Ontario Home Builder - Spring 2017

having a blast: northern ontario builders really know how to rock P.60 addressing the invisible threat of radon gas P.70

Why you need an employee retention strategy P.34

the golden opportunity of reinventing retirement homes P.50

Grand entrances Luxury Lobbies Set a Winning Tone for Condo Sales

What’s Trending in Windows?

ohba.ca SPRING 2017 | $5.00

Building Better Homes for a Better Future.

Alliance Homes Andrin Homes Arista Homes Aspen Ridge Homes Ballantry Homes Ballymore Homes Branthaven Homes Brentwood Developments Briarwood Homes Brookfield Residential BW Homes Campanale Homes Cardel Homes Centro Homes Corvinelli Homes Coughlan Homes

Delta-Rae Homes Eldora Homes Empire Communities Fandor Homes Fernbrook Fieldgate Developments Flato Developments Fourteen Estates Garden Homes Geranium Homes Great Gulf Homes Greenpark Greystone Homes Habitat for Humanity Halminen Homes Heathwood Homes

Jeffery Homes Ltd. Kettlebeck Developments Lakeside Developments Lakeview Homes Lancaster Homes Landmart Homes Laurier Homes Lindvest LIV Communities Lloyd Town Mills Lormel Homes Lucchetta Homes Madison Homes Marshall Homes Mason Homes Mattamy Homes

Menkes Midhaven Homes Minto Monarch Corporation Mosaik Homes Orchard Ridge Phelps Homes Parkbridge Lifestyle Parkview Homes Regal Crest Homes Reid’s Heritage Homes Remington Homes Rinaldi Homes Royalpark Homes San Diego Homes Sean Homes

Signature Homes Solmar Starlane Homes Corporation Tamarack Homes Tartan Homes Thornhill North Thornridge Homes Times Group Townwood Homes Treasure Hill Homes Urbandale Valecraft Homes Vogue Homes Wycliffe Yorkwood Homes Zancor Homes

Building beyond code with Savings by Design.

The demand for energy efficient homes is increasing and building codes are getting stricter. Enbridge can help. Our Savings by Design (SBD) program gives you the support you need to construct sustainable homes beyond code requirements. Join the many builders who have participated in the Savings by Design program.

Learn more at savingsbydesign.ca

Move in connected and secure.

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Contents

85 Rooms With a View

The glass is half-full with new windows and doors

34 Hold On Tight!

The cost of losing and replacing key employees, and how to secure their loyalty ohba.ca

42 Grand Entrance

From spectacular staircases to hotel-like features, lobbies help make quite a first impression

50 Golden Years

Seniors are more active than ever. Savvy builders are giving them a place to call home ontario home builder Spring 2017

5

Contents

60 Rock ’n Roll

Builders in Northern and Central Ontario are having a blast, but that doesn’t mean it’s all fun and games

11 One Voice It’s the same old song for the OBC, but that’s not a bad thing 13 Ontario Report EnerQuality Awards honour green builders, IBE spring courses, your 2017 HBA events and golf tourneys, seeking Awards of Distinction judges, hockey star comes to Brantford and housing tour heads to Sweden 21 Frame of Mind Will supplying our own food become a growing trend?

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ontario home builder Spring 2017

23 Inside Storey Are you taking responsibility for workplace safety? There’s a lot more involved than you might think!

27 Top Shelf Our look at the latest in builder and renovator gear includes a faucet with both regular and filtered water, a striking surface of recycled leather, extra-weathering shingles, a keyless deadbolt, a ‘Revillusionary’ fireplace and durable quarried stone that’s easy to install

70 Invisible Threat

You can’t completely avoid potentially lethal radon gas, but you can take steps to mitigate the risk

79 Better Building The sound is deafening for many trades, Pfister ups its efficiency, the art of the business lunch, the smart home gets smarter with ELAN 8, Ketra’s LED shines a new light on healthy living 85 Product Focus Want a clear view of the future? Check out the latest in windows and doors!

94 Words to Build By Eric DenOuden of Hilden Homes

grand entrance

The visually stunning wooden staircase in the atrium of of Toronto’s Garrison Point condominium project.

ohba.ca

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The official publication of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association Spring 2017 | Vol. 33 Issue 2

editor

Ted McIntyre ted@laureloak.ca associate editor

Norma Kimmins, OHBA art director

Erik Mohr graphic designer

Ian Sullivan Cant copy editor

Barbara Chambers contributors

Rick Drennan, Avi Friedman, Tracy Hanes, David McPherson, Dan O’Reilly, Philip Porado, Joe Vaccaro advertising sales

Tricia Beaudoin (on mat leave) tricia@laureloak.ca Cindy Kaye, ext. 232 cindy@laureloak.ca publisher

Sheryl Humphreys, ext. 245 sheryl@laureloak.ca PRESIDENT

Wayne Narciso Published by

Laurel Oak Custom Publishing laureloak.ca

ohba.ca Ontario Home Builder is published six times per year (Winter, Spring, Renovation, Summer, Fall, Awards).

All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher © 2017.

For address corrections please email info@laureloak.ca or Phone: (905) 333-9432.

Single copy price is $5.00. Subscription Rates: Canada $12.95 + HST per year, USA $29.95 USD.

Order online at http://ohba.ca/subscribe-or-buy-past-issues CANADIAN PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 42011539 ISSN No. 1182-1345

8

ontario home builder SPRING 2017

ohba.ca

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One Voice

the song that never ends Dealing with Ontario’s everchanging Building Code

By J o e Vacc a r o

IF YOU HAVE ever had a bunch of noisy kids in your car, hosted a child’s sleepover or sat around a campfire with some boisterous youngsters, then I’m betting you’ve likely been subjected to a long and rousing rendition of The Song That Never Ends. Let me remind you of the lyrics: This is the song that never ends It just goes on and on my friends Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was And they’ll continue singing it forever just because This is the song that never ends...

Okay, admit it—some of you are singing it right now. It’s one of those songs that you can’t get out of your head once you hear it. And for me, while the song certainly reminds me of some fun times with my kids, it also reminds me of the Ontario Building Code. Why? Because the OBC is also a neverending song. It’s ohba.ca

The OBC is always changing, evolving and improving. It will never be ‘done.’ always changing, evolving and improving. The OBC will never be ‘done.’

And that is a good thing. When the Province first enacted the OBC in 1975, its purpose was to promote public safety through the application of appropriate uniform building standards.

Since then, there have been thousands and thousands of updates, changes and amendments to the code. That has ensured that our industry continues to raise the bar and build and renovate Ontario’s housing stock to a higher

standard every year. The old saying, ‘They don’t build them like they used to” is very true —we build them better!

When amendments to the OBC are proposed, OHBA believes health and safety are a priority, and that a cost/ benefit analysis is required to determine whether a change is appropriate and wise. Take, for instance, the issue of radon in homes (see our feature story on page 70). The question of whether proposed changes to mitigate radon gas are of reasonable cost and benefit is critical to ensuring whether any changes to the building code are appropriate and useful.

Challenges arise when the OBC becomes a policy tool for things that are really not building code-related. For example, as the provincial government moves forward with its Climate Change Action Plan, there are suggestions that builders and renovators should be required to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Government also says it intends to update the OBC with long-term energy efficiency targets for new net-zero-carbon-emission small buildings to come into effect by 2030 at the latest. And it intends to consult on how to achieve these targets through Ontario Building Code improvements.

Thankfully, OHBA has a team of 25+ volunteer members who continually review and analyze such proposals, with a view to develop workable, practical approaches. These dedicated volunteers (many are members of OHBA’s Technical Committee) span the spectrum of our membership—builders, renovators, land developers, engineers, suppliers and manufacturers—all generously sharing their time, talent and expertise to ensure that the OBC will work effectively and efficiently for all Ontarians.

Much like the song, their efforts are neverending, and we appreciate their dedication to the task! OHB

joe vaccaro is the CEO of the ontario home builders’ association

ontario home builder SPRING 2017

11

Enhancing the beauty of your home with our CarriageCraft garage door is so easy, anyone can do it. But only you have to know. From the perfect lines to the impeccable styling, your neighbours will think you had it flown in from Oxfordshire, not Ontario.

Every door has its own personality.

Design the one that matches yours at steel-craft.ca

THE DOOR WITH MORE.

Ontario Report

Other EnerQuality Award winners include: Building Innovation – Low Rise Arista Homes – Vaughan Building Innovation – Mid/High Rise Times Group – Valleymede Towers, Richmond Hill

EQ’s award winners celebrate their honours.

Energy Star for New Homes Builder of the Year – Small Castleform Development Inc. – Toronto

OHBA President Neil Rodgers presents Reid’s Heritage Homes with the Ontario Green Builder of the Year award.

Paul Golini Jr. of Empire Communities (at left with with EQ President Corey McBurney) is Inducted into the EnerQuality Hall of Fame.

Ontario’s Best Green Builders EnerQuality Awards Celebrates Innovation and Leadership

Reid’s Heritage Homes scored a hat trick at the EnerQuality Awards held Feb. 23 in Vaughan with three honours at this year’s gala event. The Cambridge-based firm was saluted as Ontario Green Builder of the Year, recognizing the company’s leadership in raising the overall image of the industry through its leadership in preserving the environment and improving energy efficiency. In addition, Reid’s repeated its win from last year with another Net Zero Home Builder of the Year award, while Jennifer Weatherston of Reid’s was presented with Leader of the Year honours.

Garnering enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation, Paul Golini Jr., co-founder and Executive VicePresident of Empire Communities, was inducted in the EnerQuality Hall of Fame, an honour presented to an individual who, over the course of their career, has made a lasting impact on energy efficiency and green building in the housing industry. Empire, one of Canada’s largest home builders, was an early adopter of high-performance home building. Since its involvement began more than a decade ago, Empire has enrolled more than 4,000 Energy Star homes and has made the 20% more-efficient-than-building-code requirements a standard in the bulk of its low-rise projects. Golini has tirelessly served on many industry boards and committees, including chair of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and a member of the board of directors of Tarion Warranty Corporation and EnerQuality.

New this year was the Impact Award, presented to Mattamy Homes. The award recognizes a builder’s significant voluntary progress in reducing carbon emissions and outstanding achievements through energy efficiency and sustainability practices. ohba.ca

Energy Star for New Homes Builder of the Year – Mid Mason Homes – Concord Energy Star for New Homes Builder of the Year – Large The Minto Group – Toronto and Ottawa Best Green Marketing Campaign Great Gulf Homes – Active House Centennial Park, Toronto Green Renovation Project of the Year RND Construction – 106 Bayswater, Ottawa Energy Star Champion of the Year Lisa Bergeron, JELD-WEN – Quebec City R-2000 Builder of the Year Sloot Construction – Guelph (Arkell) Evaluator of the Year Jack Zhou – Markham Builder Achievement Doug Tarry – St. Thomas Savings by Design Geranium Homes – Markham

ontario home builder SPRING 2017

13

Ontario Report

Local Associations’ Golf tournaments 2017 Date Association Contact Contact Number June 1

Waterloo Region Spring Golf Tournament

Hayley Hopkins

(519) 884-7590

June 6

Niagara Golf Classic

Lynda Busch

(905) 646-6281

June 6

Brantford Golf Tournament

Fred DeCator

(519) 755-9690

June 6 (TBC)

Greater Ottawa Team Harding Golf Tournament

John Herbert

(613) 723-2926 x224

June 6

Greater Dufferin Charity Golf Tournament

Maragret Janssen

(519) 940-6900

June 8

PKHBA Dean Hewitt Memorial Golf Tournament

John Milne

(705) 876-7604

June 13

London Golf Tournament

Lois Langdon

(519) 686-0343

June 15

Sudbury Golf Tournament

Laura Higgs

(705) 671-6099

June 20

Quinte Golf Day

Ruth Estwick

(613) 970-2216

June 20

Hamilton-Halton Spring Golf Tournament

Cindy McIntosh

(905) 575-3344 x3

June 23

Lanark Leeds Golf Tournament

Darlene Fendley

(613) 523-5656

June 23

Grey Bruce Golf Tournament

Tara Hall

(519) 934-3450

June 25

BILD Spring Golf Tournament

Tiffany Kohl

(416) 391-3446

July 12

Stratford Golf Tournament

Ross Dale

(519) 271-4795

July 20

St. Thomas & Elgin Golf Tournament

Peter De Boer

(519) 633-7119

July 20

Simcoe County Golf Tournament

Jennifer Lynch

(705) 431-5030

August 15

Durham Region Golf Classic

Anita DeVries

(905) 579-8080

September 8

Haliburton Charity Golf Tournament

Aggie Tose

(705) 457-6901

September 12

Waterloo Region Fall Charity Golf

Hayley Hopkins

(519) 884-7590

September 14

Guelph Golf Tournament

Stacy Cooper

(519) 836-8560

September 14

Windsor Essex Golf Day

Dennis Gerrard

(519) 948-3247

September 26

OHBA Golf Tournament

Sajida Jiwani

(416) 443-1545

September 27

BILD Fall Golf Tournament

Tiffany Kohl

(416) 391-3446

September 2017 (TBC)

Greater Ottawa Reliance Golf Tournament

John Herbert

(613) 723-2926 x224

LEARN YOUR LIVING: Spring Course Schedule OHBA, through our Institute of Building Excellence, continues to provide professional development opportunities for the residential construction industry.

With a focus on updating and developing new training programs, we continue to raise the level of professionalism and set a high standard for entry into this important economic sector. The most effective way this can be done is through a certification program, providing builders and renovators with something tangible they can use to promote their business and keep a competitive edge in today’s economy.

