Wroxeter home builder wins provincial award

Howick Homes Ltd. was awarded the 2004 EnerQuality Excellence Award for Technical Excellence.

The award is sponsored by Natural Resources Canada Office of Energy Efficiency and was presented at the Ontario Building and Renovation Forum 2005 in Markham.

"This award recognizes the technical expertise required to build high quality energy efficient housing," said Peter Love, president of EnerQuality Corporation, the organization responsible for administering the EnerGuide for New Homes and R-2000 programs in Ontario. "The home was chosen for Howick Homes Ltd.'s commitment to adapting innovative R-2000 technology to building cost effective homes."

The home used a newly developed natural gas Trinity condensing boiler to heat both the space and hot water. The boiler has a 94 percent efficiency rating, used with an indirect water tank to heat hot water. As well, the home used full under-slab insulation to create a warm livable space in the basement.

A key feature of this home, and of all R-2000 homes, is the use of a heat recovery ventilator (HRV). The HRV functions as the "lungs" of the house. The HRV uses separate blowers to exhaust stale air from the house and bring fresh air into the home. The cool incoming air is warmed by the outgoing warm air in a 'heat exchange core' that keeps both streams of air separate. This ensures that a steady supply of fresh air continuously enters the house, helping to make R-2000 homes healthier than other homes.

"We were impressed with the home's tightness," said Love. "When the structure was tested, it had an excellent air exchange rate of 0.82. To meet the R-2000 standard a house must test at 1.5 air exchanges in an hour or less. Conventionally built houses usually test around 3.5 exchanges per hour. This is a very good indication of the technical excellence of the structure and a key reason why Howick Homes is a very deserving winner of this award.

"Like all R-2000 homes, this Howick Homes Ltd. home is well built and goes beyond the requirements of the building code," continues Love. "R-2000 homes are more energy efficient, offer better indoor air quality, and are constructed with more environmentally responsible products than ordinary homes. As a result, the homes are a great value as they provide healthy housing and are inexpensive to heat."

Only licensed R-2000 builders trained by the government of Canada can build R-2000 homes. Howick Homes Ltd. is one of only 54 licensed R-2000 builders in the province of Ontario.