and his father, Leo
(who started the company) – have
been active in the Peterborough
& the Kawarthas Home Builders
Association since they started in this
business.
But when they decided to expand
into Durham Region – after the
right piece of land became available
in Bowmanville – they decided to
up their game in energy efficiency.
After attending a Savings by Design
workshop in February 2019, they
made an immediate decision to go
for 20% better than Code at the site,
now called Orchard East. That was
the beginning of them creating a
marketing platform using 20% better
than Code.
The Ontario Building Code (OBC)
is already one of the most stringent in
North America, so why go to the extra
trouble and expense to be even more
energy efficient? Monique said it just
made sense. She had several reasons,
and in the end it worked out the
same or better in terms of effort and
cost. “To be honest,” she says, “when
we started looking at the different
energy-saving features, we did look
at costs. We didn’t want to price
ourselves out of the market, because
ultimately the buyer will absorb this.
But once we started looking into it, it
really wasn’t that much more and, in
some cases, it was cheaper.”
Take Excel insulation board, for
example. Standard exterior sheathing
is about $55 to $60 a panel, she says,
and Excel is $30. “We checked it out
very carefully to make sure we were
using the best quality. And it was, so
the savings we made on replacing our
regular sheathing with Excel, we put
into other features that could deliver
high efficiency.”
One feature is the two-stage
furnace with a DC motor, “which costs
a little more. But it was important to
us, and it offers a huge energy saving in
the end. The hot water tank, too, saves
money.”
The company also thinks of resale
for their buyers. When Cleary became
aware of the legislation discussion
requiring an energy rating system for
all new and resale homes, they decided
to incorporate this from the outset
by conducting a blower door test and
providing an energy rating with every
Cleary home. “It shows how efficient
the home is, and since the rating stays
with the house, it’s a nice feature for
our buyers to know they already have
11
Cleary Homes –
Just Better
buildernews / ALEX NEWMAN
C
leary Homes builds a home that’s “just better.” They back that statement
up with better walls, better windows, better basements and better HVAC
systems. The result of this approach was garnering the Cross Border
Builder Challenge Custom Builder Award.
39
THIS HOME IS 24% BETTER THAN CODE
Cleary Homes — Winner, Lowest HERS
Score Award for Low Volume Builder

12
one built-in selling feature for later.”
The Savings by Design program,
which fostered a strong marketing
approach, gave Cleary Homes the
confidence to enter into the Cross
Border Builder Challenge. The
Orchard East subdivision won their
category of lowest custom production
with a score of 39. Cleary says she
wasn’t aware of the challenge until
meeting John Godden at a conference,
where the Clearys approached him
about assisting their efforts to come
up with a better green design for
their homes. “We needed to stay
on a competitive edge,” she recalls.
“Durham Region and Peterborough
markets are so different, and we
needed something that would put us
above all the other builders.”
She remembers Godden being
very excited about their Bowmanville
project because there was no
other Savings by Design–oriented
development in the area. “He helped us
introduce the energy-saving features
that we could offer and put us above
what other builders offered.”
With today’s buyers increasingly
aware of energy, the company wanted
to get out in front. “It boils down
to price, and staying competitive,”
Cleary says. “If you can do that, and
show the bonus features and benefit
of buying a Cleary home, then you’ve
given buyers what they’re looking for.”
The company’s website effectively
communicates the energy efficiency
of their homes by listing exactly what
buyers get as standard features. These
are described down to their technical
details.
They also educate the sales team
to communicate verbally to buyers
who come into the model home.
“Before opening,” Cleary says, “John
came and did a workshop so the
sales team would be up to speed with
everything on offer. It was a little
overwhelming at first because it’s such
a steep learning curve, but once they
understood, they’ve done a terrific job
at promoting.”
The proof is in the pudding, she
adds. “When people walk in, they’re
amazed at the quality we’re offering.
One thing the sales team relays to
us is that people are impressed with
the attention to detail, from the type
of moldings we use, to the quality of
cabinets, to the energy savings.”
Advertising on social media has
been effective as well. “The younger
generation is on Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter, and those things lead
them to our website.”
Although Orchard East is the first
project using Savings by Design for
Cleary Homes, Cleary says it won’t be
the last. “We’ll definitely use it going
forward. We’ve found it to be a great
benefit all around. I’m really proud
to be able to offer this to our buyers.
Because we like to build better.” BB
Alex Newman is a writer,
editor and researcher at
alexnewmanwriter.com.
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14
buildernews / ALEX NEWMAN
That was partly because East
Gwillimbury had stricter building
guidelines because of the region’s
issues with water allocation, says Josh
Greenbaum, manager of construction
and design. As a result, building
there meant even higher water
conservation measures.
“We had to adapt our building
program,” says Vogue Homes’s
principal, Garry Greenbaum (Josh’s
father). “We used certain toilets and
humidifiers, changed copper pipes
over to [cross-linked polyethylene]
PEX/plastic, and installed power
pipes for recirculating water. We
changed exterior cladding from
plywood to insulation board.”
But partly it’s just the company’s
nature to go one better than the
competition. From the beginning,
Garry says, “our focus wasn’t about
building as many houses as possible,
but about building the highest
quality. We met with each purchaser
to make sure the house was exactly to
their needs.”
In order to achieve better than
Code, the two Greenbaums and
construction head Mario Palmieri
attended Savings by Design
workshops held by Enbridge in
conjunction with Clearsphere.
Through the program, which was
created to help builders achieve
greater energy efficiency, Garry says
they “learned which new materials to
use to help us build this project to the
municipality’s specs.”
The project’s list of features is
impressive: spray foam garage ceilings
(they were previously using batts);
Amvic’s SilveRboard as continuous
insulation on the exteriors, which
increases the R-value by 5 and allows
for drying potential of the wall cavity
to the outside because of its high
vapour permeance; Blueskin to seal
the doors, windows and patio doors;
eco-performance faucets and toilets;
all-LED lighting; and CFL bulbs when
not using potlights.
They ran conduits in walls from
basement to roof to allow for wiring
for solar roof panels, and there’s an
energy recovery ventilator (ERV) with
the HVAC system and a heat recovery
ventilator (HRV) to transfer heat from
stale exhaust air to fresh intake air.
This balanced ventilation solution
removes excess moisture odors and
contaminants while conserving energy
and enhancing comfort inside the
home. Tankless hot water units give
on-demand hot water. At the end,
blower door tests were conducted by
a third-party on all the Sharon Village
homes. “All of this is better for the
environment, and benefits everyone,”
Garry says.
It also contributed to Vogue Homes
winning the Cross Border Builder
Challenge Award for the subdivision.
“The Cross Border Builder Challenge
Award is particularly meaningful
to Vogue as we strive to minimize
our footprint on the environment.
Building more efficient homes has
been our focus as we continue to
use more sustainable products and
construction methods, allowing us
to pass significant savings on to our
home owners,” Josh says. “We feel
empowered that we are able to make
a difference in our community and
help our customers continue to lessen
their impact on the environment.
[Savings by Design] has taught us new
initiatives and materials to use during
construction that allowed us to win
this award. We were able to identify
clear and cost-effective strategies for
achieving various sustainability goals.”
Going Vogue Thornhill-based Builder Achieves
More with Savings by Design and Better Than Code
V
ogue Homes has always had a stellar reputation for building high-quality
homes, and for the past 10 years, they’ve been a noted ENERGY STAR
home builder.
But when it came to building a new project, Sharon Village, in East
Gwillimbury, the company upped its game to achieve better than Code.

