Minto brings net zero homes within reach
Minto Communities is now building five of the country’s most energy-efficient homes in its Arcadia community in Kanata.
The project hopes to make these high-performance abodes, which have been typically within reach of only wealthy buyers, available to the average homeowner.
The homes will produce as much energy from a renewable source as they consume in a year.
“The energy efficiency of homes built in Ontario has improved significantly over the years,” says Alison Minato, Minto’s vice-president of sustainability. “We are now at a point where net zero energy homes ... are within reach and we want to see how our customers respond.”
The project is a joint effort of Natural Resources Canada, Owens Corning Canada and select builders across the country, with support from the building industry.
Minto expects the five net zero homes in Arcadia to be finished over several months. First: a singlefamily show home ready this fall. The Killarney is a 2,406-squarefoot, three-bedroom-plus-den on a 36-foot lot. It will include an extra two inches of insulation, triple-pane windows, heat pump technology used for space and water heating and photovoltaic panels for electricity generation.
Minto has not yet determined the price for the Killarney when it’s upgraded to net zero, but the home without those upgrades starts at $452,900. Minato says they’re aiming to have the full net zero package for about 10 per cent of the home’s price.
The builder will also finish four townhomes next spring that will be available to buyers right away. A combination of three- and fourbedroom units, they’ll range from 1,600 to 2,091 square feet and will generally have the same net zero energy upgrades as the Killarney.
Arcadia is a 200-acre development across the Queensway from the Canadian Tire Centre that’s been under construction since April 2013.
The company says that early results from the community, where almost 200 of roughly 1,700 homes have been built so far, show a 75-per-cent reduction in the energy needed for heating and cooling for net zero homes.
Although not all of the homes are net zero, all are pursuing LEED certification. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a rating system for green homes and other structures.
While it can be a tough sell for production builders getting buyers to understand the benefits of building green, Minato says Minto has had “great success” in this area.
“Buying a home is a big decision and there are a lot of factors to consider — energy and water performance, indoor air quality and community design are just a few items along with location, price, layout, interior design,” she says. “We don’t see these features as just ‘green’ features but as premium features that can lower the operating costs of a new home, help keep our customers more comfortable in all seasons and add long-term value.”