The Ontario Construction Report – September 2009 – PAGE OCR 5
StoneCroft Homes in New Hamburg second builder to meet new specifications
GreenHouse
™
projects save energy, enhance environment
– and appeal to value-conscious purchasers
Mike Schout, President of Stonecroft builders who wanted a higher environmen- about $3,000 to build beyond the Building
Corporation, is reluctant to make too big a tal standard to achieve the results without Code to ENERGY STAR for New Homes
deal about being one of the first builders in going through complicated compliance qualifications,” she said. Energy savings
Ontario to meet the requirements for En- hoops. quickly recover this additional cost. Green-
erQuality’s GreenHouse™ Certified Con- In addition to energy savings require- House Certified Construction help builders
struction certification. ments, GreenHouse Certified homes must save money by mandating –optimal value
The builder of luxury homes in the New achieve higher indoor air quality, prove engineering at the construction stage), and
Hamburg area (near Kitchener/Waterloo) they are managing their construction re- consumers can by saving them up to 25 to
says the new certification program, an ex- sources wisely, and conserve water. Homes 30 per cent on their water bills.
tension of the well-established ENERGY are tested independently before Green- Other advantages are less easy to quan-
STAR® for New Homes specifications, House Certified certification is granted. tify in dollars and cents, but suggest that
made sense for his environmentally-sensi- She said 20 builders have already com- GreenHouse residents will enjoy a healthier
tive clients. And since he already had build- mitted to the GreenHouse Certified Con- driven by “environmental factors more than environment. “The attention to indoor air
ing practices in compliance with the struction program, which is simpler than energy savings.” quality targets improved overall health and
GreenHouse specifications, he didn’t expe- the LEED for Homes program in that there “Some people are passionate” about en- may reduce environmentally triggered dis-
rience significant costs in implementing the is only one certification standard (and not vironmental awareness, he said. “We have eases such as asthma,” EnerQuality says in
program. the multi-level Silver, Gold and Platinum a couple of people who really subscribe to a GreenHouse Certified Construction fact
“This is obviously really good for the system that LEED uses.) the program, and would like us to do sheet. “Finally, the added satisfaction of
environment and the country, consuming Stonecroft Homes is the second builder more.” doing the right thing that comes from using
less fuels and materials, using more recy- to achieve GreenHouse certification. However, when they discovered the cost less of Canada’s precious natural resources
cled materials and sending less to the land- Schout says it is too early to tell how much of achieving some higher environmental rounds out the package and allows home
fill,” he said. “I would be happy if the the new program is saving homeowners, standards, which could raise prices by 50 buyers to take utmost pride in their new
government changes the building code to but he said the additional costs of construc- per cent or more, they drew the line. home.”
require it.” tion and certification are minor. “The pro- “They’ll pay a little more, but not that “From a builder’s perspective, Green-
Michelle Cote, Director, Client Rela- gram asks us to do a lot of things we are much,” he said. House represents a compelling offer to
tions with EnerQuality, a partnership of the already doing to build a better home,” he This is in fact one of the biggest advan- home buyers of a better built and guilt-free
Ontario Home Builders Association and the said. tages of the GreenHouse Certified program home that, overall costs less and most cer-
Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, says He said some consumers don’t care over other environmental certification op- tainly saves more,” EnerQuality says.
EnerQuality introduced the GreenHouse about environmental advantages, “they are tions, says Michelle Cote of EnerQuality. For more information, visit
Certified Construction standard to allow interested in the bottom line”, but others are “On average, it can cost some builders http://www.greenhousecertified.ca.
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