Higher upfront costs
Palmieri figures the extras added
more than $5,000 to each home, but
“at the end of the day it saves money
and buyers are happier. Buyers today
are much more knowledgeable. They
do their research and have come to
expect energy-saving features in a
house. Partly they want to save money,
but they are also very conscientious
about the environment.”
The other advantage for a builder,
Garry says, is that “you’re ahead of
the game when new, tougher Building
Code restrictions come into being.
Already we’ve been told to prepare for
this same scenario in the Brooklyn
project we’ll be building.”
“If you’d asked me 10 years ago
about all these efficient features,”
Garry says, “I’d have said it’s crazy. But
I’m a convert, I’ve changed my mind
and I find that these things matter.”
While the company initially looked
at increasing its energy efficiency
because of the municipality’s require
ments, Garry says they’re implement
ing them in future projects – one in
Whitby currently under construction,
and another one in Queensville, East
Gwillimbury, with 24 units.
Better Than Code or
ENERGY STAR?
With the company labelled Better Than
Code (using the HERS rating scale),
choosing that standard or ENERGY
STAR depends on the situation,
Garry says. “Both are pretty exacting
standards, but there’s some flexibility
in the HERS rating that allows you
to exchange things.” He also finds it
depends a lot on demographics, and
that expectations differ widely from
area to area.
Almost more important than the
labels – Better Than Code or ENERGY
STAR – is the company’s sterling
reputation, says Josh. “If I had to pick
the best features we offer,” he says,
“it would be that we consistently use
top-quality materials and we give
unbeatable customer service. Each
home owner is treated with respect
and gets a level of customization and
personal service no matter what the
home’s price tag.”
Being a medium-sized company
has its advantages as well, Garry
adds. “We’re out there on site and see
the items installed. We know what a
whole-home humidifier looks like. You
miss that when you’re a big company.”
It’s also a family owned and
operated company, started by Garry’s
father, Morris, in the 1970s after
coming to Canada from Poland after
World War II. “He started building
a few homes in Etobicoke, then
eventually bought up larger farm
parcels,” Garry remembers. One of the
first larger-scale projects was Thornhill
Village Estates, in the Bathurst and
Centre Street area.
Morris’s sons, Lou and Garry,
became principals – one in
development and the other on the
construction side. They continued
buying up different parcels around the
Greater Toronto Area with a focus on
infill projects in Vaughan, Richmond
Hill and North York. Today, the
company has expanded into Whitby
and Newmarket. Josh, Garry’s son,
joined the company in 2018 on the
construction side.
Garry admits there have been more
challenges than usual with COVID-
19. “We can’t have as many trades in
a house as we used to, so things take
longer. But our biggest challenge is
getting materials. It’s become a major
problem and getting worse by the day,
due to shortages in lumber, electric
wire, steel components. Prices on
lumber have gone up 150% to 200%.
We’re doing the best we can with what
we have.”
It’s created challenges to keep
up with their commitment to build
smarter and more efficient homes. But
the Savings by Design program has
helped. “We feel empowered being
able to pass this on to home owners
and have them save money on energy
bills. We intend to focus on this more
– not less – as we proceed and do new
developments,” Josh says.
Alex Newman is a writer,
editor and researcher at
alexnewmanwriter.com.
15
38
Vogue Development Group —
Winner, Lowest HERS Score Award
for Mid Production Builder

16
buildernews / ROB BLACKSTIEN
I
t seems only fitting that the first ever
Cross Border Challenge HERSH2O
Award was presented by Greyter
Systems, considering its technology
has been at the centre of the water
conservation movement.
And it seems equally appropriate
that the honour was bestowed upon
Rosehaven Homes, who has proven
itself a true leader in this area with its
Total Water Solution and overall work,
specifically within East Gwillimbury.
(For readers new to the HERSH2O
scale, please see BBM 33, page 28.
And for more on Rosehaven’s fascin
ating history in East Gwillimbury,
see BBM 28, page 16.)
Given that Rosehaven has always
been an early adopter of energy effi
ciency-related programs, it came as no
surprise that it not only was one of the
initial builders in the HERSH2O pilot,
but it wound up using the program
to label its entire Anchor Woods
subdivision, achieving an index of 82
(i.e., 18 per cent higher water efficien
-
cy which translates into 54,086 litres
of annual water savings per house).
Rosehaven’s history of leading the
way – and earning recognition for its
efforts – is well-documented, but a
quick recap includes:
• 2005: Built the first Energuide
community (Riverstone Golf
Country Club Community in
Brampton);
• 2016: Took home the Cross Border
Challenge President’s Award by
having the lowest average HERS
score (46); and
• 2018: Won another Cross Border
title (Innovation Award) for scoring
a 41 HERS (26 per cent better than
code) in its discovery home.
“We all need to do our part to reduce
our carbon footprint and respecting
the environment is very important
to Rosehaven,” says Joe Laronga,
Architecture and Engineering Manager
of the Oakville, Ontario-based builder.
This is why the company uses the
HERS label to build homes that exceed
the Ontario Building Code energy
efficiency requirements. And it’s the
same reason why participating in the
HERSH2O pilot was the “logical next
step,” he says. After all, Laronga adds,
“water conservation measures go hand
in hand with energy conservation meas-
ures and renewable energy measures.”
Rosehaven Recognized
for Water Conservation
Innovative builder’s adoption of HERSH2O helps reduce water consumption
Rosehaven Homes – Winner, HERSH2O Award for demonstrating
water efficiency and greywater recycling with drain water heat recovery