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ontario home builder SPRING 2017

Customer Service and Tarion Warranty*

Marketing and Project Sales

Location: OHBA offices, North York Date: May 11 Instructor: Victor Fiume

Location: OHBA offices, North York Date: June 6 Instructor: Richard Luciani

Project Management and Site Supervision

Financial Management*

Location: OHBA offices, North York Date: May 18 Instructor: Greg Labbe

Building Science for Renovations Location: OHBA offices, North York Date: May 25 Instructor: Greg Labbe

Location: OHBA offices, North York Date: June 15 Instructor: Jean-Pierre Seguin

*Courses required by Tarion Warranty Corporation for new registrants that must be achieved prior to the annual renewal date

All course fees are $350 including the final exam. Visit learnyourliving.ca today for further information and to enrol.

ohba.ca

ohba.ca

ontario home builder SPRING 2017

15

Ontario Report

Local Associations’ Events 2017 Date

Event

Association

Contact

Contact Number

March 10-19

National Home Show

BILD

Tiffany Kohl

(416) 391-3446

March 20

Queen’s Park Reception

OHBA

Sajida Jiwani

(416) 443-1545

March 31

Build Brantford Industry Luncheon

Brantford

Fred DeCator

(519) 755-9690

March 31 - April 2

St. Thomas & Elgin Home Show

St. Thomas & Elgin

Peter De Boer

(519) 633-7119

April 7-9

Quinte Home and Lifestyle Show

Quinte

Ruth Estwick

(613) 970-2216

April 5

Waterloo Region Industry Luncheon

Waterloo Region

Hayley Hopkins

(519) 884-7590

April 20

Awards of Excellence

Durham Region

Anita DeVries

(905) 579-8080

April 20

Hamilton-Halton Awards of Distinction

Hamilton-Halton

Cindy McIntosh

(905) 575-3344 x3

April 22-23

Home & Cottage Expo

Grey-Bruce

Tara Hall

(519) 934-3450

April 24

OHBA Industry Leaders Dinner

OHBA

Sajida Jiwani

(416) 443-1545

April 25

Trade Show

Greater Ottawa

John Herbert

(613) 723-2926 x224

April 27

Industry Luncheon

Guelph & District

Stacy Cooper

(519) 836-8560

April 28

BILD Awards

BILD

Tiffany Kohl

(416) 391-3446

April 28

Awards of Excellence

Niagara

Lynda Busch

(905) 646-6281

May 2

Presidents Industry Dinner

London

Lois Langdon

(519) 686-0343

May 28 - June 1

OHBA Sweden Housing Study Tour

OHBA

Mike Collins-Williams

(416) 443-1545

June 6

St. Thomas & Elgin Trades Appreciation BBQ

St. Thomas & Elgin

Peter De Boer

(519) 633-7119

June 21

Awards of Distinction, Red Carpet Gala

Stratford & Area

Ross Dale

(519) 271-4795

July 12

BILD Race for Humanity & Charity BBQ

BILD

Tiffany Kohl

(416) 391-3446

September 24-26

OHBA Conference in Niagara

OHBA

Sajida Jiwani

(416) 443-1545

September 29-31

Fall Home Show

Greater Ottawa

John Herbert

(613) 723-2926 x224

October 1

Residential Awards of Excellence & Culinary Adventure

Sudbury & District

Laura Higgs

(705) 671-6099

October 12

Awards of Creative Excellence Gala

London

Lois Langdon

(519) 686-0343

October 19

Business Achievement Award

Lanark-Leeds

Darlene Fendley

(613) 523-5656

November 16

St. Thomas & Elgin Awards Night

St. Thomas & Elgin

Peter De Boer

(519) 633-7119

December

Auction Night

Peterborough & The Kawarthas John Milne

Call for Judges 16

ontario home builder SPRING 2017

OHBA is gearing up for its 2017 Awards of Distinction program, and as our prestigious award programs grow, so does our need for judges.

If you are interested in joining our elite group of volunteer judges that evaluate entries in a variety of categories including: Architectural Design, Renovations, Interior Design or Sales & Marketing, we welcome your application.

Judging will take place remotely between June 27 and July 20 this

(705) 876-7604

year, so if you have the time, talent and expertise to share and want to join our current panel of esteemed judges, check out the judges section and apply at ohbaaod.ca. ohba.ca

Distinctive and flexible

Cardiff ÂŽ Ornamental Stones Permacon introduces a brand new versatile smooth finish with five unique formats to complete its Cardiff Ornamental Stones accessory line. Features such as high density concrete as well as longer window sills and jambs make for a durable and aesthetic material. The color and styling allow harmonious profiling and pair beautifully with Permacon masonry collections.

To learn more, reserve a lunch and learn session at your office with your Permacon representative.

PERMACON.CA

Ontario Report

BUILD BRANTFORD TURNS 30 This year marks the 30th Build Brantford Industry luncheon hosted by the Brantford HBA. And given that Brantford is the hometown of hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky, it’s not surprising that most keynote luncheon speakers over the years have had a connection to hockey.

And this year is no exception, with Canadian Women’s Hockey star CassieCampbell Pascall on board as the featured speaker. A member of the national team from 1994 to 2006, Cassie helped her team win five gold medals at the World Championships, along with silver and gold Olympic medals.

She was the first female colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and has been inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame.

OHBA-members are invited to join Brantford HBA at what promises to be another fantastic industry luncheon.

Join us in Sweden!

Building on the success of OHBA’s first international housing and study tour to Reykjavik, Iceland, and in partnership with the EnerQuality Corporation in 2016, OHBA is planning another exciting international housing study tour in 2017—this time in Sweden!

This housing and study tour will focus on “tall wood” structures and leading-edge energy efficiency in partnership with both the Canadian Wood Council and EnerQuality.

We are excited to be returning to Scandinavia and have an action-packed tour planned with two nights in Sweden’s bustling capital city of Stockholm, with the tour concluding with two nights in the seaport city of Göteborg, known for its Dutch-style canals. The tour will visit a number of innovative residential developments including eight-storey wood buildings and the massive Stockholm Royal Seaport waterfront development and its number of exciting energy and technological features.

The tour is scheduled for May 28 to June 1, 2017. Please contact Mike Collins-Williams mikecw@ohba.ca for more information.

DATE: Friday, March 31 Social: 11:30 a.m.

Lunch 12:15

VENUE: Best Western Plus Brant Park Inn 19 Holliday Drive, Brantford

TICKETS: Single $80 plus HST Table of 10: $750 plus HST

Contact: Brantford HBA EO Fred DeCator for tickets or further information at (519) 755-9690 or at freddecator@rogers.com

18

ontario home builder SPRING 2017

It was a fun day on the ice for more than 1,000 participants in the 11th annual Simcoe County Home Builders’ Association Ice Fishing Tournament.

Reeling In the Fun Over 1,000 people participated in the largest catch and release ice fishing tournament in Ontario over the Family Day weekend at the 11th Annual Simcoe County Home Builders’ Association event held on February 18th.

The popular fishing day on Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie awarded over $54,000 worth of prizes and welcomed avid outdoorsmen along with lots of families, kids and pets who enjoyed a fantastic day on the ice.

Over the years, SCHBA has donated over $380,000 to various local charities and community groups with proceeds from this year’s tournament to be donated to Deaf Blind Ontario Services to upgrade their facilities in Simcoe County. Next year’s event is set for Feb. 17th, 2018. ohba.ca

WORLD’S FIRST BATTERY PACK THAT AUTOMATICALLY CHANGES VOLTAGE WHEN YOU CHANGE TOOLS. The FLEXVOLT™ battery's ability to automatically change between two voltages gives users a serious advantage when it comes to efficiency. It's the battery that not only powers, but improves the runtime** of our DEWALT® 20V MAX* tools, so you don't have to invest in a whole new system. It's the battery that brings the power of corded to a new lineup of 60V MAX* and 120V MAX* DEWALT® tools so you can finally work on a fully cordless jobsite. Built Guaranteed Tough®, Built by DEWALT®.

COMPATIBLE Compatible with all our 20V MAX* tools

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EXPANDABLE Brings power to a whole new lineup of tools

POWERFUL Combine two 60V MAX* batteries for revolutionary cordless freedom

Copyright ©2016 DEWALT. The following are examples of trademarks for one or more DEWALT power tools and accessories: The yellow and black color scheme; the “D”-shaped air intake grill; the array of pyramids on the handgrip; the kit box configuration; and the array of lozenge-shaped humps on the surface of the tool. *Maximum initial battery voltage (measured without a workload) is 20, 60 and 120 volts. Nominal voltage is 18, 54 and 108. 120V MAX is based on using 2 DEWALT 60V MAX* lithium-ion batteries combined. **With FLEXVOLT™ battery when used with DEWALT 20V MAX* tools. ohba.ca ontario home builder SPRING 2017

Frame of Mind

A Pasona O2 employee inspects the crop in the rice field room.

winter harvest Creating miniature farms where we work and live will provide society with room to grow

By Av i F r i e d m a n

will you give up eating some fruit and vegetables in the winter? You may consider it when you learn of the distance our greens travel from faraway fields and orchards to our kitchen counter and the effects on the environment.

Hawaii, New Zealand, Morocco and Mexico are some of the spots from which fresh produce arrives by plane, boat and truck. Those modes of transport emit greenhouse gases linked to global warming, which, ironically, lead to drought and ravage agricultural production worldwide.

Fortunately, Canada has been blessed with some of the world’s most fertile soil. Not only do we feed ourselves, we also share our surpluses with nations around the world. When it comes to local fruits and vegetables, we harvest in late summer and freeze some for winter consumption. Yet the lion’s share of off-season produce hails from afar.

Indoor farming, however, strives ohba.ca

to mimic natural growing conditions, albeit at an enhanced rate. This can be done in public spaces and on a small scale in any dwelling.

While plants require a mix of light, water, nutrition, carbon dioxide and warmth—a mix of conditions that is limited or nonexistent in most places around the globe—these aspects can be controlled indoors, making any space a potential farm yielding financial and environmental benefits.

Even the simplest system can use up to 90% less water without the need for toxic pesticides. For example, a commercial growing operation of 2,500 square feet can produce enough food for hundreds of families. On a smaller scale, an indoor farm could easily sustain the average home’s fruit and vegetable needs. The simplest way to assemble one is to lay out trays filled with layers of compost, organic material and soil that are seeded with fruits and vegetables.

Any heated and lit area, including leftover urban spaces, will suffice. In the heart of Tokyo’s commercial district, under the Otemachi corporation office tower, lies the city’s first underground community farm, Pasona O2. Drawn up by Kono Designs with the goal of expanding agriculture to uninhabited urban spaces, O2 is also an attempt to provide mass education about local food production and to increase employment opportunities. The space, originally used as a bank vault, was transformed into six different rooms, each home to a specific plant, including flowers, herbs, fruits, vegetables, seedlings and shelves of rice.

The rice paddies are located in the building’s lobby in plain view of passersby.

The growing system is entirely controlled by sensors, regulating temperature and light—LED, metal halide and high-fluorescent/high-pressure sodium lamps—to optimize crop yields. Critics may argue that using artificial lighting is inefficient, but in view of the fossil fuels consumed during alternate transportation, harvest and packaging processes, the use of artificial light is far preferable.

Farming in a controlled environment also ensures that the produce is fully organic, with no pesticides. And with the rising concern for food safety and contamination, O2 also represents a safer alternative to traditional farming.

Most of the staffing is from unemployed citizens, people seeking a second career or those who are simply interested in receiving agricultural training and experience. Seminars and lectures are provided to educate future farmers.

Apart from supplying the company’s cafeteria with fresh organic produce, O2 also provides employees on break an opportunity to escape from their everyday office work environment.

Climate change, high costs and food safety have made us rethink our food production, distribution and consumption. But such future farms might just provide us all with room to grow. OHB Dr. Avi Friedman teaches architecture at McGill University. He can be reached at avi.friedman@mcgill.ca. ontario home builder SPRING 2017

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© AS America, inc. 2016.

ActiClean™ Self-Cleaning Toilet

Your clients will never have to lift a finger.

Well…maybe one.

Introducing the ActiClean™ self-cleaning toilet.

American Standard’s tradition of making life easier, happier and healthier continues with the ActiClean™ self-cleaning toilet.

Its design complements any decor, and its revolutionary cleaning system scrubs the bowl deep-scour clean at the touch of a button.

It’s easy to install and even easier to operate. See how it works at americanstandard.ca

Inside Storey Suspended access equipment is a hot topic.

The four workers who got killed in a scaffolding collapse on Christmas Eve in 2009 was the lynchpin to change regulations regarding falls. After the Ministry did the Working at Heights legislation, they worked on suspended access rules. New regulations, which took effect January 1, require that manufacturers have a labelling system on their equipment and that it be tested annually. And the new regulations spell out the details of what anyone working on suspended access equipment must be trained in.

Apart from preventative training, people need to know what do afterward.

taking the fall Are you accepting responsibility for workplace safety?

By Ted McIntyre with Bruce Bolduc, president, construction Workplace Safety Training Ltd.

IT’S A BONE-CHILLING morning in mid-January with freezing rain warnings across much of Southern and Central Ontario—the sort of day you’re glad you don’t work outdoors. But not everyone has that luxury.

Construction Workplace Safety Training President Bruce Bolduc, whose private firm is approved as a safety training provider by the Ministry of Labour and TSSA, knows all too well the perils of days like this in the residential construction industry. Bolduc’s Barrie-based firm has a safety seminar going on as we speak, one of a variety of services it provides to clients around the province, ranging from site audits to consultations and hiring assessments.

Not long after he entered the construction industry more than 30 years ago, Bolduc was on a ladder that broke. He suffered hairline fractures in both heels as a result of the fall.

“My boss phoned me nearly every day asking, ‘Why aren’t you back at work ohba.ca

yet?” Bolduc recalls. “And I was like, ‘I can’t walk!’ Then he said, ‘You should be able to try.’”

Injuries in construction are 80-90% preventable with proper training, Bolduc suggests. That includes the 13 deaths and 133 critical injuries that occurred last year on Ontario construction sites.

OHB: I see “WORKING AT HEIGHTS regulations” are about to come into effect.

BB: Falls are the number-one killer in construction, and slips and falls the top injury. The Ministry of Labour determined they needed to upgrade the level of training required by construction workers. After a long process, they came up with the new law, which dictates that any worker who might be exposed to potential falls must be trained to this new standard. When it was issued in 2015, there was an avalanche of people who’d never been trained. But the program gave everyone until April 1, 2017.

In the early ’90s in Barrie, I had a fellow in the room next to me cut off four of his fingers with a table saw.

