Big positives to Net-Negative Home
Home produces more power than it consumes
After five years of planning, a partnership between a Lethbridge businessman and two local builders have created the first Net-Negative Home within Lethbridge County.
It all started with the dream of Rudy Reger, owner of EnergySmart Canada, who wanted to create a Net-Zero home he and his wife, Stella, could live in, but to take it further and make it the most efficient home he possibly could. Teaming up with Dave Wolf from Greener Homes and Calvin De Jager from Touchstone Homes, they were able to develop a home that produces more electricity than it consumes, bypassing the standard of NetZero Home production, and developing energy efficiency in a way that has never been done before — the Net-Negative home.
“This is my private home and is something that I have been dreaming about for many years, to make a local, most efficient home possible, not just net-zero,” says Reger. “We went efficient in every aspect, from the walls, how the house is positioned. We went as high standard as we could think of to make this unique, one-of-akind home. We have no gas coming in, we only have a power line coming in, but we are producing more power throughout the year than what we will be consuming by all aspects of the house.”
The home, located just east of the city, utilized technology that has never been used to prevent heat from escaping the building by producing a completely uniform thermal barrier. Every way the house could be made more efficient was done, including the position of the house, style of windows, wireless switches, what side the windows sit on, appliances, door lock seals, paint and lighting.
Bigger efficency aspects of the home started with the pond located at the back of the house, which is used for geothermal heating and cooling. The home also comes with a new-generation heat pump, the first of its kind in Canada, and uses very little power to operate. The most efficient water heater possible was installed, along with a grey water heat recovery system.
The walls are a unique design, custom made by Touchstone Homes. They were a challenge to build, but created a heatsealing barrier for the home. The walls are something that have never been done before, with R50+ insulation in the walls and R100+ in the ceiling.
“I got involved with the project after developing and working on a proprietary wall system, and found out that Rudy wanted to do this project,” says De Jager. “I was excited to be invited to be a part of something that wasn’t proven yet. We took a chance on it and we made it work, and the proof was in the results that we have right now and it is exceeding our expectations.”
With final touches being added to the house, the Regers have moved in and already begun to enjoy the unique structure. Later he will be installing additional energy features such as an electric car charger, which will operate off of the free energy the house produces.
“The building took a little over a year, but we have been planning this project for five years, and it has turned out quite amazing for the results it has been producing,” says Reger. “Our goal was to show people that it is doable and affordable. We had two home builders that joined us and they are both very excited about this being very doable for people.”
Continuing the trend of Net-Zero and Net-Negative homes within Lethbridge, the three men hope to inspire others in the community to look into how they can also produce a unique, self-efficient home.
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