To that end, Rosehaven’s discovery
home which included the Total Water
Solution, was built specifically to
demonstrate to East Gwillinbury that
the town’s Sustainable Development
Incentive Program (SDIP) was not the
only way to proceed. The rationale
here was that the same goals could be
achieved – or exceeded – in a cheaper,
more efficient manner.
As a refresher, the SDIP was
imple
mented by East Gwillinbury
in January 2015 with the goals of
reducing water demands, outflow
to sanitary sewers and waste
production, while promo
ting more
energy efficient develop
ments.
Developers that participate are
rewarded with a 28 per cent increase
in lot allocation if they complete a
list of specific requirements related
to water conservation, energy
conservation and renewable energy.
Unfortunately, the SDIP was highly
prescriptive, and thereby limited how
builders could proceed.
Laronga explains that the Total
Water Solution was designed to
provide options that would address
some of the issues with the current
SDIP checklist, including:
• SDIP prescribes low flow 4 litres/
flush toilets, but Rosehaven
maintains that if a greywater
rough-in is installed, then the
program should allow for 4.85
litres/flush toilets.
• ERVs should be included as an
SDIP option because they replace
the need for humidifiers, which
can be ineffective.
• As part of its energy conservation
measures, the SDIP should include
structured plumbing or logic
plumbing (as referenced in LEED)
because this can save up to 3,500
litres of water annually.
The Total Water Solution system
combines a combination hybrid
heating system with greywater
recycling and drain water heat
recovery. Laronga explains that it’s
designed to minimize the use of
natural gas. An air source heat pump
air conditioner provides supplemental
heat with electricity for space heating
and reduces carbon emissions.
Lastly, the water consumption and
wastewater outflow to the town’s
sanitation sewer is reduced by 20 to 25
per cent with grey water recycling.
The discovery home that housed
this system scored 26 per cent better
than code, offering the homeowner
approximately $510 in annual savings
to their energy and water costs.
“This is the next step in low energy,
water use reduction and lowering the
greenhouse footprint,” he says.
To spur more of this type of
innovation, Laronga believes
municipalities should offer further
incentives to builders that promote
reductions in energy and water
consumption, perhaps in the form of
development charge credits and/or
reduced municipal fees. BB
Rob Blackstien is
a Toronto-based
freelance writer.
Pen-Ultimate.ca
17
HERSH2O® Water Efficiency
Rating Certificate
Property
Address: 7 Forest Edge Crescent
City: Holland Landing, ON
Builder: Rosehaven
Rating Organization
Company: Better Than Code
Rater: John B Godden
Rater ID: 0001
Rating Information
HERSH2O Index: 69
Rating Date:01/03/2020
Rating Provider: Project FutureProof
HERSH2O Index: 69
This home, compared to the reference home:
31 %
more water efficient
25,154 gallons
annual water savings
131 $
estimated annual water cost savings
This rating is available for
homes built by leading edge
builders who have chosen to
advance beyond current
energy efficiency programs
and have taken the next step
on the path to full sustainability.
BetterThanCode
45
LowCostCodeCompliancewith
theBetterThanCodePlatform
BetterThanCodeUsestheHERSIndex
toMeasureEnergyEfficiency
TheLowertheScoretheBetter
MeasureableandMarketable
OBC 2012 OBC 2017 NEAR ZERO
80 60 40 20
This Platform helps Builders with
Municipal Approvals, Subdivision
Agreements and Building Permits.
Navigating the performance path
can be complicated. A code change
happened in 2017 which is causing
some confusion. A new code will be
coming in 2022. How will you
comply with the new requirements?
Let the BTC Platform – including
the HERS Index – help you secure
Municipal Subdivision Approvals
and Building Permits and enhance
your marketing by selling your
homes’ energy efficiency.
betterthancode.ca
Email info@clearsphere.ca
or call 416-481-7517

18
J
ust over a decade ago, a small
Denver-area builder was in
real trouble. Coming out of the
recession, the company had bottomed
out with just 13 employees and only
50 closings in 2010. To put it bluntly,
New Town Builders was not exactly
flying high in the Mile High City.
Fast forward to the present day
and this once beleaguered builder –
now called Thrive Home Builders –
has completely turned its fortunes
around and become the only low-
cost provider of zero energy-ready
homes in its market.
Thrive already knew it had found a
niche that would lead to success – but
if it needed any more vindication it
was on the right path, it came in the
form of the 2021 Cross Border Builder
Challenge President’s Award, earned
How a struggling
Denver builder
transformed itself to
an award-winning
leader in its niche
That market is particularly
challenging in Denver, says Thrive CEO
Gene Myers, because the city’s goal
is for net zero to be standard by 2024.
Thrive is well positioned to meet those
requirements, thanks in no small part
to Myers’s long-time commitment to
energy efficiency. “It’s all really borne
of just trying to leave a legacy of great
neighbourhoods and great homes
behind us,” he explains.
Why Merely Survive
for having an average HERS score of
26 across its entire housing stock of
approximately 160 homes.
The story of how Thrive went from
hard times to earning such prestige is
a tale filled with valuable lessons and
a real how-to guide for any builder
seeking to transform itself into a
successful player in the ever-evolving
landscape of energy-consciousness
that is today’s housing market.
featurestory / ROB BLACKSTIEN

BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 38 | SUMMER 2021 19
When Greentree was in its infancy
in the early ’90s, “‘growth’ was a bad
word in Denver,” Myers explains.
Many municipalities had even begun a
moratorium on building permits.
This presented an opportunity, he
says. “I wanted my homes to be part of
the solution, not part of the problem.
To me, that meant that we had to build
neighbourhoods that would stand the
test of time.”
27
Movement to Health
Myers began in the industry in
1984, ultimately starting his own
business in 1992 with Greentree
Homes, a semi-custom home builder.
In 2000, when the company had its
first opportunity to tackle a master-
planned community, it launched a
new brand: New Town Builders. A
few years later, the Thrive name was
adopted “to really emphasize our
movement to health,” he says.
When You Can Thrive?
This would be achieved not only
through design, but also by improving
the attributes of those homes. Myers
latched on to a local environmental
program called Build Green Colorado,
remaining a member until it was
overtaken by ENERGY STAR, and then
staying loyal to that program until
ultimately adopting the Department
of Energy’s (DOE) Zero Energy Ready
program.
Today, this program – combined
with EPA Indoor airPLUS and LEED – is
the platform which Thrive follows to
achieve such amazing results. It’s at the
heart of the company’s strategy, which
can be boiled down to “efficient, healthy
and local.” Thrive strives to be the most
energy-efficient builder while creating
the healthiest homes, and then uses this
advantage over its large competitors.