He grabbed a rag and jammed it onto his hand and said to his boss, “I think I hurt my hand.” Blood was pouring out everywhere. His boss, in a state of panic, threw the guy into his truck and drove up Hwy 400 to the hospital—on the Friday of a long weekend.

Someone asked, “Did anyone grab the fingers?” We found the fingers, bundled ’em up and raced after them. Had the boss simply called 911, the ambulance station was just two minutes away!

People aren’t aware of the steps they have to take, though. In the case of a critical injury, there’s a whole set of rules you must follow immediately, including notifying the Ministry of Labour. Many are unaware of those rules. Your company policy should also include questions like, “Who’s going to call the family? How bad do we say it is? Should we send a cab so the spouse is not driving to the hospital in a state of panic?”

Then we get into social media. We’re strongly pushing employers to have a policy on social media. Everyone has a phone in their pocket these days, and if everyone on the site is taking pictures after an accident and posting on Facebook, it’s out there before you even realize an accident has occurred. ontario home builder SPRING 2017

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What’s the most common feedback at your seminars?

Build forever.

That supervisors don’t realize the level of their responsibility on a construction site. And I’m not just talking about the site superintendent, but the supervisor over each crew as well. Employers are responsible for ensuring that the equipment is provided. The second problem is complacency. We get a lot saying they’ve been in the industry for years and have never had anything happen. But they’re playing Russian roulette. It comes back to understanding responsibilities under the Act. You can’t contract out your responsibility. People will say to us, “We’d like you to come out and do our safety training so that you’ll be responsible if something happens.” It doesn’t work that way. At the end of the day, you’re ultimately responsible for everyone on your project—contractor, sub-subcontractor—everyone. Period.

And the subcontractor is responsible for all their staff, and so forth. And the worker is not exempt—they have to be aware of the rules and wear the protective equipment required by the company. So while you can’t contract away your responsibility, you can make sure people are doing their part on the next link down the chain.

What should builders expect after an injury?

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If there’s an injury, generally fines are coming. And one thing people don’t realize is that the Ministry has 364 days with which to charge you for an offence. Just because they toured your site and didn’t charge you with anything that day doesn’t mean you dodged a bullet. They’re sitting down and analyzing their investigation— even if you’ve finished that house and moved along: “Mr. Builder, remember what happened with Bob Smith? Well, here’s your day in court.”

One problem for builders is the shortage of good trades.

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I hear stuff like this a lot: “I’m having a hard time getting quality framers and don’t want to tick them off.” So I’ll say, “Just try not to do that.”

Seriously, though, with the current lack of trades, this is a real issue. “If ohba.ca

I force this guy to follow these rules, he’ll just quit,” they tell me, “and then I won’t have anybody and can’t meet my closing deadline.”

The biggest problem in the industry today is, “Congratulations—you’ve just been awarded the contract. Now you’re two weeks behind schedule and we backcharge.” Unfortunately, productivity sometimes takes precedence over safety.

But what I’ve found is that if you have a really safe site and people understand how to work safely, productivity actually increases. Supervisors should lay out their expectations on a safety level the same way they would for a productivity and quality level. It should be part of the contract and the process.

We’re nearing a transition from winter to spring. any particular issues?

In the spring, there are hidden hazards buried in the mud and snow, so we always see more hand and foot injuries and slipping on ramps. But spring is also when we start seeing companies bringing people back to work. The older folks who have been off a while need time to physically get up to speed, and students who are new to the industry need time to learn the job and nuances of a project. When you look at statistics on injuries, “new and young workers” is No. 1 in construction. Second place are those 50 years and older and within one year with the company. what are the common issues you encounter during workplace audits?

Signage is a big issue—warnings not posted that should be. And in residential construction there’s still a lack of personal protective equipment use.

Everybody puts their work boots on but don’t bother with high-visibility stuff.

I was parked across the street one day from a team that was building three houses when the Ministry of Labour pulled up. The supervisor saw the inspector right away and walked him into house number one. At that point, I saw at least 10 guys jumping out of windows and doors of house number three—none wearing hard hats, work boots or safety gear—all running to their trucks to collect their gear. OHB ohba.ca

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X FACTOR Employing GE’s groundbreaking 2X High Flow Filtration System, which features a replaceable and recyclable dual filter, Pfister’s new Xtract kitchen faucet delivers great-tasting, quick-flowing, filtered water and regular tap water from a single faucet.

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adding Textural context Designed for kitchens, baths and commercial spaces, the new dECOLeather from Formica Group is an eco-friendly product made from recycled leather, which brings sustainable luxury to interiors by reusing and reinventing precious resources, available in 18 rich colours and three detailed finishes: crocodile, walrus and wild buffalo. Formica.com/en/ca Forming a New Dynasty The extra-weathering asphalt coating of IKO’s Dynasty with ArmourZone shingles adds weight for better performance and weather resistance.

Engineered to be one of the most wind-resistant shingles in the company’s lineup, the model offers a limited wind warranty of up to 210 km/h (130 mph) with the use of only four nails! iko.com

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS Renowned for its shower technology and design, Danze has added the Mono Chic 5” x 8” showerhead to its collection. This crisp rectangular, single-function showerhead is certified by the EPA’s WaterSense program—meaning a minimum 20% water savings compared to standard showerheads—but uses a proprietary Air Injection technology to infuse air into the water stream. DANZE.com

That Magic Touch Calling it a game-changer, Weiser’s first keyway-less deadbolt features a sleek, low-profile touchscreen. Eliminating the keyway creates a visually striking, cutting-edge model that includes advanced mechanical and electronic security features, including the new Z-Wave 500 Series chip, which increases wireless range and bolsters wireless encryption. The removal of the keyway also takes away the threat of lock-picking and lock-bumping.

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Think spray foam insulation is more expensive?

It’s worth another look.

The National Energy Code, together with provincial codes and utility programs, is encouraging Canadian builders to produce more efficient homes. Icynene’s advanced insulation performance allows new homes to meet the requirements, and deliver savings through cost offsets.

Visit icynene.ca for full details.

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The Evolution of Insulation

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Renaissance Age Arriscraft’s Renaissance masonry units offer the aesthetics and durability of quarried stone, plus the convenience of standard installation.

Available in sandblasted and rocked finishes, in a wide range of natural tones, Renaissance stone can be used alone or as a complement to the company’s broad Building Stone selection (as pictured, with Birchbark’s sandblasted finish complementing Fresco Building Stone).

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The Ruling Elite Steel-Craft’s Elite Series in Walnut is the perfect blend of form and function in garage doors.

Available in a rich walnut woodgrain, the series adds sophistication to any home without any of the upkeep, thanks to the doors’ low-maintenance finish that requires no staining or painting and, unlike real wood, will not warp, shrink, peel or crack. Steel-craft.ca 30

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The Revillusion Revolution Noted for its realistic flames, Dimplex’s new Revillusion takes electric fireplaces to another level by adding the depth and charm of a wood-burning fireplace. Its unique ThruView design lets you look through the flames to the back of the fireplace, which doubles the visible depth, not to mention its authenticity. No combustion means no venting or safety clearance to worry about, so virtually any surround material or location is possible. Dimplex.com MATCHED SET Clopay’s Modern Steel Collection garage door and complementing fibreglass entry door featuring the same glass and paint/stain finishes, with designs intended to complement each other. The customizable garage door has clean lines, sleek glass packages and bold colours, as well as a durable, three-layer construction with optional two-inch-thick polyurethane foam insulation, providing an 18.4 R-value. Clopay’s Smooth Fiberglass entry door system, meanwhile, is Energy Star-qualified. Clopaydoor.com ohba.ca

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Tandem Tub Quebec-based BainUltra has added the Nokori Oval to its freestanding tub lineup. Designed to accommodate two bathers in total comfort, the new tub has a seamless appearance and a handsome made-tolast finish in a choice of glossy or UltraVelour, a new matte finish exclusive to BainUltra. Bainultra.com

Killing Two Birds With One Stone Distributed in Canada by Ciot, Siam Cement Group’s Geoluxe offers the aesthetics of natural marble while overcoming its inherent limitations. Developed using a technology called GeoMimicry, the stone surface is 100% mineralbased material. Winner of the two highest honours at the 2017 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, it is ideal for both indoor and outdoor applications, given its stain-, chemical-, scratch-, heat- and frost-resistant properties. Geoluxe.com

A Mix-andMatch Modern Masterpiece Capturing the elegance of the modern minimalist look, Isenberg’s Series 145 includes 21 coordinating pieces, with options such as thermostatic shower valves and diverters.

The new series reflects Isenberg’s renowned attention to detail, with fine ceramic disc cartridges that enable a smooth and easy lever movement. Available in chrome, polished brass and polished nickel.

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YOU’LL GET A CHARGE OUT OF THIS DeWalt expands its 40V MAX Battery-Powered Outdoor Equipment with the new 6-Pack Charging Station. Eliminating the need for two-cycle gas mix on landscaping trucks, it sequentially charges up to six 40V MAX batteries in under an hour, and as little as 45 minutes. Once one battery is charged, the charger will automatically switch to the next battery, choosing the battery closest to full charge. DeWalt.com 32

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Homes for the future:

Net-zero eNergy tHe CHAlleNge:

Achieve net-zero energy performance.

tHe SolutIoN:

use Natural resources Canada’s (NrCan) updated r-2000 Standard and energuide rating System version 15 to measure energy performance.

tHe reSult:

twenty-three homes that achieved net zero energy performance, built by six Canadian builders under the r-2000 Net-zero energy Pilot and the ecoeNergy Innovation Initiative managed by NrCan.

WHAt’S Next:

In December 2016, Canada’s First Ministers released the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean growth and Climate Change, which states that federal, provincial, and territorial governments will work to develop and adopt increasingly stringent model building codes, starting in 2020, with the goal that provinces and territories adopt a “net-zero energy ready” model building code by 2030. For more information on the Framework visit https:// www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/ weather/climatechange/pan-canadian-framework.html.

Advances in clean technologies and building practices can make new homes “net-zero energy”, meaning they require so little energy that they could produce as much energy from renewables as they require on an annual basis. every house under NrCan’s Pilot achieved a rating of zero gigajoules on the updated energuide rating System scale and was certified to the r-2000 Standard. r-2000’s emphasis on energy efficiency, through its building envelope and airtightness requirements, reduces the amount of renewable energy required and is therefore a basis for achieving net-zero energy performance. the Pilot also demonstrated that net-zero energy housing is viable in Canada’s climate.

By focusing on the building envelope and using off-the-shelf technology, the incremental construction cost for these 23 homes was $60,000 to $80,000. It is estimated that constructing a net-zero energy ‘ready’ home would involve an incremental cost of roughly $30, 000 to $40,000.

Construction costs for net zero energy homes have dropped 40% in the last 10 years. through research and development, technology costs continue to fall, and with government investments and industry efforts, that trend will accelerate. these technological advances will enable all builders to adopt these practices and lower lifecycle costs for homeowners.

Cet article est également disponible en français Veuillez contacter rNCan pour en obtenir une copie.

ADVertorIAl

Hold On Tight!

The best employee retention strategies balance salary, workplace culture and management of people’s careers

By P h i l i p P o r a d o

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Money talks, but so do perks

and opportunities. So if you want to retain your best employees, keep one eye on their personal needs and the other their career goals, says Steve Barkhouse, owner of Amsted Design-Build in Stittsville.

Barkhouse offers two anecdotes to back up the theory. The first involves a 15-year employee, Allyson Woodside, a carpenter who is late in her career and needs to transition out of daily site work. The company has a relationship with Algonquin College’s Apprenticeship program, and so set her up teaching carpentry at the college.

“She’s off one full day every week to do that, and it’s ultimately a transition to her retirement,” says Barkhouse. “She’d love to do carpentry all her life, but you can’t do this kind of work forever.

And, being at Algonquin, she’s our best recruiter.”

The second story involves a carpenter who spent eight years with Amsted before deciding he wanted to focus solely on framing work. Problem was, Amsted, which does around 40 high-end renovations and three or four custom builds per year, didn’t have enough volume to meet his needs.

“We helped him set up his own framing business, and now we hire him when we need that specialty,” says Barkhouse. By letting the framer move on, Amsted was able to retain the working relationship while ensuring a former employee was ohba.ca

doing what he loved.

Hiring back former employees, in fact, would seem to be a province-wide trend that can be chalked up to both a drumtight labour market for the building industry and a willingness on the part of companies to give good people a second chance.

“Sometimes [those who come back] turn out to be our best people, says Mary Federau, Executive V.P. and Chief Human Resources Officer at Mattamy Homes in Toronto. “We’ve got a land-development leader who left us for a firm that made promises for growth and development.

He asked to come back within six months.”

Her firm is open to rehiring people who had a good track record prior to leaving.

In this case, the employee found the culture at his new firm wasn’t the fit he’d hoped for. Certain career development opportunities also didn’t materialize.

“Since coming back, he’s had an amazing career. He’s stayed, and been promoted, and now has a big team of people reporting to him,” says Federau.

“These people [can be an asset because] they’ve learned the grass wasn’t greener somewhere else, so when they come back they become our best ambassadors.”

Stemming turnover Such retention plays are coups, notes Karlyn Borysenko, principal at Zen Workplace in Merrimack, New Hampshire, given the high cost of replacing departed employees. Such costs include both the administrative outlays associated with hiring a replacement, as well as lost productivity ontario home builder Spring 2017

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The High Cost of Turnover Most companies vastly underestimate the true cost of losing an employee, often thinking solely of the higher salary a replacement worker might request—a natural worry in a tight labour market. But they seldom consider the hidden costs.

A company’s actual cost will include factors beyond salary; things like a departing employee’s tendency to be less productive, and the supervisor’s time working with HR and administration to post the position, interview candidates and complete the hiring process. Then there are the costs of on-boarding, and lost productivity both while the position is vacant and while the new hire learns the ropes.

Putting a number next to each of these costs, and then multiplying by the number of personnel who leave each year can be a real eye-opener.

while a position is vacant.

