‘Home of the future’ under construction
A “home of the future” is being constructed on the front lawn of The Mount Community Centre.
The Zero House is a project of the Endeavour Centre, a non-profit sustainable building school.
It’s a green home that has zero carbon footprint, zero toxins and zero net energy use. So what does that mean? “It’s going to produce more energy than it consumes,” said Shane MacInnes, instructor at Endeavour Centre.
That’s accomplished by using solar panels, high performance building practises, such as thermal insulation, airtight building, and an energy efficient design, for example.
But the storey-and-a-half house isn’t staying at The Mount. The Endeavour Centre just needed space to construct it and The Mount was happy to lend the land.
The home will be moved to Toronto next month to go on display at EDITdx Expo for Design, Innovation and Technology. It’ll be featured as one of the homes of the future.
By showcasing the green design, MacInnes said the Endeavour Centre hopes to open people’s eyes to sustainable living.
“We’re hoping that we can show the general public that this doesn’t cost anymore money, it’s not a big learning curve in terms of how to do it .... and it is to have access to the materials,” he said.
After EDITdx Expo, the Zero House is on the move again. Its headed to Collingwood, where its been purchased by a client of the Endeavour Centre.
Construction of the 850-square foot house started in mid June.
Students in the Endeavour Centre’s six month experiential learning program are building the house. They’re from Ryerson University. The Endeavour Centre’s program gives students hands-on experience learning how to build and the craft of carpentry as well as learning the theory of sustainability and sustainable design.
The Endeavour Centre is hosting an open house at its Zero House on August 31 at 5:30 p.m. The Mount is located at 1545 Monaghan Road.
NOTE: For more information about the Zero House, visit www. endeavourcentre.org