20
Thrive’s strategy was inspired
by a book by Jack Stack with Bo
Burlingham: The Great Game
of Business: The Only Sensible
Way to Run a Company. The book
suggests there are only two ways to
be successful: (1) be the low-cost
producer or (2) sell something no
one else offers.
Why Not Do Both?
Myers took this to heart and
wondered why Thrive can’t do both.
The company decided to marry those
two strategies and become the low-
cost provider of DOE Zero Energy
Ready, EPA Indoor airPLUS (which
includes active radon mitigation) and
LEED certified homes in the Denver
area. “There is no other builder that
does that in our market,” he says.
Thrive brings that to all its homes,
even its least expensive offerings.
After all, Myers suggests, “who needs
a low-energy build more than a low-
income family in one of our affordable
townhomes?” A home like that can
offer savings of $1,000 to $2,000 per
year in energy costs. “That’s real
money to a low-income buyer,” he says.
And what is Myers’s advice for
builders looking to follow the Thrive
model of transformation? He says
buy-in must come from the top down
– and then flow outside the company.
“Start with your own people, promote
what you’re trying to do with the
brand internally, get people on
board,” he advises. From there, you
can move to your subs and suppliers,
because you can’t build these homes
without them. Finally, now that it’s
firmly entrenched throughout your
extended organization, you’re ready
to talk to your customers about your
value proposition. (For more advice
from Thrive, see “Spring Training
Camp Inspiration” from the summer
2019 issue, page 5.)
A Sensible Program
Following the DOE program made
sense for Thrive on so many levels.
Water conservation is a big issue
in many parts of the U.S., including
Colorado (see “Shades of Grey” in
the spring 2020 issue, page 16), so
employing the DOE program really
helps as it incorporates indoor water
conservation features from the EPA
WaterSense program, Myers explains.
As a result, all Thrive homes include
those features, and the company
continues to investigate further ways
to conserve water. Myers says that the
next big thing for the company is an
examination of its embodied carbon
footprint (for more about embodied
carbon, see “No Country for Old Ways”
in the winter 2020 issue, page 16).
The company is currently billing
its top-of-the-line offerings as “fossil
fuel free,” Myers says. “We think it’s
misleading to call them carbon neutral
because they’re not, given that they
haven’t really taken into account
embodied carbon,” he adds.
With this in mind, Thrive has a new
project in Fort Collins, Colorado, that’s
being designed by a company that uses
building information modelling (BIM),
a process that provides a very detailed
look at every piece that goes into the
house. “So if we know exactly what
goes in, we then can tackle the next
task, which is ‘what’s the embodied
carbon of all the pieces and parts?’”
Calculating Carbon
Myers says Thrive hopes this project
will provide the company with all
the information it needs to calculate
the carbon footprint. They already
have a loose affiliation with Colorado
State University, so he’s hopeful
to find someone at the school to
“vet our carbon calculations.”
Gene Myers, CEO, Thrive Home Builders
What is Myers’s advice for builders looking
to follow the Thrive model of transformation?
He says buy-in must come from the top down
– and then flow outside the company.

With that in hand, the company
will then determine if it can buy
a carbon offset and start building
and marketing what Myers believes
will be the first truly carbon-neutral
production houses in the U.S. by 2022.
Assuming Thrive can pull this
off, it wouldn’t be a shock to see
more hardware coming its way, but
the President’s Award did come as a
surprise to Myers. What astonished
him the most wasn’t the fact the
company won, but the margin of
victory. He said there was another
company very close to Thrive’s
average HERS score of 26, but after
that, there was a substantial drop-off
to the 40s. The HERS index score is
the easiest way to understand how
these homes are better. LEED for
Homes uses it as the core of its point
system for different levels. “I had no
idea there weren’t a lot more builders
doing what we’re doing,” he says.
Thrive has been building homes
under the Zero Energy Ready program
since 2013. Myers explains that
the program requires builders to
incorporate features that are extremely
difficult to accomplish in a retrofit,
including airtightness, a high-
efficiency thermal envelope (including
windows and doors) and advanced
mechanical systems. It would not be
difficult to add solar to such a home
and achieve close to net zero energy,
he says.
Looking forward, Myers says that
Thrive’s plan is to try to take the
concepts of “electrification” (that is,
fossil fuel free) and embodied carbon
across all its homes over the next
several years.
Continuous Improvement
As part of its mantra of continuous
improvement, the company is always
exploring better ways to build. It’s
21
currently investigating the possibility
of panelization, even though Myers
says it hasn’t been done very well in
his market. Myers says Thrive isn’t
interested in using modular, given
the design constraints and, in some
cases, the level of quality that leaves
something wanting.
What he thinks might make the
difference is a more complete solution
than merely a framing panel – one that
would also include insulation, wiring
and perhaps even windows and/or
doors. “We don’t think the economics
have worked for us yet on just a raw
panel,” Myers says, adding that the
idea of upsetting his entire supply
chain based on minimal savings isn’t
appealing.
However, if there’s a solution
that can replace more subs than just
framing, it could be a major time saver
by speeding things up and eliminating
the downtime between trades. That
would be a game changer since one
of the longest durations of tasks on
Thrive’s building schedule is when
nothing is happening.
But if Thrive can find a way to pull
enough time and cost out of the way
it builds homes, all bets will be off. “I
would like to be able to build a high-
performance home next door [to a
Code builder’s house] and not have to
charge any more than they do. That’s
my holy grail,” Myers says. BB
Rob Blackstien is a
Toronto-based freelance
writer. Pen-Ultimate.ca
Thrive’s Design and Technology Studio