Her research finds employee replacement costs vary based on experience level, and she suggests companies consider the following when budgeting: Entry-level employee:

Replacement cost between 30% and 50% of annual salary Mid-level employee:

Replacement cost of more than 150% of annual salary High-level, or highly specialized, employee:

Replacement cost around 400% of annual salary While the numbers are based on U.S. companies, Borysenko doesn’t see there being a significant difference between the U.S. and Canada.

Federau agrees with the cost scales.

“If they’re in specialist roles, where the pool of people you have to choose from is small, it takes longer to get them in there and train them,” she says. “There are costs associated with that.”

More important than cost, says Danny Gabriele, president and one of the principals at Marz Homes in Stoney Creek, is company continuity. “I don’t think about the cost,” he says. “I think about what it’s going to take to get someone up to speed in a capacity to fill the role someone left behind. That’s the bigger concern.”

Statistically, workplace turnover is gradually rising. While poor economic conditions between 2008 and 2010 created a buyer’s market for labour, employers are now reporting gradual increases in voluntary turnover rates for both public and private sector workers, according to the Conference Board

“if you are replacing someone, you should be improving.”

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of Canada’s Compensation Planning Outlook 2017 study. After total turnover rates fell to a low of 6.1% in 2010, survey respondents reported an increase to 7.6% in 2015 and 7.8% last year. The numbers suggest workers are becoming increasingly confident in the state of labour markets.

When the private sector data are isolated, turnover numbers go higher, with an 8.8% voluntary turnover rate reported in the 2017 survey. Construction trades, though, do slightly better, with a voluntary turnover rate of 8.1%.

The bad news for construction is on the involuntary turnover side of the equation, with a 9.6% rate that outstrips the 6.8% rate reported by all private sector employers.

Kelly DeGurse, Director of Organizational Development & Labour Relations at Reliance Home Comfort, says he’s implemented a program of psychometric testing for new hires that’s brought his turnover rate down.

It reached as high as 18% in some years, and he notes anything higher than that should be considered a red flag.

“We have varying tests depending on the job,” he says. “For salespeople there’s a personality profile that’s based on our top performers, and likewise for other positions. We’re getting better at finding people who fit our culture and the jobs.”

As there wasn’t a market-ready test that suited Reliance’s needs, DeGurse worked with a professor from the University of Toronto to create his question battery. The tests are designed to ensure the company hires positive thinkers because its employees go into customers’ homes every day and need an upbeat demeanour.

“We tested it on our existing team members and found the high performers test well and the lower performers test lower,” he says. “So we’re using this to make sure we get a better fit when we hire.”

Why People Leave Every builder we spoke with identified “bad fit” as the key driver of employee turnover. Misunderstanding of job expectations and misalignment with the company’s culture also were cited ohba.ca

consistently. Barkhouse says he’s never calculated the cost to replace an employee because, “if you are replacing someone, you should be improving.” His team of 32 people includes 20 who were with the company five years ago, with the average employee tenure close to eight years.

Like DeGurse, he stresses it’s crucial to hire carefully in the renovation business, because employees are constantly entering people’s homes and doing work while owners are present—“belly to belly,” as Barkhouse puts it. “They have to represent the company well. The owners trust the people we send to do a good job and be courteous.”

Departures also can unexpectedly spark a building firm’s evolution.

“Sometimes when someone leaves, you find a replacement who brings a different skill set,” says Gabriele. “There are always those opportunities.”

While turnover is rare at his 30-person company—80% of staff who were with the firm 20 years ago are still there— sometimes an employee will go on maternity leave and a person hired as a year-long replacement will fit a position the company was planning to add.

And several such companies are looking to add. “The housing market has been fantastic,” says Gabriele. “Every builder is building more and we’re always looking for good quality staff.”

Recruitment and mentoring In many respects, Ontario’s hot building market has been the ultimate recruiting tool. Trade colleges are producing graduates at a good clip, and builders actively forge alliances with those institutions to keep the flow of applications steady. Job fairs, once de rigueur for finding talent, are being replaced by online and social media recruiting tools, though DeGurse notes Reliance’s operations managers do “attend the graduating classes to speak to career opportunities in the HVAC trade.”

Tighter labour markets also are prompting companies to expend time and resources on training. Barkhouse’s company budgets close to $100,000 on internal marketing, which includes education and training.

Since most specifics of the work routine are learned hands-on, no training program is complete without qualified mentors. “Site stuff is largely onthe-job training,” notes Federau. “Newer people are working side-by-side in certain areas with bosses or other veterans who can show them the ropes.”

For recent college graduates who still don’t have enough practical experience, Barkhouse assigns mentors with whom they spend eight hours a week learning specific skill sets. “The point is to ensure

Retention Numbers Don’t Lie Want to know if your employees are happy? Look at your retention rate. The rate at which you retain employees tells you whether or not you have happy and fulfilled workers.

Top performers, like Chubb Insurance Company of Canada, post retention rates ranging between 96% and 98%, and better performers consistently average above 90%.

To calculate your retention rate, take the total number of employees during a set period (most firms run this number annually, but you can check monthly or quarterly if you’re introducing new programs and want to measure progress). For simple math, say you have 200 employees at the end of a fiscal year, and 25 people left for other companies during that year. Subtract 25 from 200, divide the result by the total number of employees, and then multiply the answer by 100 to get the retention rate. For this example, the employee retention rate is 87.5%. Compare retention rates in successive periods to

ohba.ca

learn how well you keep employees.

You also can reverse the math to calculate your turnover rate. This can be helpful for companies wanting to examine the difference between the retention rates for all employees against those for employees it wants to keep. Just subtract non-voluntary departures from the number of employees who leave of their own volition.

Example: In a 40-person company, six employees leave during the year, but four are voluntary and two are terminated. 6/40 = a 15% turnover rate, but the voluntary turnover rate, 4/40, is only 10%.

Comparing total turnover against voluntary departures can show you whether your hiring procedures are working properly. If you’re doing too much firing, they’re not. That matters, because firings are administratively expensive, bad for morale and can harm productivity if it takes too long to find replacements.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know Retaining your employees is often a question of finding the right match during the interview process. To that end, Reliance Home Comfort includes a specialized set of questions for prospective employees.

“The Positive Person Inventory is a psychometric tool that assesses an individual’s propensity toward having a generally positive mindset,” says Colleen O’Brien, Ph.D. and V.P. of International Development & Consulting at Self Management Group in Etobicoke, which works with Reliance in creating the questionnaire.

“There are two facets: Positive Outlook and Positive Belief. People with a strong positive outlook see future experiences as growth opportunities and are proactive in pursuing challenges that will help them grow and develop. People with a strong positive belief believe in their ability to change and have a tendency to take risks and view mistakes as learning opportunities.

There are multiple questions designed to tap into each facet.”

Worded both positively and negatively to help ensure consistency and accuracy, the questions are formulated to assess important attitudes, such as self-confidence, stress coping and listening style.

In the two examples below, the individual is asked to indicate their degree of agreement with each statement on a five-point rating scale: “Whatever tomorrow brings will be exciting, in a good way.

I don’t avoid demanding situations that prompt me to learn and grow.”

“There is little that I can do to change myself at this point in my life.

I avoid activities that could reveal my lower ability to others.”

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“‘How does that builder treat the trades and suppliers they deal with?’

That mindset is going to be the same way you’re treated as an employee.”

My Company Welcomed Me Back Straight out of an accounting apprenticeship, Janette Guillem spent the first years of her career at Reliance Home Comfort in Toronto working as an internal controls specialist before being promoted to accounting manager in 2009. Then, in 2011, she got curious about what might be on the other side of the fence and went to a small software company in Liberty Village. “I wanted to learn new skills and see new types of companies,” she says, “and get opportunities to move up.”

But, like many startups, the company was sold—in this case to one of its vendors, a U.S. firm that consolidated the finance and support staff to its home office. All Canadian non-software-specific staff was let go in 2015.

“At that point, I had a package and took some time to look for the right job,” says Guillem. “I reached out to one of my mentors here (at Reliance) and did some catching up. She asked what I was looking for, and I said I liked accounting but wanted to learn about the business side and about operations.”

That meeting led to a tip about an opening and a meeting with the hiring V.P., followed by an offer to re-join Reliance as a business development manager for the Eastern region. Guillem returned to the company in September, and instead

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of cranking out spreadsheets, she’s now scoping out potential acquisitions and supporting a variety of regional initiatives.

“I never really explored leaving accounting until I spoke to my contact here,” she says, “but they had the confidence in me that I could do the new role.” Guillem concedes the change has challenges. Learning new tasks means her work can take longer, but the opportunity to develop new skills makes it worthwhile.

“This is the type of company that if you work hard, you can go where you want to; it might not be next month but when the opportunity comes up, it will happen,” she says. “They look internally first and do give people the opportunity to learn new things.”

Guillem adds some culture changes took place in the five years she was away. Communication has improved across departments, and the CEO who joined Reliance just after she left for Liberty Village interacts directly with front-line staff.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you have ’til it’s gone. But I had to leave to know that,” she says. “It was all supposed to happen. I tell newer employees that it’s a really good company. I’ve told people, ‘You have no idea how good you have it.’”

it’s formalized and people aren’t simply learning by happenstance,” he says.

For compliance, safety, workplace respect and other mandatory training, firms are also creating efficiencies by using online learning management systems, video or classroom instruction.

Pay and Perks Everyone we spoke with said they gather most of their data about pay rates and benefits at competing firms from interviewees looking to change jobs. “We don’t really look at our competitors, though. We do look at salary and benefits surveys to get an idea of the landscape, and our goal is to be competitive,” says Federau. “We make sure we pay at least market rate and that we are better on incentive compensation, benefits and vacation. It’s a very hot market in Ontario.”

While pay is “definitely an integral part of a person’s decision to be employed somewhere,” it’s not the only factor, says Gabriele.

Number two is the work environment and how people are treated every day.

“We’ve never had anyone leave us to go to work for another builder, although one guy left to start his own home building company. This is the refuge for people who worked for other builders.

People who are thinking about working for a builder will ask themselves ‘How does that builder treat the trades and suppliers they deal with?’ That mindset is going to be the same way you’re treated as an employee.”

Getting Away and Staying Healthy Then there’s vacation time. Home building is less seasonal than it was 20 and 30 years ago. New technologies make it possible to dig and pour concrete for foundations in weather conditions that once halted operations. And, since most firms also do year-round land acquisition and development, there really isn’t a slow season anymore.

Those factors can make it harder for owners and managers to ensure ohba.ca

employees take their full allotments of vacation time. “I am a little embarrassed with the stats on this, because we actively promote life balance with our team, and yet only 14% use all their vacation time,” says Barkhouse, who adds his employees average between 63% and 75% of their off time.

Mattamy, meanwhile, says the vast majority of its employees use their time off, thanks in part to a use-it-or-lose-it policy. “It may sound harsh but we do it to make sure they get the break,” says Federau. “During the summer on long weekends we give Friday

FIVE Ways to HOLD ON TO YOUR employeeS Create Career Paths During job interviews, many younger people are expressing less concern about pay and showing more interest in how the company they’re joining will develop their talents, says Kelly DeGurse, Director of Organizational Development & Labour Relations at Reliance Home Comfort. His company responded with mentoring programs and career development opportunities that let people take on responsibilities from their managers to prepare for their next roles. For their part, Stittsville-based Amsted Design-Build’s career development program conducts reviews every six months. “At each meeting, we discuss where they are and where they’re going,” says owner Steve Barkhouse.

“Then we establish where they want to be in one year and five years, and establish training plans that can get them there.”

Ask for Input Reliance Home Comfort recently implemented Workplace Councils in most of its locations. “We stole it from Finland,” says DeGurse. “In each location we have a workplace council made up of people from various departments—finance, plumbing, you name it—and they get together with the general manager.” A front-line person from each department talks with his or her peers and brings ideas forward.

Recognize Milestones The walkway leading to Amsted DesignBuild’s main office is lined with paving stones engraved with the names of

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employees who have celebrated five-, 10-, 15-, 20- and 25-year anniversaries. Barkhouse says he got the idea from a visit to the Toronto Zoo, which uses a similar system to recognize donors. People celebrating five-year anniversaries also get an additional week’s paid vacation, and there are higher gift tiers for 10-, 15- and 20-year anniversaries.

Give Back Mattamy Homes in Toronto credits its philanthropy program with helping to recruit younger workers. “It’s compelling for young people. I interview a lot of people and, almost to a person, they will say ask me about our donation programs and the impact it has,” says E.V.P. and Chief Human Resources Officer Mary Federau.

“The generation coming up wants to know they’re joining a company that’s not just about making money.” Other builders we spoke with say they provide paid days that allow employees to participate in local service projects.

Reward Good IdeaS Each month Reliance Home Comfort gives out “Good Catch Awards” that encourage employees to bring forward ideas, particularly in the area of health and safety. A recent winner smelled gas on a visit to a customer’s home. Checks at the property came up negative and the site worker determined the problem was actually at a neighbouring house. He called Enbridge, which found and corrected a leak on a coupling to a pool heater.

afternoons off, so long as it works with customers.” Further, the Christmas to New Year’s stretch is a paid break for Mattamy staff.

DeGurse says Reliance’s team comes close to using 100% of annual vacation allotments, adding the company frequently reiterates it wants people to take time off for their own health.

On the well-being side, Federau notes that Mattamy has made improvements to its health benefits plans in terms of the degree of coverage and deductibles. The company pays 100% of employee benefit costs in Ontario, and is now exploring options with its provider to add increased flexibility for the types of care covered.

Gabriele says he’s extended health benefits to a couple of his retired employees. For one retiree, the company continued to pay life insurance premiums; and for another the company has absorbed the costs of a spouse’s specialized medication.

“We paid for that out of pocket, rather than having him continue to be on the company’s benefits plan,” Gabriele says.

“It was a more creative and cost-effective way to deal with the benefits needs of that retiree.”

The Next Generation Despite taking such measures, Federau predicts employee turnover will increase over the next decade because millennials simply don’t envision staying with the same company for their entire careers. These younger workers also are more concerned with how companies express their values, integrate with their communities and engage in philanthropy. In the building industry in particular, millennials express concerns during job interviews about a company’s adoption of green technology, how it deals with grey water on construction sites and its respect for environmental factors when developing land.