22
industrynews / PAUL DE BERARDIS
These are some of the questions
that people at the Sustainable Housing
Foundation (SHF), a Greater Toronto
Area-based industry think-tank, have
been discussing since the conversation
of net zero first arose in Ontario.
Among SHF members exploring
alternatives is Christian Rinomato,
environmental champion for Vaughan-
based home builder Country Homes.
Joining forces with John Godden,
publisher of this magazine and prin
cipal of ClearSphere energy advisors,
Rinomato is determined to introduce
new concepts to help Ontario builders
hit the green performance expectations
of discerning and environmentally
conscious millennials like him (and
me!). As these methods become more
commonly adopted, costs could
conceivably drop and Ontario (and
the earth) will benefit.
Rinomato and SHF recently
explored the concept of “embodied
carbon”: the carbon footprint of a
material. It considers how many
greenhouse gases (GHGs) are released
from cradle to grave, including
the extraction of materials from
the ground, transport, refining,
processing, assembly, in-use (of the
product) and finally its end-of-life.
Embodied carbon is gaining increasing
attention from both industry and
government as it is recognized
that embodied carbon makes up
approximately the same emissions as
operational carbon from a home. This
has led to questions such as:
• How much carbon, start to finish,
was produced to manufacture,
transport and pour the concrete
for a home’s foundation?
• How much carbon did it cost
the planet to insulate the
walls and attic on a home?
• How much carbon was generated
to make and install the exterior
brick cladding of a home?
These pressing questions indicate
to us that building codes around
the world must start considering
embodied carbon. Can Ontario be a
leader on this issue?
SHF decided to experiment by
tracking a Country Homes pilot project
underway in Milton. There is no better
comparison than this: two halves of
a “super-semi,” which will have the
same outdoor exposure conditions.
The two semi-detached homes will use
different approaches that both intend
to minimize environmental impacts on
the planet.
One half of the semi-detached home
is being built according to the net zero
standards endorsed by the Canadian
Home Builders’ Association. According
to chba.ca, this means a net zero
home is “to be designed, modelled and
constructed to produce as much energy
(from on-site renewable energy sources)
as it consumes on an annual basis.”
The other half of the super-semi is
focused on a holistic approach of creating
a low-carbon home that also considers
materials’ embodied carbon content to
limit the home’s environmental impact.
The performance of both homes will
be measured and compared as families
occupy each semi for one year, with
statistics extrapolated and interpreted
for long-term analysis. Plus, the two
semis will be compared according to
construction, cost, complexity and
materials.
Sure, a home can be operating at net
zero energy – however, the impact of
embodied carbon of the home’s material
components isn’t being considered
at all. This leads to the question: at
what cost to the homebuyer and to the
environment do we strive to achieve
this principle of net zero energy? What
is the carbon footprint of the materials
and components that must go into
creating a net zero home? Is there a more
balanced approach to reducing GHG
emissions from a new home other than
reaching net zero energy, especially as
we consider embodied carbon?
The most carbon-intensive material
used on new homes is typically found on
the building envelope: brick. A carbon
analysis of construction materials that
are used on a home demonstrates that
the brick cladding alone is responsible
for roughly 12 tonnes of carbon,
which equates to about five years of
operational carbon generated on an
Ontario Building Code-built home.
“When we’re choosing this path of
sustainability, it starts with aware
ness,”
Rinomato says. “Numbers don’t lie. By
using alternatives, I’m a big believer
that architects, energy advisors and
Embodied Carbon Challenge Raises
Questions for Future of Home Building
W
hen a net zero home begins to operate, how much carbon was required to
build it before the lights (powered by solar panels) are first switched on?
After all, with many of the components that go into building a new
home being highly carbon intensive to produce, can new materials and building
methods make a bigger environmental difference to the planet?

manufacturers can see how their
products are performing
and what alternatives are out there.”
For example, a brick house
still boasts wide appeal among
homebuyers. But environmentally
conscious homebuyers might be
interested to learn that other cladding
materials emit less greenhouse gas
in their production than brick. These
alternatives include lookalikes such as
exterior insulation and finish systems
(EIFS), or other building cladding
materials such as siding options (vinyl,
wood or fiber cement) that offer lower
levels of embodied carbon.
Looking at other high-embodied
carbon materials, a typical home’s
concrete foundation walls lead to
approximately eight tonnes of carbon,
but alternatives with lower carbon
footprints are available. Some options
to consider include using less concrete
(such as an eight-inch foundation wall
versus ten-inch), reducing the amount
of cement in concrete by utilizing
supplementary cementing materials
(SCMs) or employing certain types of
eco-conscious insulated concrete forms.
“We can have lower embodied
carbon by using an eight-inch
concrete foundation rather than a
ten-inch foundation used in most net
zero houses. This results in 20% less
concrete, which is a high source of
embodied carbon in a house. If this
method is applied to a subdivision
of 200 houses, you can imagine the
impact it would have. It’s huge. I highly
encourage builders to find alternative
solutions.” Rinomato says.
Regarding types of insulation,
Rinomato says Country Homes is
investigating the use of hemp insula
tion in their future developments. “It
can be cheaper or at par with fiberglass
insulation. At the end of the day, we
have to look at how to make it industry
accepted. It’s one of the smaller,
more doable options that can create
a lot of positive change.” In addition
to hemp insulation, there are also
other embodied carbon-conscious
insulation alternatives, including
cellulose or mineral wool as opposed
to fiberglass insulation.
With the advancement of building
codes and the many voluntary leader
ship programs which exist in the
marketplace, Rinomato says “we’ve all
mastered operational carbon. It’s got a
really good foundation. But we know we
have to focus on embodied carbon. All of
us who are fighting the good fight realize
we don’t have a lot of time. It’s going to
take a few years for the manufacturers,
builders and government to get on
board to create change. It shouldn’t be
something that buyers are spending
30% to 40% more on.”
“I think if COVID-19 taught us
anything,” says Godden, the founder
of SHF, “it’s that it’s important at this
point in history to try to rethink things.
That’s what the Sustainable Housing
Foundation is all about, and what we
had in mind when we founded this
think-tank more than 15 years ago.”
“We know that there are no panaceas
for climate change and sustainability.
We need to balance knowledge with
experience, or even common sense.
It’s important to make choices based
on understanding how all the parts
come together to form the whole and
the impact of those choices over time,”
Godden adds.
At RESCON, we’re interested in
what can be gleaned from the design,
construction and monitoring of this
super-semi pilot project. We want to
see where the energy usage measure
ment of the two homes is at after one
year and what the embodied carbon
calculation shows for each home.
The concept of embodied carbon
23
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOR NEAR ZERO SUPER-SEMI 26 APRIL 2021
ANNUAL
NATURAL GAS
ANNUAL
EMISSIONS
ANNUAL
REDUCTION IN CO2
HOUSE DESCRIPTION MCF HEAT DHW METRIC TON C02
SB-12 PKG A1 89.5 4.9 0
ZERO READY HERS 45 ZONE 6 64.7 3.5 1.4
ZERO READY WITH ASHP 55.78 3.1 0.4
*AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP (ASHP) WITH A MINIMUM HSPF OF 9 RUNNING 35% OF HEATING SEASON
“We’ve all mastered
operational carbon.
It’s got a really good
foundation. But we
know we have to focus
on embodied carbon.”