“In less than 10 years those conversations are going to be more important,” Federau says. “People want to be aligned from a value perspective with the company for which they work.” OHB ohba.ca

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Making a Grand Entrance

Condominium lobbies used to be humble entrances. Not so much anymore!

By T r ac y H a n e s

The futuristic theme of Great Gulf ’s One Bloor lobby complements the building’s exterior architecture, with waves seemingly reaching to the sky.

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Renowned architect Richard Wengle is handling the exterior at North Drive’s 4 The Kingsway, while a landscaped porte cochere designed by Janet Rosenberg & Studio provides a welcoming entrance that will lead to this boutique hotel-like lobby by Brian Gluckstein.

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imi Ng, vice-president of sales and marketing for Menkes Developments Ltd., brought a visiting cousin from Hong Kong to see Ng’s condo at Gibson Square in North York. The lobby of the building is grand, with a dramatic two-storey ceiling, large polished columns and curving marble staircase with black roses stencilled in its glass railing.

“When I took her into the building, she was so impressed and excited by the lobby that she said, ‘We have to take a picture here to show family back home how beautiful your home is,’” recalls Ng. “She wanted to take the photo there, rather than in my living room.

That reminded me of why we (Menkes) do these types of lobbies.”

Condo lobbies have changed dramatically from the days when they were small, utilitarian spaces with little charm or character.

Today’s versions are spacious with spectacular design features.

“The lobby sets the identity of the building for residents and visitors,” says Chris Wein, president of Great Gulf Residential.

“You often see grand entry gates in suburban developments— developers do that to define a particular neighbourhood.

When you look at vertical living, the condo suites are private 4 4

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and people can’t just wander up. The lobby defines that space between public and private and really gives a building personality. It’s the last thing residents see on their way to work and the first thing they see when they come home.”

“The lobby is the extension of your front door and is the welcoming statement,” agrees Ng. “It’s the first interaction people have with your building.”

Bryon Patton, whose firm Bryon Patton and Associates has designed several condo lobbies including Gibson Square’s, says these spaces are getting larger and grander. And we’re not talking just the floor space, says Patton. Ceilings are taller to make a grander impression and to add a sense of expansiveness.

Must-have elements include lounge seating, wifi and a concierge station, along with great art, accessories and parcel storage (due to the popularity of online shopping).

Patton says the lobby design is a priority for his clients, and if they have to trim the interior budget design, they tend to look for savings in other areas rather than sacrifice elements of the lobby. He says renderings of the lobby figure prominently in any sales material for pre-construction condos. While location and ohba.ca

“Condo suites are private and people can’t just wander up.

The lobby defines that space between public and private and really gives a building personality.” price are still buyers’ key priorities, the lobby and amenity packages can’t help but influence their decision.

“Lobbies used to be a ‘travel through’ space, but now they are gathering spaces,” Patton explains. “Because suite sizes are smaller, owners use the lobby area as an extension of their suite—as a meeting place for socializing with friends, for casual business meetings or internet chats. A larger lounge lobby provides an area to also just sit, relax or read, yet still experience a connection to the community. We design lobbies with several seating areas to facilitate these uses.”

“The idea of nesting at home of the past decade has gone the other way,” says Ng. “Partially because the size of units, people don’t spend as much time at home and want to hang out in a different space.” But, she notes, there’s a fine line between making people feel comfortable and making them too comfortable. “We’ve actually had condo boards complain that people are hanging out in the lobby too much!”

First and foremost considerations are with functionality and traffic flow, says Ng. “These are busy areas, with guests and residents coming and going. You have to make it intuitive for someone ohba.ca

unfamiliar with the building. Visitors have to check in and you want them to reach the concierge before they go to the elevators.”

Wein says a well-designed lobby is an extension of the building, and inspiration is derived from a combination of factors, including the neighbourhood, architecture and the type of people who will live there.

Design depends on the nature of the project, though, says Scott McLellan, senior V.P. at Toronto developer Plaza. “Typically in our projects, we want grandeur with soaring ceilings, water features and fireplaces that will give you that five-star hotel feeling when you walk in.”

But McLellan says one of the challenges for downtown condos is that sites tend to be smaller than midtown or suburban acreage, thus building footprints are more compact. “In downtown projects, they are more boutique-like, very stylish and small, like you might see in a high-end hotel in Manhattan.”

One example is Plaza’s Ivory on Adelaide, where the lobby is diminutive by newer standards, yet modern and luxurious, with contrast between light and dark tones and reflective surfaces.

It opens to the party room and lounge, with the open-concept ontario home builder SPRING 2017

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Garrison Point’s intriguing “Pit Lounge” will provide a stylish and contemporary gathering place for residents and their guests.

Capital Developments and Freed Developments’ recently unveiled two ‘Lobbies by Lagerfeld’ from style icon Karl Lagerfeld. Pictured is Toronto’s Art Shoppe Lofts + Condos, near the intersection of Yonge and Eglinton, with its bold, monochromatic schemes and a dramatic palate of mirror and glass.

As staircases go, it’s hard to top the wooden work of art that will climb through the atrium of the North Tower of Garrison Point, a five-tower partnership between Fernbrook Homes, Cityzen Urban Lifestyle and DiamondCorp in Toronto’s King West Village area. In line with Garrison Point’s crystalline architecture, Toronto’s Studio Munge pushed the boundaries of urban design in reimagining what a condominium lobby should look and feel like. Beyond being an access point, the light-filled atrium and its impressive stairway act as an energizing hub for activity, with the geometric staircase, revolving onto itself, linking the shared spaces. Those calling the North Tower home will begin moving in in late 2019.

It’s not always a blank slate, though. Building regulations can influence lobby size, as Plaza’s McLellan reminds that the 46

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required percentage of indoor and outdoor amenity space, including the lobby, is based on the amount of saleable space.

“Then it’s up to you as the builder as to how you want to present your common areas,” he says. “Everyone has a ceiling (on what they’ll spend), but maybe you want to hire an interior designer and give them the freedom to be creative.”

One of Wein’s favourite lobbies is at Great Gulf’s X2 condominium at Jarvis and Charles streets. “Architecturally, it’s an ode to (Ludwig) Mies van der Rohe and meant to flatter the TorontoDominion Centre that he designed.” The TD Centre is one of Toronto’s outstanding examples of modernist design, with black steel frames and bronze-coloured curtain wall; the interior finished with travertine, marble, granite and oak. The X2 lobby has voluminous space, large columns, marble and stone and its ohba.ca

“Lobbies used to be a ‘travel through’ space, but now they are gathering spaces.”

Architect Moshe Sadfie made sure that the lobby of Great Gulf ’s Monde project seamlessly connects the building’s interior to its natural surroundings.

layout providing a sense of spaciousness. One of Plaza’s newest projects, Plaza Midtown in the Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood, has a bigger site, says McLellan, which will allow for a larger, grander lobby with a ceiling height of 14 feet.

HOTEL CHIC What’s old is new again at Hamilton’s Residences of Royal Connaught. With occupancy of Phase I taking place this spring and units now available at Phase II, the grand restoration drew on the iconic landmark’s revered history. Its eye-popping lobby features three custom-made chandeliers, 24-foot ceiling and carefully restored original mouldings.

The Britt, a Lanterra project under construction on the former site of the Sutton Place Hotel, also conveys a distinct luxury ohba.ca

hotel vibe. The double-height lobby, designed by Munge Leung, will include a Harlequin-patterned floor, glass chandelier, bold modern art and a staircase that splits in two.

Patton took inspiration from a historic rose garden on the Gibson Square site to create the unique rose motif in a glass stairway railing and lobby carpet. At AYC, a building by Metropia and DiamondCorp that will straddle the Annex and Yorkville neighbourhoods, a sculptural element in the lobby will reference Yorkville’s “cool chic” vibe and the artisan element of the Annex.

“One great feature that identifies a building, such as a fabulous staircase leading to other amenity spaces, or a water wall or a reflecting pool, all add to a great lobby experience,” notes Patton. That sort of experience can be further enhanced by music and programmed lighting that can set the mood, he notes. ontario home builder SPRING 2017

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Lobbying for Change Here are some of the current and coming trends in lobby design, as seen by interior designer Bryon Patton.

A circular staircase makes a bold artistic expression at Menkes Development’s Pears on the Avenue in Toronto.

The lobby at The Residences of Royal Connaught, one of Hamilton’s most revered landmarks, boasts three custom-made chandeliers and 24-foot ceilings.

• Concierge stations have become a key design feature and resemble concierge stations at upscale hotels. Staff often have hotel or hospitality training and must perform a host of duties, from welcoming residents, screening guests and handling package deliveries, to calling taxis or making restaurant reservations. Patton says the staff hired for a Montreal condo he worked on looked like they’d been hired from a film casting agency and wore clothing coordinated by a stylist.

• Mailrooms are becoming extraneous since most people are using email to send and receive messages or bills, but building codes require these rooms to be quite large, thus consuming valuable space. Patton says we may see a return to the past when mail areas were simply front-loading boxes in a wall.

• Elevator areas are becoming more private and screened from the main lobby. Seating and console tables are being included in these areas to give a residential feel, with mirrors hung so residents can check their appearance.

• Colour palettes that used to be dark to create a rich, elegant feel have given way to lighter, fresh colours, reflecting the trend to a clean, uncluttered aesthetic.

And with respect to furniture, there is more emphasis on fine details than decoration.

• Fabulous fakes are being used and look great.

Patton’s team is using finishes that replicate marble, granite and wood, which are more durable than the real thing and require less maintenance.

interior mimics a grand, elegant mid-century building.

Great Gulf’s Monde, designed by architect Moshe Sadfie, celebrates life on the Toronto waterfront, with its lobby providing a connection to nature. A glass curtain wall and beautiful green wall that blur the lines between indoor and outdoor are “really an ode to the natural environment,” says Wein.

The lobby of Great Gulf’s One Bloor, at the iconic corner of Yonge and Bloor, will convey a futuristic theme with undulating hand-sculpted walls. The intent was to marry the design with the building’s elegant architecture, which resembles a series of horizontal waves reaching to the sky.

It wouldn’t make sense to have perfectly square, flat walls, Wein explains. “It made sense to do something organic and sculpted, and it provides a really wonderful feeling of adventure. The ceiling 48

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undulates and elevators are wrapped around 3D undulating panels. We wanted to celebrate the future of Toronto.”

McLellan says that while price and location are buyers’ top considerations, they are influenced by the design and finishes of amenity spaces, including the lobby (which is included as part of the amenity space budget). One reason is because they may sell in the future and appreciate how a building with a beautiful lobby and amenity areas will enhance the value of their suites, says McLellan. There’s also the pride-of-ownership factor, as owners perceive common spaces are a reflection of their home and status.

“They want their friends to show up to an upscale hotel atmosphere,” says McLellan. “One of the biggest compliments you get is when people ask to do wedding pictures in your lobby or amenity space. It helps your marketing with the next five projects.” OHB ohba.ca

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The

Golden Years Some builders are recognizing the opportunity to reinvent the burgeoning retirement living market

By R i c k D r e n n a n

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ou could put eukaryotic cells in a Petri dish and let it stir for a few billion years and still not create a better spokesperson for the aged, or the building industry in Ontario, than Hazel McCallion. For 36 years, she oversaw the incredible building spurt that propelled the once sleepy suburb of Mississauga into Canada’s sixth largest city.

Along the way, she epitomized the self-propelled human dynamo, the ageless superhero who, as mayor, wore out staffers half her age. Now, at age 96, she has barely slowed a step, serving as “chief elder officer” of Revera Inc., owner/ operator of over 500 retirement residences in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., and chancellor of Sheridan College, one of Ontario’s top post-secondary institutions.

McCallion’s philosophy is simple: “You can be old at 50 or young at 95.” Most of Ontario’s seniors agree, especially the recent wave of baby boomers. They don’t want to go gently into that good night, and that means embracing a new lifestyle. They’ve even created a whole new lexicon that rejects the R and C words (“retirement” and “care”) in favour of A and L (“active and “lifestyle”).

Tony DiFruscio, president of St. Elizabeth Village (Zest Communities Inc.) in Hamilton, is putting this new active orthodoxy into practice. The 30-year-old, 114-acre site is pouring $800 million into re-imagining retirement living from all angles, both physically and psychologically.

“The old stereotype of a retirement village where people are put out to pasture is long gone,” he says. “Our demographic is healthy, active and vibrant. They are busy pursuing their passions in life. They have a newfound freedom and they are taking advantage of it. They want to be active and have fun.”

That fun translates into “carefree resort-style living,”

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The re-imagining of Hamilton’s St. Elizabeth Village combines the buzz of a theme park with the feel of a smalltown village.

The Baby Boomer generation is a demographic tsunami, with trillions in disposable income and a can-do-anything attitude about retirement.

adds DiFruscio. “We like to think that our residents are on permanent vacation.”

St. Elizabeth manages its renovation projects in-house and subcontracts the various stages, including a mid-rise building that will launch for marketing this spring.

There’s a unique duality about the project that weaves the buzz of a theme park—like Universal Studios or Canada’s Wonderland—with the small-town feel of a village. There are 558 garden homes and plans to build an additional 1,200 mid-rise apartment condo-style units, plus a market square right on the campus. With more than 800 residents, these amenities, coupled with extensive programming (on- and offsite), makes its retirement units more boomer-friendly.

Toronto-based Forrec was hired to transform the site into a themed lifestyle complex. The chance to bring an amusement park designer to revamp a gated community came to DiFruscio after he took over the property in 2014.

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A retirement village with the “fun” aspects of a theme park? “Yes, says /DeFruscio. adding our Concept Bo St.absolutely,” Elizabeth Village Residential “We Infill are Phase 1 & 2to - Final community to accommodate the explosive growth that the boomers will drive as they enter this next phase of their lives.”