24
is truly fascinating. We believe that
government regulators and Code
development bodies should not have
such a narrow focus on operational
carbon and the notion of achieving
net zero energy. After all, many of the
components that go into achieving net
zero energy homes are consumables,
which will likely be replaced many
times over throughout the useful
service life of a home. In contrast,
embodied carbon emissions are locked
in place as soon as a home is built and
there is no chance for improvement
like many operational carbon
considerations.
One often-overlooked component
of a net zero energy home is what is
required to enable a home to generate
as much energy as it consumes: solar
panels. It is easy to assume that solar
panels generate renewable energy and
must therefore be environmentally
friendly, right? In reality, life cycle
assessments of solar panel systems
greatly vary and are based on specific
parameters for factors such as useful
service life, array size and generation
potential, but using average values
shows that a solar array for a typical
home can possess nearly 20 tonnes of
embodied carbon. Let that number
sink in for a minute: I would have never
guessed a solar panel array could be
responsible for the same amount of
embodied carbon as the combined total
of the top two emitters in a typical home
(concrete and brick).
Maybe pursuing net zero energy
homes is not the only path forward for
addressing climate change. Perhaps
a better understanding of embodied
carbon can lead to more people helping
the environment quicker rather than
aiming for solutions that are more
complex and costly to the homebuying
masses.
Will the super-semi experiment
be worth it in the end? Will it save the
claimed amount of energy that it was
supposed to according to its modelling
and analysis? Keep reading this
magazine – there will be an awful lot to
discuss in the next year. BB
Paul De Berardis
is the director of
building science and
innovation for the
Residential Construction
Council of Ontario (RESCON). Email
him at deberardis@rescon.com.
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This consideration was important
for Ottawa builder Campanale Homes
when they designed their new web
site, which earned the company the
2021 Enbridge Innovation Award in
the annual RESNET Cross Border
Builder Challenge (an annual
Canada/US event).
An early adopter of the Home
Energy Rating System (HERS), Cam
panale Homes has a 40-year history
of setting the bar high in residential
building, bringing together a shared
family vision of award-winning
craftsmanship, exceptional quality,
energy efficiency and affordability
to the Ottawa region.
“Because we’re a family-owned
company, we understand what
our buyers are looking for, then
build those dreams using the most
modern energy-saving products and
building methods available,” says Tim
Campanale, contracts manager for
Campanale Homes.
The company’s award for its website
illustrates an approach to explaining
energy-saving features that is unique
in the residential building industry. By
viewing short, illustrated “explainer”
videos for several key energy-efficient
features (all standard offerings in
every Campanale home), the website
user quickly learns the “how” and
the “why” of each feature, in an
entertaining way. This is the third
Cross Border Builder Challenge award
for the builder. Previously, Campanale
Homes won the Net Zero Award in
2019. It also won the Lowest HERS
Score for mid-production builder in
2020 with a HERS score of 38, which is
equivalent to 40% better performance
than the Ontario Building Code (OBC).
The Campanale Homes standard
features covered in the videos include:
efficient heating, ventilation, and
air conditioning (HVAC) system;
energy recovery ventilation (ERV);
energy-efficient windows; solar
panel rough-in; foundation wall
improvement; Enercare Smarter Home
system; and oriented strand board
(OSB) Comfort Exterior.
“It took us six months to make the
website videos,” says Campanale. “Our
goal was a user-centred focus, and a
‘see what we’re doing for you’ approach
to creating something our clients can
understand.” In the process, videos
were fine-tuned and tested around
27
Leading Canadian HERS Builder
Wins Award for Innovative Website
innovationnews / MARC HUMINILOW YCZ
I
t’s one thing to tell clients about all the wonderful energy-saving features you
build into your homes. It’s quite another to make sure they understand why
those features are included, how they work, and what benefits they offer.
Campanale Homes – Winner, Enbridge Innovation Award for website content offerings

28
the office to ensure that viewers
received everything they are looking
for. Beyond the videos, the Campanale
Homes site supervisors also guide
homeowners through how everything
works, he adds.
Before adopting HERS, Campanale
Homes began their quest for sustain
ability with ENERGY STAR for New
Homes, but they found the program
too restrictive and complicated. “We
were always trying to do things better,
combatting greenhouse gas concerns
in our own way by fixing what we did,
and building the way we wanted to,”
Campanale explains.
“With valuable advice from
En
bridge Gas’ Savings by Design
workshops and energy consulting
by Clearsphere, we found the right
formula to analyze our situation and
make houses better, more sustainable
and more cost-effective,” says
Campanale.
One example is the selection of
building products that are healthy
for the environment, such as BPR5
recycled fibreboard sheathing for
structural and insulation purposes –
a low-carbon product that is also
low in fluorocarbons.
Campanale gives other examples of
the company doing things sustainably,
their own way. For example, they use
cellulose insulation in their attics,
which is more effective than the
alternative and is made from recycled
wood fibre, which is a carbon sink.
To further address embodied carbon
(greenhouse gas emissions associated
with materials and construction),
the company sources lumber –
even hardwood – locally whenever
possible. “Most people don’t know that
Canadian timber is sent to China for
lumber manufacturing,” he notes.
“Sustainability has always been
important to us. Our goal is to build
homes that make people happy –
now and for generations to come,”
says Campanale. Now also offering
air-source heat pumps as standard
equipment, the company’s goal is to
help customers see their homes as a
“living thing.” “Granite countertops
are nice, but comfort is everything.
With their homes so airtight, we want
to make sure that our customers keep
their ERVs on.”
Campanale says that the commit
ment to building low-carbon homes
should go far beyond a builder’s
offices and construction sites. As a
member of the Greater Ottawa Home
Builders’ Association, Campanale
Homes continually strives to
encourage other builders and
municipalities to go Better Than Code
(a program initiated by long-time
energy consultant John Godden).
“In order to combat high carbon
use, we need to see the big picture
versus the small picture,” Campanale
says. “That’s why we call on other
high-performance builders to make
sure they’re doing things in the best
way to ensure the lowest carbon.
Instead of building for today, we need
to build for tomorrow.” BB
Marc Huminilowycz
is a senior writer. He
lives and works in
a low-energy home
built in 2000. As
such, he brings first-hand experience
to his writing on technology and
residential housing and has published
numerous articles on the subject.
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30
buildernews / BETTER BUILDER STAFF
“Homebuilding technologies and
standards are constantly changing
and improving, and we want to
ensure we stay ahead of the trends to
offer our homebuyers features and
innovations that will bring positive
impact to their daily living,” says Eric
Reisman, vice-president of low-rise
operations at Empire Communities.
A review of the homebuilder’s
accolades is in order. In 2021, after
building and labelling 918 Better Than
Code houses in 2020 using HERS,
Empire continued to produce the
lowest HERS score for a production
builder at 38. Having won multiple
Cross Border Builder Challenge
awards, Empire is clearly a believer in
the initiative.
“Sustainable construction and
energy efficiency have long been part
of our building culture,” says Reisman.
“We are always looking to lead sustain
able building practices in our industry,
and competitions like the Cross Border
Builder Challenge allow us to work
with other forward-thinkers and
challenge ourselves with each home we
build to reduce our carbon footprint.”
At the 2018 Cross Border Builder
Challenge awards, Empire was
recognized as the winner of the
Enbridge Innovation Award and the
Net Zero Award with a HERS score
of 19 for their hybrid house at the
Empire Riverland community in
Breslau, Ontario. The hybrid home
was constructed with the latest
sustainability innovations, newest
insulation materials and experiments
in energy efficiency, including solar
PV with battery storage. This home
produces two metric tonnes less
CO2 than its Code counterpart. The
experience and learnings Empire’s
team took from the construction and
testing of the home were paramount
in their future success as an industry
leader in homebuilding innovation
and energy-efficient practices.
Empire Communities
A History of Continuous Improvement
W
ith five Cross Border Builder Challenge awards to their name in the
last three years, Empire Communities is truly manifesting their goal of
continuous research and development to push boundaries and build
better homes for the next generation.
38
Empire Communities — Winner, Lowest HERS Score Award for Production Builder

The 2019 Cross Border Builder Challenge
awards saw Empire recognized with the
President’s Award for having the lowest
average HERS score (44) across 284 homes. It
also received an award for the lowest HERS
score for a Canadian production builder
with a score of 38.
With homebuilding traditionally lagging
behind other industries when it comes to
advancement of innovation and research,
Empire proudly embraces new learnings
and has devoted a portion of its resources
to develop new skills, test new products
and techniques, and learn for the future.
Having turned 28 this year and after
years of slowly growing their footprint,
the homebuilder now proudly operates
in two countries and six regions with
90 communities and more than 28,000
homes to their name. As a family-owned
and operated company, they are currently
building high-rise and single-family homes
in Toronto, Ontario; Houston, Austin and
San Antonio, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; and
Charlotte, North Carolina. BB
31
90.2 COMPLIANCE
ERI SCORES
BY CLIMATE ZONE
CLIMATE ERI SCORE
ZONE 1 43
ZONE 2 45
ZONE 3 47
ZONE 4 47
ZONE 5 47
ZONE 6 46
ZONE 7 46
ZONE 8 45
IN ONTARIO, LOW CARBON
HOMES ARE ERI/HERS 46

32
buildernews The 2021 Cross Border
Builder Challenge
Canadian Builders Up for the Challenge
Once again, Canadian builders represented the nation brilliantly at this year’s 8th Annual
RESNET/CRESNET Cross Border Builder Challenge, a competition celebrating excellence in
energy-efficient home building while promoting the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index.
MANY THANKS TO THE SPONSORS OF THIS YEAR’S CHALLENGE
Mario Palmieri, Construction Head (left),
and Garry Greenbaum, Principal, Vogue
Homes — Lowest HERS Score, Mid
Production Builder
Tim Campanale, Contracts and
Estimating, Campanale Homes —
Enbridge Innovation Award
Monique Cleary, Construction
Manager, Cleary Homes — Lowest
HERS Score, Low Volume Builder
Doug Skeffington, Director of Land Development (left),
and Marco De Simone, President, Royalpark Homes —
President’s Award
Joe Laronga, Architecture and Engineering Manager
(left), and Nick Sanci, Contracts Manager, Rosehaven
Homes — HERSH2O Award
Stephen Doty, Manager,
Quality Assurance, Empire
Communities — Lowest HERS
Score, Production Builder

O
ntario’s building industry lost one of its shining stars
last April with the passing of Vince Naccarato of
Rodeo Fine Homes, a company which he established
with his brother-in-law, Frank Mauro, in 1987.
Specializing in luxury custom homes, and always striving
to “build in better ways,” Vince Naccarato guided his company
through an opportunity to build its best in 2007, with an
exciting 34-home residential project in the town of Newmarket
called Eco-Logic – Canada’s first LEED Platinum subdivision.
True to LEED standards, each home needed to achieve
stringent water use, waste reduction and energy-saving goals.
“Despite new green building practices and challenges
that we needed to become comfortable with, the project was
something we’re immensely proud of – thanks to Vince’s
leadership and the expertise of John Godden, a member of
the national technical committee that developed the LEED
Canada for Homes program,” says Mauro.
According to Domenic Conforti, Rodeo’s engineer and
a close friend of Vince’s, the company received many calls
from other builders during and after the project, asking
what they could do to green their homes. “Since building our
LEED community, we continue to construct all of our homes
according to Better Than Code energy-efficient home design
and building,” he says.
“We really miss Vince in the office. It’s a difficult void to
fill,” laments Mauro. “He was hard-working; a special guy who
never, ever got upset. Vince used to ask the question, ‘Would I
do that to a house if it was my own home?’ He always strived to
do the best he could, building a product that was the highest
quality, environmentally sound and responsible – homes that
both he and his clients would be proud of. All of us at Rodeo
are committed to carrying on his vision.” BB
The CRESNET Cross Border Builder Challenge will honour Vince’s memory each year
with an Innovation Award given to both Canadian and American builders.
33
Vince Naccarato Tribute
LEED Legacy:
A Tribute to Visionary Builder Vince Naccarato
Frank Mauro (left) and Vince Naccarato, Rodeo Fine Homes

34
fromthegroundup / DOUG TARRY
Evolving Within a Dinosaur Industry
Frankly, in many ways, we are a
dinosaur industry. No, I don’t mean
certain Neanderthal behaviour on
some job sites (more on that a bit later).
I am referring to our lack of adapta
tion during an era of unprecedented
technical advancement throughout
society overall. Our industry lags
far behind. We still generally build
houses out of sticks and pins right in
the mud, the rain and the snow, while
we tend to complain about death by
a thousand papercuts as change is
being forced upon us. If we’re paying
attention beyond the next home on
the schedule, there is a lot we need to
be preparing for. I thought it would
be worthwhile to take a look at what
some advanced builders are think
ing about in order to prepare for the
coming tidal wave of change.
Net zero housing
Within less than a decade, this will be
the dominant housing form in new
home construction, from singles and
semis to towns, multi-unit residential
buildings (MURBS) and even mid-rise
construction. More and more builders
are talking about their first builds, and
many are now moving to net zero as
either an option or as their standard
specification. It’s not easy and it will
take time to get all builders and their
trades to create the capacity to build
to this level, but industry leaders are
showing the way.
The carbon question
Leading-edge builders are now
beginning to wrestle with this issue,
which is far more complex than
building to net zero. In reality, if we
are not careful with our product and
material selections, and if we don’t
take into account the embodied
carbon of the materials we choose for
our specifications, it’s very possible
to construct a net zero home that has
a greater long-term carbon footprint
than a Code-built home.
That’s a key reason why it is
important to work with local
governments concerned with climate
action to urge caution on forcing our
industry to work beyond our capacity.
Otherwise, we could inadvertently
S
imply the best! That’s the theme of this edition of Better Builder
Magazine. While there are many things that we rightfully deserve to be
proud of, our industry has a long way to go at a time when our world is
rapidly changing around us.
It’s very possible
to construct a net
zero home that has
a greater long-term
carbon footprint than
a Code-built home.
Women In Construction: Volunteering in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