For builders, this new wave offers a unique challenge, and a tremendous business opportunity. Like many new retirement ‘communities,’ there is a choice between assisted or unassisted living. The gap between those at the low-end of the senior age group (the boomers) and the high end (the “silent generation,” the 80+ that grew up in the Depression) is wide. Both have a different set of wants and needs. What that means is that retirement amenities can run the gamut from fitness clubs and natural walking trails and on-site pub-style restaurants to 24-hour nursing care and personal assistance.

HOT MARKET While the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicts Ontario’s red-hot real estate market will cool in 2017, the province’s aging population keeps heating up. For the first time in history, Canada’s 65+ crowd hit a significant milestone in July of 2015. Its numbers exceeded those of children 15 and under. Yes, nearly one in six Canadians—a ohba.ca

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record 5,780,900—are now aged 65 or higher. Those projections will continue to multiply and should hit 20.1% by 2024. The growth rate of 3.5% is also four times higher than any other segment of the population. Recent estimates say the province’s senior population will double by 2030.

FRAM Building Group, the Mississauga-based developer and builder responsible for the award-winning Port Credit Village community, completed its Northshore Condominium Residences in 2011. It features a 22-storey tower and a separate six-storey low-rise building that offer upscale senior living for empty-nesters. These FRAM projects have tons of street cred.

That’s welcome news to many new seniors who have shucked their single-family homes to embrace condo living. In many cases, this shift from the sprawling suburbs to more vibrant downtowns is the best feature of the Northside project. There is easy access to the busy streets of Port Credit, plus a welcome closeness to public transit and GO train service.

The 3.5% growth rate of Canadians aged 65+ is four times higher than any other segment of the population.

Frank Giannone, president of FRAM, said blending the best aspects of private living with public access is a nice card to play for builders and developers. The nearby Port Street Market is a lively interpretation of modern life. The piazza is a place to meet and greet, people-watch and experience open-air events. It’s why placemaking works in a wellestablished village and waterfront setting, where amenities are within easy walking distance.

Placemaking has been a business buzzword for years, and creating people places brings diversity, as well as a feel for life on the streets, says Richard Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and professor of business and creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Florida has said the most forward-thinking developers realize the key to building real estate value comes through “creating good neighbourhoods, and not just good buildings.”

Laurie Johnston, CEO of Oakville-based Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA) refers the new retirement home movement in the modern lingo—“aging in place.” During her career in the retirement home business, Johnston was instrumental in introducing private sector ideas and partnerships to public sector agencies. ORCA represents owners/operators of retirement communities and their service providers. It is now developing a provincewide Data Collective to benchmark the sector in Ontario.

Information will soon detail market trends in the senior housing sector. Along those lines, Johnston foresees a new wave of buildings connected to universities, libraries, community centres and public transit. That’s why location is so important, she says.

Amsterdam’s De Hogeweyk Village allows those with dementia to freely roam the community’s streets, parks and gardens in safety.

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Companies that focus on seniors and retirees, such as Verve, Schlegel Villages, Amica, Signature Retirement Living and Chartwell Retirement Residences (to name a few), are tapping into this a burgeoning sector, but it’s still a niche business, says Johnston, although she predicts senior or retirement living will soon be “recognized as a real estate class.”

NEGOTIATING HURDLES There’s no doubt there are challenges for architects, builders and owners. The dramatic rise in Alzheimer’s and dementia has triggered a need for more assisted living. But even that has spawned some creative solutions. In the Dutch town of Weesp, a project called De Hogeweyk Village (it sounds like something right out of a Harry Potter novel) serves people with dementia. It allows inhabitants to do daily grocery shopping and go to restaurants, bars and theatres.

Residents can also roam through the community’s streets, parks and gardens with the maximum in privacy and safety.

Those with early onset dementia require stimulation and a community-like environment. The Dutch village exemplifies a push away from the “institutional approach” to retirement accommodation, says Johnston. ORCA has invited Eloy Van Hal, the genius behind De Hogeweyk Village, to be a keynote speaker at its 2017 convention, dubbed “Together We Care,” at the Toronto Congress Centre (April 3-5). It’s the largest gathering of LTC and retirement home professionals in Canada.

Projects like St. Elizabeth, Harmony Hill (Oshawa), Schlegel Villages (one of its residences is tied closely to the University of Waterloo campus in Kitchener) and Bramalea Retirement Residence in Brampton exemplify the broad range of projects now available to seniors. Harmony Hill and Bramalea are managed by Greenwood Retirement Communities. The Oshawa project is five blocks of condo units, including The Grove, catering to independent living, and The Orchard, a full-service living building. Bramalea is a converted Holiday Inn located in the middle of a giant shopping district.

Robert Alonso, director of construction at Toronto’s Fieldgate Construction Management Limited, was project manager for the giant Harmony Hill development. It was built to offer a multitude of amenities and services under an open concept, including fireside lounge, dining room, library, computer lounge, bistro café, general store, heated indoor pool and fitness centre, beauty salon, spa, theatre-chapel room, games lounge, activity rooms, dance classes and art classes. There’s also the walkable outdoors and lovely vistas of nearby Lake Ontario. It also offers full assisted living.

Thomas Wellner, CEO of Revera’s global senior living communities, sees a doubling of its Canadian units in the next five years. “I think there are opportunities for much more relevant offerings to meet the needs of seniors that are coming,” he said in an interview with Canadian Press.

According to the CMHC, Quebec (16%) has the highest percentage of retirement housing in Canada—some of its housing takes up entire city blocks. Ontario checks in at about 5%, but its portfolio will continue to climb as the 56

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There are nearly 300 adult lifestyle communities in Ontario.

The “Main Street” store at Schlegel Villages offers seniors a sense of independence.

Bringing structure to an age-old challenge The great playwright George Bernard Shaw lived to the ripe old age of 94. He once said: “We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” In our province, a lot of that responsibility falls on the Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA).

So, what is the difference between a retirement home and a long-term care (LTC) home in the province? LTC homes are designed for people who require the availability of 24-hour nursing care and receive government funding, with residents paying a co-payment for accommodations.

Retirement homes provide rental accommodation with care and services for seniors who live independently with minimal to moderate support. They are able to fund the lifestyle on their own.

Laurie Johnston, CEO of ORCA, says care today is “personalized” and has a “customer service approach.” It’s all about widening the social programs and may include partnerships with local communities. One retirement home in Ontario is even partnering with a nearby university.

• There are approximately 700 licensed retirement homes in Ontario.

• Across the province, 574 retirement homes are ORCA members.

• Member homes provide accommodation and services to more than 52,000 seniors; more than 92% of the suites in the retirement home sector in Ontario.

• ORCA member homes are diverse, ranging in size from 10 to 300+ residents.

• ORCA’s membership also includes 260 commercial members who provide products and services to retirement communities.

• All retirement homes are now regulated under the Retirement Homes Act, and licensed and inspected by the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority.

• Before the implementation of the Retirement Homes Act, ORCA set the standard for operational excellence through its accreditation program.

(Information courtesy of the Ontario Retirement Communities Association)

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boomer wave continues to age. And this baby boom generation (born between 1946 and 1965) is a demographic tsunami with trillions in disposable income. It also carries with it a new, can-do-anything attitude about retirement. They want accommodation to reflect their “adventurous” view on life.

AGING IN PLACE The building industry appears eager to embrace communities with different housing options. The Friday Harbour resort at Big Bay Point in Innisfil is a $1.5-billion, 600-acre project on Lake Simcoe that will, when complete, offer up to 2,000 condos and hotel suites, an 18-hole championship golf course, 214 acres of forest of environmentally protected land, a full marina and about 40 new retail spaces. It’s the brainchild of Earl Rumm and Markham-based Geranium Homes, in partnership with ConDrain Group, Optus Capital and Pemberton Group.

It took 13 years from concept to completion, and it caters to urbanites from age 30 right through to retirement. But there is no definitive composite drawing of a senior or retirement residence in Ontario these days. They range from St. Elizabeth or Harmony Hill, which cater to seniors and retirees, to a hybrid like Friday Harbour, a mixed-living resort that has added options for retirees.

Schlegel Villages (headquartered in Kitchener) is one of Ontario’s biggest chains of LTC units and retirement homes.

It is in the midst of expanding its retirement facility at The Village of Erin Meadows in the west end of Mississauga. A new 12-storey retirement home will add 277 suites to an existing LTC facility located just

across the parking lot. The project is a shift away from a “care model” to a “social model of living,” explains Denis Zafirovski, named the interim general manager of the village last year.

Schlegel has followed the blueprint at another of its LTC facilities in Windsor.

These new housing options are very different from the post-war era, when suburbanites needed to be located near schools. Today a proximity to public transit and busy urban locales are the gold standard, and help eliminate the need— and the expense—of a car.

ORCA foresees a seniors’ population that will double to 10 million over the next 21 years. By 2036, one-quarter of Canada’s population is forecast to be 65 and older. Johnston calls this new wave of retirees “a slow-growing boom,” and many won’t hit the doorsteps of retirement homes for another 10 to 15 years.

Many of today’s seniors will be able to use the equity from their homes to rent retirement spaces which, in many cases, simplify their lives, notes Revera’s Wellner. Boomers will not only drive the demand for seniors’ residences in the future; they’ll change the way those buildings are constructed, and what amenities will be added on. And it’s clear that an active lifestyle will spur on much of the development. Says DiFruscio: “We are trying to provide all the amenities to make day-to-day living as carefree and as much fun as possible.”

McCallion says the elderly can still be social contributors, and how they embrace the challenges of aging is “an important factor in one’s outlook on life.” That’s also true for Ontario’s builders and developers. They can help greypower advocates rewrite our preconceived notions about the aged—especially where they live, and how they want to live. OHB

By 2036, retirees are expected to represent a quarter of Canada’s entire population.

“The Forest,” Phase II of Greenwood’s Harmony Hill Retirement Community in Oshawa, will access amenities including a swimming pool, bistro and pub.

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Rock ‘

N Roll R

From cottage country and beyond, builders are making beautiful music with drilling and blasting companies

By T e d M c I n t y r e

I

n the early afternoon of May 28, 2014, Consbec Inc., the largest independent drilling and blasting contractor in North America, executed a blast at an aggregate quarry in North Bay. The explosion caused errant rock (fly-rock) to project outside of the blast area and onto a residential driveway—about 25 feet, as fate would have it, from where a homeowner and an employee from Bruman Construction, the quarry’s owner, happened to be standing.

Neither Consbec nor Bruman, however, advised the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change of the incident, and subsequently paid the price for their transgressions, pleading guilty to offences under the Environmental Protection Act and paying fines of $125,000 and $31,250 respectively.

A year earlier, debris from blasting on Sudbury’s Big Nickel Mine Road sent golf ball-sized rocks flying onto nearby residential streets. There were reports of broken windows and dented cars, but no one was injured. In fact, over the past three years, there have been only five total convictions of similar offences in Ontario, with no injuries involved in any of the cases.

Some incidents admittedly go unreported, but their overall lack of frequency, given the dangers involved in such procedures, suggests that fortune has favoured the industry in recent years.

But it also speaks to the level of preparation and expertise of the vast majority of drilling and blasting companies in Central and Northern Ontario.

“It’s unbelievable what they’re capable of—to be able to blast to such precision—usually within a couple feet,” says Paul Corsi, president of J. Corsi Developments in Sudbury. “You give them a grade and spray a mark, and they can tell by the density of

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rock how tight a pattern they need to drill. And there’s no real instrument to test that density. The guy on the shovel has the experience to decide whether you need a jackhammer or the chipper—we call it the woodpecker—of if you need to drill down and blast out.”

Relying on that experience is a necessity for home builders in Ontario’s cottage country and beyond, where that vast exposed portion of the continental crust known as the Canadian Shield calls home. After all, you can’t let a little rock get in the way of progress, notes Parry Sound-based Hall Construction Inc. owner Kirby Hall: “The key is to break it, move it and use it.”

“In Toronto, where you’re working with soil, I see these subdivisions that are pre-planned a year or two ahead of time, and they’ll sell all these homes in a year. But we’re dealing with different land and different numbers up here,” explains Dave Arnold, vice-president of Dalron Homes in Sudbury. “A typical subdivision phase here would be maybe 20 lots, because homes just don’t sell quickly. The land is very irregular as well. Typically, one side of the street is really high, and the other really low. So we pre-plan housing types that will work best on this type of

“We’re trying to turn that rock into value. It used to be that there was way too much of it. But now we’ve learned to use it to our advantage.”

land, and figure out what elevations we need the roads to be in order to make all the lots buildable on both sides of the street.

That will also determine how we blast the front yards, the back yards, the sewer lines, the houses—and you have to figure out where all that rock will go.”

And that might be a lot of rock. Eighteen-year veteran blaster Ryon Calway of Hall Construction Inc. has displaced an area of 24’ x 8’ by 20’ deep with a single residential blast—that’s 3,840 cubic feet of granite. At 175 pounds per square foot, that represents 672,000 pounds of stone removed to make way for a new home.

That type of work understandably adds a premium to construction costs. “If I’m in Oakville and want to build three basements, I could probably do it in a day with an excavator and three dump trucks. Whereas in Sudbury, we need one excavator and two rock trucks—and that’s just one house in a day,” explains Corsi. “And then you’ve got your engineer, excavator, drill, blasting mats and the engineered material required for a nice flat starting grade to put your house on. Up here, if we’re doing a development, we’ll blast everything in one shot when we’re doing the road to save money. But I’d say it’s still a minimum $25,000 extra per home when there’s rock involved.”

Karla Colasimone of Sudbury’s Zulich Homes says one of the company’s latest projects, a single family lot for a spec home, cost $10,000 in blasting and much more for the rock removal.

“On that job we had machine time for just slinging mats of 30 hours at $140/hr—never mind the rock removal, which is so different from job to job depending on where it’s going.”

“All things being equal, it costs a heck of a lot more to service land in rock than in soil, and to build that house as well,” says Arnold. “And since it’s so expensive, you want to justify the price of building on and servicing that lot by building a bigger home.

“On a typical lot, it’s nothing to add $20,000 to the cost of the lot alone. To build the home in these conditions is another matter.

Builders can easily add $40,000 or $50,000 dealing with the rock, the geotechnical and structural engineers and the house design to

Hall Construction has displaced as much as 672,000 pounds of stone in a single blast to make way for a new home.

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make it all work,” says Arnold, who estimates that at least half of his projects require blasting in some form or another.

“It’s not bad if you can pre-plan and do all the work before you put a single foundation in,” Arnold continues. “If not planned properly, though, the cost of blasting close to other buildings can be easily four or five times greater. It is so easy to damage adjacent properties. And as the terrain in Sudbury can be very irregular, without pre-planning, the houses and lots may not blend well with each other from an architectural or drainage standpoint. If we get it all right, the outcome can be beautiful, and each home flows into the next. If we get it wrong, good luck selling the home!”

But even the best-laid plans can go astray. Zulich’s Colasimone recalls how “sub-base shattering below the footing line at one project required several feet of engineered fill. Excavation hours after blasting, over-blasting—we’ve learned to expect the unexpected!” she says.

PRE-PLANNING PAYS OFF From a budget standpoint, Dalron has an advantage over some builders, since it also services the land, thus providing an

opportunity for efficiencies. “We’ve learned over the years to really put a lot of thought in the front end of how we are going to design the roads and the elevation of the roads when we’re dealing with rock,” Arnold says. “We’re trying to turn that rock into value. It used to be that nobody wanted rock in Sudbury— there was way too much of it. But now we’ve learned to use it to our advantage. We try to blast the rock small enough that we can crush it and use it on site and put it back underneath the roads and the houses on the low sides of the street. The trick is to move that rock only once after blasting—into its ultimate position.”

J. Corsi also does double duty as a developer, creating its own crushed stone surface material. While that material must still be engineered to ensure it can properly support a home, with all organic material stripped away, the advantages include greatly limiting any house settling.

“And you don’t need weeping tile or sump pumps—the water naturally percolates through the rock and makes its way down and away from the home,” Corsi explains. “And you don’t need to dig down because of frost, because when you’re building on blasted rock, it’s a non-frost–susceptible material. So as long as

Having a Blast

Tracing the Steps Before Detonation Experience matters when it comes to the successful set-up and execution of a residential rock blast, but there is no shortage of preparation beforehand, explains Ben Rhude, co-owner of Rhude Drilling & Blasting Inc. in Coniston, just east of Sudbury.

“Step one is making sure the client has acquired the proper permits to allow for rock excavation,” says Rhude.

“Locates for utilities must be acquired to reveal potential hazards. For example, when blasting within five metres of an active gas line, a certified blasting engineer must prepare a plan that has to be approved by the local natural gas company. The engineer and a representative from the natural gas company must monitor the blasting.

“Next, it’s important to notify the surrounding residents of upcoming work. With proper communication, we can explain to them how our warning sirens work and adapt to their needs. We realize that our work is an inconvenience, so we try and make it as pleasant as possible. We offer to complete pre-blast surveys of surrounding structures 6 4

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to document existing damage to protect residents in the event of damage caused by blasting activities—as well as ourselves—in the event of a claim.

With the necessary paperwork in place, the focus is to restrict all possible collateral damage. “By design, blasts in residential areas are kept small,” Rhude notes. “We rarely see any more than a 35 sq.m. area detonated at once.

This way, we can make sure that everything is safe and manageable. And we stagger the timing and also deck each hole to help reduce the maximum vibration levels achieved.

“We try and prevent rock flying away from a blast by calculating the maximum expected surface area of the blasts and then bring the appropriate number of blasting mats to cover the area. The mats (traditionally sliced-up rubber tires bound together with ropes, cables or chains) are inspected prior to every blast for loose debris that could also be ejected during the blast. Next, we try and prevent damage to nearby structures caused by blast

vibrations, working with engineers to determine the maximum allowable velocity and amplitude of the blast based on the distance of nearby structures. By setting off the first blast at the safest distance and within the set parameters, the blaster can get a feel of how the rock is breaking and adjust accordingly.”

Not all rock, however, is created equal, Rhude explains.

“Densities range from very hard rock, such as granite, to soft rock, such as limestone. Each has its challenges, as they distribute blast vibrations in very different ways. The most difficult jobs are when the rock density and consistency fluctuate greatly from one blast to the next on the same site. That makes predicting the outcome of the next blast difficult and slows down the job since we must take extra precautions. Add to this blasting at close proximity to an existing structure or utilities, or blasting bedrock that an existing structure is attached to, and you’ll get some of the most challenging situations for rock blasters.” ohba.ca

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One advantage of blasting is that it allows builders like Hall Construction (pictured here and below) to build homes—including basements— through all four seasons.

“It’s very complicated work, but once you get to the top, it’s worth it. They’re premium lots along the perimeter, atop a hill with a 305-metre elevation.” you’ve got heat for your concrete, you can build anytime of year!

“And (the crushed rock) is very good for the roads too,” Corsi adds. “After 20 years of building (in Corsi Hill in Sudbury), despite all the cement trucks and rock trucks, the roads are still in great shape!”

Corsi’s had more experience in that department than most.

The builder/developer has never done a phase of its Corsi Hill development without needing to blast. Apart from the extensive logistic challenges of erecting the development on elevating terrain, the firm also needed to install a boosting station to pump water to higher ground.

“It’s very complicated work,” Corsi admits, “but once you get to the top, it’s worth it. They’re premium lots along the perimeter, atop a hill with a 305-metre elevation.”

Getting there is not half the fun, though. “You’re basically reshaping the mountain,” Corsi says. “You have to bring in the services, so you’re blasting trenches for water and sewer into the properties—in some cases we’ve blasted down 16 feet for the bottom of the sewer pipe. Then your garage grade has to be two feet from road grade. So whatever rock is in the way has to be blasted and levelled. But let’s say you do hit your two 66

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Veteran operations such as Rhude (laying blasting mats top-right) have the expertise to blast within a metre of existing structures.

feet and it’s all mountain—you don’t want to take it all out, so you bench it. You figure you’re going to come up two feet from the garage, then a nine-foot ceiling, and then I’ve got to drop two feet at the back. Now your backyard has to be level, so you’re creating a shelf with the rock. Then you lay your foundation accordingly.”

FITTING A HOME TO THE LAND While the client dictates floor plans to custom builders in Southern Ontario, geology often decides what kind of home goes where in Central and Northern Ontario. “Maybe the client wants a two-storey home, but you’re limited by the rock to a split-entry raised ranch,” Corsi notes. “If you try to dictate to the lot what kind of house you want, you’re going to raise the price exponentially with the amount of blasting that might be required.

“That’s the biggest challenge here in terms of home building,” he adds. “Someone comes in with a two-storey plan and says, ‘I want this lot,’ and you have to educate them and explain that if they want a two-storey home, here are the lots they’re realistically limited to.”

But when in doubt, blast away, advises Kirby Hall, owner of ohba.ca

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Rhude Drilling & Blasting Inc. (above) loosens up a site with its Air Track production drill.

At right, J. Corsi Developments has been reshaping a mountain for 20 years in creating its Corsi Hill community in Sudbury. But the resulting views are worth it.

Hall Construction Inc. in Parry Sound. “The design trend is a lot of walkout areas with several windows and doors,” Hall says. “A lot of these homes are $300 to $600 a square foot. So relative to the cost of the project, removing the rock often makes sense in order to have that extra space.”

And there’s a health issue to consider as well, Hall explains.

“By blasting, you also eliminate chances of water entering your basement, which can lead to mould issues. If you just have a crawlspace or something that’s on rock, a film of water will always follow that rock under the footings and you’ll have odours and mould concerns—even if you cap the rock with concrete. Whereas if you blast, you’ll have a couple feet below that concrete with lots of drainage stone.”

TAKING PRECAUTIONS With that much shaking goin’ on, builders and developers also have to consider the effects of that rumbling ground on the neighbours.

“Pre-blast surveys are conducted on surrounding buildings,” explains Hall. “You make contact with the owners and visit, taking videos and interior and exterior pictures to document existing cracks, etc. People’s awareness of cracks tends to heighten when you’re blasting, and all of a sudden they see a crack in the wall. It might have been there for 10 years but they never noticed it. That pre-blast survey protects everyone’s interests. If it’s a sensitive structure, like the water treatment plant we’re blasting a foot away from, we hire a third-party company to look after it.

Vibration monitoring is also conducted, with monitors placed near the closest structure to ensure the vibration limit of 50 millimetres per second is not exceeded. “There’s no way you’ll do 68

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any damage under that number,” says Hall. “It’s actually double that number that’s required to do any damage.

But there will always be the odd phone call and insurance claim to investigate. “When we’re doing an entire phase, that’s when the phone calls come in,” says Corsi. “If you’re drilling down 15 feet and you pop a rock, you’re going to feel it within a 1 km radius easily. Our office is about 1,200 metres from our development site, and we feel things rattle when we’re blasting. But at the same time, for the most part, the neighbours understand that this is part of life up here.”

Challenging topography, meanwhile, is part of life for blasters.

“Steep faces might be the toughest,” says Hall. “You’re drilling small holes and loading the blasts—eight to 10 holes at a time.

It’s more difficult to contain the blast.”

Even after a blast has occurred, you’re not always out of the woods. “There’s natural tension on a rock,” Calway explains.

“So you can set a blast off, but then 10 minutes after the initial shock has occurred, the rock will crack and fall, because it’s starting to relieve and you’ve opened up an area for it to move.”

Central and Northern Ontario builders are also fettered by topography and geography. “The time it takes to get out of the ground, lost days due to weather, half-load restrictions on hauling material from March to June—those are all factors (of our business in these areas),” Colasimone notes.

Wouldn’t life be simpler building in Southern Ontario?

“I like Sudbury,” Arnold says. “A lot of people are frightened to deal with the rock, but we’ve learned to work with it, which I think has given us an advantage up here. But I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, eh?”

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The

Invisible Threat Addressing the realities of radon gas

By Dav i d M c P h e r s o n

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adon-induced lung cancer kills more than 3,200 Canadians each year, according to Health Canada. It’s a sobering thought. Next to smoking, this is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths in our country. To put it another way, radon gas kills more Canadians than residential fires.

And yet more than 600,000 homes across Canada are estimated to have above-guideline radon levels.

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The good news is that much of the or attributable to a poorly built danger is avoidable. There is a growhome. You cannot see, smell or taste ing legion of accredited radon mitigathe gas. It can enter houses through tion specialists, while the measuring a variety of ways, including cracks devices are getting more sophistiin the sub-slab or walls that are in cated. From a construction standcontact with soil, gaps at floor/wall The 2017 Ontario Building Code includes two point, measures can be taken, while joints or through porous concrete notable additions to address the radon issue: radon remediation of an existing block, open sump pits and openings home costs approximately $3,500. around utility penetrations, floor A little background: Radon is drains with no traps and sump pits, a naturally occurring radioactive and emissions from water (particugas generated from the natural larly ground or well water). Radon Define the application of radon conradioactive decay of uranium. is extremely radioactive, emitting trol and harmonize with the modern It’s usually found in igneous rock alpha radiation as it decays. Once National Building Code. and soil, but in some cases, well inside the lungs, it can genetically water. Radioactivity is measured in damage delicate tissues, which can units called Becquerels (Bq). One lead to the development of lung Becquerel corresponds to the transcancer.

Add a requirement for radon to be formation (disintegration) of one So if radon gas seeps into the controlled by an air barrier. atomic nucleus per second. Radon home from the surrounding rock concentration in the air is measured and soil, how do you protect a by the number of transformations home? Doug Tarry Homes provides per second in a cubic an excellent case study. Each metre of air (Bq/m3). year, the company builds According to the World approximately 50 homes. If A two-year study Health Organization, you multiply that by seven “the lower the radon years, at an estimate of conducted by Health Canada’s concentration in a $3,500 per home to remediNational Radon Program indicated home, the lower the ate any home for possible that 6.9% of Canadians are living risk of lung cancer, radon exposure, the total in homes with radon levels above (but) there is no known gross comes to $1,225,000. the current radon guideline of threshold below which Certified in radon mitiga200 Bq/m3.” radon exposure carries tion, Tarry feels 86 no risk.” That said, it’s a pretty good Health Canada has investment spread established a ceilover that many ing of 200 Bq/m3 for years. indoor air before remediating action must The 2015 OHBA (222) be taken.

Member of the Radon Over the past couple of years, the Ontario Year, Tarry has Home Builders’ Association has been been a tireless participating in an ongoing study with the advocate for improving the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada to detersafety of homes, and now The World Health Organization estimates that mine levels of radon in new homes across has two staff members who of all lung cancers are caused by radon exposure. the province. Doug Tarry, co-owner of St. have passed their Radon Thomas-based Doug Tarry Homes, appreciMeasurements Qualification Health Canada estimates that of Canadian ates the issue more than most. In 2015, a Exam and are now moving lung cancers are caused by radon exposure. client of Tarry’s reported testing her home toward full certification. As at 384 Bq/m3 on a 48-hour test and wanted of January 1st, 2016, all new Radon is considered to be the second-leading cause the building company to buy her home back. homes in all markets Doug of lung cancer, after smoking.

Tarry, who was OHBA Technical Chair at Tarry Homes’ serves have is everywhere in Canada, so radon is the time, was already involved in the joint been built with a mitigation everywhere in Canada. study, says this incident was a “big deal with system (soil gas collection enormous financial implications.” It also pipe and a soil gas barrier) Take remedial measures if the average annual radon made the home builder realize that radon is as a proactive approach to concentration exceeds 200 Bq/m3 everywhere. limit the possibility of radon.

(Health Canada guidelines).