make things worse. Combinations
of wood-frame construction, solar
generation, geothermal climate
control and limited battery storage
will help larger occupant-massed
buildings contribute to a nature-
positive economy. This concept is
rapidly advancing.
Indoor air quality (IAQ)
Given the unprecedented changes
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,
the market is now being flooded
with a large number of IAQ control
devices designed with varying
degrees of performance at actually
improving indoor air quality. It
is easy to get confused and, quite
frankly, discouraged. With people
now spending more time than ever
in their homes, this is not an issue
that is going away any time soon.
Properly controlled ventilation,
dealing with soil gas and limiting the
potential for water ingression into
the walls (where it will cause mould)
are all great strategies to ensure our
customers have the best possible
IAQ. Now, we will need to turn our
attention to what’s on our walls, floors
and ceilings and how our choices are
affecting our customers.
The great news here is the recent
announcement from the Energy and
Environmental Building Alliance
(EEBA) about their partnership
with Allergy Standards Limited
and Construction Instruction to
launch a new training program
called “Healthier Homes Awareness
for Building Professionals.” This
program is designed to bridge “the
gaps in medical and building science
knowledge around the growing issue
of health in the home. The course will
help direct practitioners to the issue
of poor indoor air quality and deliver
practical solutions to improve the
lives of people impacted by asthma,
allergies, and COVID-19.”
Climate-resilient
construction
While the obvious decisions – like
not building on a flood plain and
avoiding building in areas prone to
wildfires – are easy, the reality is a bit
more challenging. We need to use less
water and less energy, and we need
to consider what happens when – not
if – the grid fails. Can our customers
survive in a home under such
conditions for a week? Will the home
still run? Planning for more frequent
and much more severe weather
events needs to be considered for all
housing types. Is the roof designed and
constructed to stay on if the dwelling is
hit with an EF2 tornado? It’s no longer
about holding the roof up, but can we
hold it down?
What about more frequent rain
events? It’s not just the water coming
down that we need to get away from
the home. We now have to consider
water that comes in sideways and,
even more challenging, upwards that
can get into our roof venting, causing
unplanned-for damage. Yet there are
builders who are working on these
very details, and some great work is
being done by Western University with
the Institute for Catastrophic Loss
Reduction (ICLR) and the pilot project
my team is involved with.
Occupant comfort
And let’s not forget that we have actual
people living in our buildings. I am a
big fan of Robert Bean and his theory
that if we design for the occupant to be
35
The market is being flooded with a large
number of IAQ control devices designed with
varying degrees of performance… It is easy
to get confused and, frankly, discouraged.
It concerns me that government programs are
still slow to recognize simple changes, such
as requiring the use of low solar heat gain
glazing in our windows at a time when we are
trying to reduce peak loads on our electricity
grid and reduce our overall carbon footprint.

36
comfortable, we will have resolved a
lot of other performance and energy-
related matters with our homes and
units. There is even a standard for
defining occupant comfort called
ASHRAE 55, and there are easy-to-
use industry calculators that help to
assess if the home you’ve designed
will be comfortable.
Given the unprecedented cost for
housing today, this is something that
our consumers expect. Yet it concerns
me that government programs are
still slow to recognize simple changes,
such as requiring the use of low solar
heat gain glazing in our windows
at a time when we are trying to
reduce peak loads on our electricity
grid and reduce our overall carbon
footprint. That is only one example
of the changes that are coming as we
continue to advance the best homes
possible as an industry.
Rejecting boys’ club
thinking in a shrinking
labour market
Earlier this year, there was an
incident where some tradespeople
invited a young female stripper to a
large builder’s job site that garnered
widespread media attention. As
accurately stated, this incident was
offensive to so many on a number
of levels, not the least of which to
all the hard-working, dedicated
women and men who work on
our job sites every day, trying to
elevate the professionalism of our
noble industry, stay COVID-safe
and be respectful of the fact that
we continue to have jobs at all.
It is regrettable that the poor
decision of these few tradespeople
has led to many people’s lives being
damaged and our industry again being
pushed a step back in the mind of the
public at the very time when we need
to be greatly increasing our outreach
to all people, especially women, to join
our wonderful industry.
While I am sure there were a
number of firings, that perhaps doesn’t
address the issue in a manner that is
overly beneficial. People lost their jobs
and women were left feeling degraded,
but did we get any better? Perhaps an
alternate outcome could have included
(1) sensitivity training and an extended
probation for those involved, with
job site mentoring provided to them,
and (2) mandatory participation
in a 360-degree peer review by all,
including male and female apprentices
with whom they may interact, followed
up with an evaluation of the results
and support where needed. That is the
world we need to create, and we will be
better for it.
However, I fear we are becoming
polarized in our views and it is
becoming “either you’re with me or
you’re my enemy and to hell with
you if you don’t agree with me.” I
fear that our unwillingness to accept
other people’s views and consider
differences of opinion takes away from
our greater need to work together to
create a better and more just society
overall. We need to take the time to lift
up our heads and look around. I guess
what I’m asking is: can’t we please
find a little balance, maybe let go of
some of the small things that bother
us, work together to get after the larger
inequities, and focus on solving the
tidal wave of disruptive change facing
our industry?
One of those changes is the labour
shortage we are now facing as older
tradespeople retire. We need to look
at providing opportunity for a wider-
ranging workforce – from targeted
immigration policy and retraining as
second careers, to women and men
being encouraged at the high school
level to enter the trades. We need to
get after these opportunities like our
livelihoods depend on it, and that
means we have to get past Neanderthal
thinking and embrace a more inclusive
job site. In my mind, that truly would
make our industry, and society, simply
the best. BB
Doug Tarry Jr is director
of marketing at Doug
Tarry Homes in St.
Thomas, Ontario.
I fear that our unwillingness to accept
other people’s views and consider
differences of opinion takes away from our
greater need to work together to create
a better and more just society overall.

Trailblazer
Matt Risinger
Builder and building
science expert
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3773

Better Builder Magazine, Issue 38 / Summer 2021

Better Builder Magazine, Issue 38 / Summer 2021

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Better Builder Magazine, Issue 38 / Summer 2021