It is important to note that if a home tests If radon is later found, the positive for radon, it’s not the builder’s fault soil gas collection pipe can

PROPOSED CHANGES

#1

#2

RN

RADON FAST FACTS

10%

14%

Uranium

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easily be made active very cost-effectively by using NO SAFE HAVEN an inline fan to exhaust the sub-soil gas from While the OBC requires a home to be covered for seven years beneath the basement floor. after its completion, in May 2015, OHBA took more proactive Tarry says they’ve also worked to educate measures on the radon local building officials in all markets they issue when it signed a serve to make sure they understand these memorandum of underdetails and can properly and effectively standing (MOU) with the inspect residential installations so that Radiation Safety Institute there is third-party verification that the rough- ins of Canada (RSIC). In this have been installed properly. Tarry has also pledged to MOU, both parties agreed existing customers to honour any requests to have their that radon is ubiquitous homes tested and provide a copy of the lab report, foland is found everywhere in Radon is a gas formed by the breakdown lowing national inspection guidelines. If radon is found, Canada and each organizaof uranium, a natural radioactive material the company will remediate the customer’s home by tion will do their best to found in all soil and rock. As radon breaks installing an active in-line fan system, or other approved prevent cancer from expodown, it forms radioactive particles that measure, so that they can ensure the home is safe. sure to this chemical. can get lodged into your lung tissue as Illustrating the growing trend of awareness, The RSIC was created you breathe. The radon particles then November 2016 marked the first Radon Action Month following the Elliott Lake release energy that can damage lung in Canada. Throughout the month a variety of stakeuranium mining disascells, creating the potential for cancer. Not holders from varying sectors (NGOs, charities, health ter in the 1970s, where everyone exposed to radon will develop and public health organizations, radon professionals, workers were exposed lung cancer, and the time between government, builders, academics and retailers) and to unacceptable levels of exposure and the onset of the disease can from all provinces and territories encouraged Canadians radioactive gases. The take several years. to take action on radon.

Elliot Lake tragedy led to In 2010, the National Building Code the appointment of the of Canada introduced radonHam Commission, related measures, stipulatwhich helped pass ing that new constructions one of the most Embrace this. You want should include rough-in significant pieces your customers safe, happy and for mitigation. This was of worker legislahealthy in your homes. We put effort just a guideline, though. It tion in Ontario five was up to each province to years later with the into installing smoke detectors and adopt the measures and/ Occupational Health HRVs for fresh air, etc., so how and or choose not to implement and Safety Act. why is this any different?” them. In Ontario, the curJason Sadowski, rent provincial code only Laboratory Manager contains specific provisions at the RSIC, says and required testing for the builders need to be following three regions: the aware that radon is City of Elliott Lake, the County everywhere—that Of Hastings and the District of you can’t just look Sudbury. at the radon map Still, results from a two-year Health Canada study conducted by Health produced and the No area of the country is radon-free. The results of the 2012 Health Canada’s National Radon statistics to determine the likeliCanada study show that even those provinces where the overall Program indicated that 6.9% of hood of radon in your region. results indicated a lower incidence of homes with elevated radon Canadians are living in homes “The conditions in a particular levels, there were still areas of those provinces with a significant with radon levels above the curarea can vary from home to number of homes with radon concentrations above the guideline. For rent guideline of 200 Bq/m3. home. Every home should be example, in Ontario, where the population-weighted estimate was That means builders are legally tested. People need to be aware 4.6% of homes exceeding the guideline, 13 of 36 health regions had obligated to monitor for such that it is a hazard. Regardless more than 10% of the homes test above the guideline. Remember, guidelines, given the Ontario of construction types, the only radon is random: one house can have high levels and the house way to know if you have radon Building Code mandate to pronext door might not. It’s impossible to predict from geotechnical site is to test for it,” says Sadowski, vide a dwelling that offers “a safe reviews or area maps. Therefore, every building and every house whose organization offers test living environment.” The OBC is needs to be protected in a basic way with normal waterproofing, air kits for homeowners. likely to make radon mitigation barriers, concrete floors and other basic resistance measures. a requirement during the next round of code changes.

THE DANGERS OF RADON

RADON IS RANDOM

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“If you have uranium of any form underneath or near your home there is a high probability it will come into your home,” THE RADON LOGIC TRAP says Tarry. “It’s just the luck of the draw; it’s everywhere in It can also be a complicated process. According to Tarry, the North America.”

OBC contains a logic trap concerning radon. “The OBC Tarry also stresses the importance of testing older states that where radon is known to be a problem, homes. “If you are having work done you have to install radon mitigation or to your house, make sure you renovate soil-gas measures. The OBC also states with someone who understands radon you have to install soil-gas control and is either a specialist or trained in unless you can demonstrate that it is remediation,” he concludes. “You need to not required,” Tarry notes. “However, understand. The house is a system. If you the Code is silent on how to test for make a change in one area, it could open radon and has already declared three up issues in another area of the home.” problem areas. The logical conclusion A risk-based approach is where then is that radon is not an issue in mediation and remediation works best, my area, therefore I don’t require soilWinter is the ideal time to test for radon in according to Frank Lohmann, Radon gas control. That’s the logic trap. It Canada since that’s when readings are most Manager, Codes Development System gets you to the wrong answer and full likely to be elevated, given that windows and for the National Research Council liability exposure.” doors are generally closed, and the furnace is Canada / Government of Canada.

How does Tarry advise OHBA turned on, with hot air rising to the top of the By 2020, he believes there will likely members to escape this trap? By house and, to a degree, through the roof. As be changes to the being proactive and understanding National Building air escapes, the house has to replace the air that radon is present everywhere— Code that reflect this and include even to equalize pressure. Many homes get new air in every home. And the only way you stricter measures and a more clearly through drafty doors and windows, but air can can test for levels within a home defined national standard for protectalso be drawn from the soil below through cracks is by using a long-term 90-day test ing homeowners from the possibility in the concrete, plumbing pipe penetrations, after the home has been closed. of radon. sump pump pits, floor drains, crawlspaces and That might not be in the OBC, but “Of all the hazards we have in any other areas that have contact with the soil. it is in Health Canada’s Guidelines. the world, this one is fairly well This new air that enters can contain radon gas.

Since builders cannot demonstrate known,” Sadowski says. “I wish we A surrounding blanket of snow and ice can also whether radon is a problem during knew as much about other carcinogens trap radon in the yard, encouraging a winter construction or even before permits as we do about radon. (But) people home to draw even larger radon concentrations. are granted, builders and developers tend to balance their risk based on cost. should be proactive and install soilThey are willing to accept a certain level gas controls to help prevent them of risk if it doesn’t cost them much. from being open to any future The best way to bring costs down is liability from not doing so. to implement mitigation at the The best remediation time a new home is built. After methods prevent the construction, mitigation is more ingress of soil gases into cost-prohibitive and to fix an the home via radon-proof existing home is much harder.” materials and soil memCost is also front of mind for branes. The best solution is builders, but image might be a sub-slab depressurization by bigger concern. “It’s about money For radon certification courses, contact CARST: installing a fan that exhausts the and fear,” says Tarry. “I believe info@carst.ca air from below a foundation to dollars is the lesser part. It’s the outdoor air. This doesn’t give more about builders feeling that Where homeowners can purchase test kits: soil gas any chance to get into the they don’t want to be branded carst.ca/radonwebsales house. as building a bad house because Tarry says he wants to send a people are afraid they will get Radon Professionals video channel: positive message to other OHBA sick. What I tell other builders youtube.com/ members. His best advice is to not is that I’ve never been busier. I watch?v=tJi4QpCEFeQ be afraid. “Embrace this,” he says. give my customers full disclosure “You want your customers safe, and they are thankful that we 2012 Health Canada Study on Radon Concentration in Homes: happy, and healthy in your homes. are taking these precautions. We hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/ We put effort into installing smoke tell them we want them to have radiation/radon/surveydetectors and HRVs for fresh air, the healthiest home possible and sondage-eng.php etc., so how and why is this any they are thankful we are making different?” their home safe.” OHB

WHEN TO TEST

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Better Building I de a s for B u i l de r s & R e n ovat or s

How Old Are Your Ears?

WSIB says it’s high time you took a sound check Do you know how old your ears are? The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is encouraging you to find out how your hearing compares to the average person at ToneItDown.ca. The website is part of the WSIB’s campaign to generate awareness about Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL).

“Our goal is to encourage everyone—workers and employers alike— to factor hearing protection into their ohba.ca

safety practices at work,” says Tom Teahen, WSIB president and CEO. “If you understand the dangers of noise, you can protect your hearing for life.”

Between 2006 and 2015, almost 30,000 people—close to the population of Orillia—had an allowed NIHL claim. This accounted for about 23% of all allowed occupational disease claims, and the condition was completely preventable.

“Unlike cuts and bruises, NIHL happens gradually, is rarely painful and often takes years of exposure to develop,” says Teahen. “Damage that starts early in life usually isn’t noticed until years down the road, so it’s something most of us don’t think about until it’s too late. But once hearing loss occurs, it’s permanent!”

This message is especially important to OHBA members, because the top two sectors with allowed NIHL claims over the last 10 years have been manufacturing (26%) and construction (15%).

Harmful noise levels start as low as 85 decibels (dB)—that’s the equivalent of the noise in a busy restaurant. The noise from power tools falls somewhere between 90-100 dB. If you need to raise your voice to be heard, then the noise level around you is high enough to cause hearing loss. If you’re exposed over a long period of time, your hearing will likely be affected later in life.

The WSIB encourages everyone to watch an enlightening video on the subject on the ToneItDown.ca website—Don’t lose the sounds you love—to experience the impact that hearing loss could have. If someone understands what NIHL is and how it could affect them, they will be more likely to take action.

And it’s not as simple as just wearing earplugs, although that’s a good place to start. To help keep their hearing in good health, everyone should: Know what level of noise causes damage. Anything at or over 85 dB can put their hearing at risk after long enough exposure.

Wear earplugs or other protective devices when working in a loud environment. They’re just as important as safety goggles or hard hats.

Be alert. If you notice hazardous noises in their work environment, let others know about the risk.

Although workers can make healthy ontario home builder SPRING 2017

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changes to protect their hearing health, it’s not just up to them to protect themselves. Employers also have important responsibilities. They are responsible for ensuring that noise levels in the workplace are as low as possible. By law, they are required ensure that no worker is exposed to a sound level greater than 85 dB. The bottom line is that noise at work can result in hearing loss. We need to make everyone aware of this, keep the conversation going and work together to eliminate this completely preventable condition.

Quality Reliability Va lue FIND OUT MORE

Quick Facts: NIHL is a permanent loss of hearing, usually in both ears, resulting from inner ear damage due to prolonged, continuous or intermittent hazardous noise exposure.

Fifty-one percent of workers were 65 years of age or older when diagnosed with NIHL. Male workers accounted for 95% of allowed NIHL claims.

—Article provided by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. For further information, please visit wsib.on.ca .

Environment

Pfister goes high-efficiency

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Pfister has announced that it’s upgrading select versions of current faucet families with high-efficiency models. The upgraded faucets, which are now rolling into home improvement stores across Canada, are designed to help consumers save water (up to 20%) with no noticeable impact on performance of kitchen and bathroom faucets and showerheads.

“The new high-efficiency versions are being introduced in several of our currently existing models, simply replacing the older stock, with no change in MSRP,” says Adam Findlay, Senior Marketing Manager at Pfister.

Popular Pfister families such as Ashfield and Kenzo are available in the upgraded models.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada remains one of the largest per capita users of fresh water in the world. ohba.ca

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T e c h n o l o gy

Proper Lighting is Only Natural

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From the energizing midday sun to the familiar, soothing glow of a candle, lighting should be crisp and bright during the day, and soft and warm in the evening Austin, Texas-based Ketra (Ketra.com) is trying to bring the best of both worlds indoors by marrying tunable spectrum LEDs with a sophisticated system of controls and software. The result is interior lighting that’s healthier, makes people and even home finishes look better and feels right no matter what time of day (or night) it is, the company asserts.

Natural Light changes in colour and intensity throughout the day, giving cues that inform our patterns of sleep and daytime activity and allow us to live healthier, more productive lives.

Ketra, however, is the first LED lighting system that both emits and receives light digitally, via Wi-Fi, changing the light to be more natural and to stimulate the brain, eyes and mood.

It’s technology that no other lighting company possesses, according to Ketra, but one that’s being adopted by such forward-thinking firms as Google, Buzzfeed, Pandora, Squarespace, Tiffany & Co., DKNY and even museums like The Art Institute of Chicago.

Just as Apple designs as many parts of its phones as it can, Ketra has designed the entire light, from the LED to the radio chip and then on to the lamp and the fixture that holds everything in place, as well as controls and software.

The end result is a healthier and more productive living and working environment, the company promises. ohba.ca

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Business

The Art of the Business lunch

Business meals aren’t just about talking shop; they’re also a reflection of your personality, class and management style. You might be the bigwig in your company, but mess up at that business lunch and employees and clients are going to remember it.

So how do you make the right impression? Sharon Schweitzer, a cross-cultural consultant, international protocol expert and founder of Protocol & Etiquette Worldwide, suggests employing these seven business dining tips to present yourself in the best manner possible and ace every business dining experience that crosses your path.

1. Invitations

Remember that the person extending the invitation is the host and is responsible for payment of the bill. When receiving or extending invitations, pay attention to special dietary needs. The host may ask about food allergies or sensitivities, kosher, halal, gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free diets. Be sure to RSVP or reply within 24 hours with any dietary restrictions.

2. Guest Duties

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As a guest, observe the host for cues. For example, place your napkin in your lap after the host; the host does so first to signal the start of the meal. When excusing yourself between courses, the napkin is placed on the chair seat soiled side down. At meal’s end, place your loosely folded napkin on the left of your plate after the host does. Don’t refold it.

3. Silverware & Service Signals Once silverware is used, including handles, it doesn’t touch the table again. Rest forks, knives and spoons on the side of your plate. Unused silverware stays on the ohba.ca

table. If you are resting between bites, place your fork near the top of your plate.

To signal the server that you’re finished, place your fork and knife across the centre of the plate at the 5 o’clock position.

Service signals also include closing your menu to indicate you’re ready to order.

Browsing an open menu suggests to the server that you aren’t ready.

4. What should you order? Ask the person who invited you (host or hostess) for suggestions on the menu. Ask them to make suggestions or for their favourite dish. Listen carefully because they will provide a top and bottom price range based on the entrees they recommend.

Then select a moderately priced item or one of the dishes they recommend.

5. To drink or not to drink? If the host orders alcohol, and you don’t wish to drink, you simply order the beverage of your preference without an explanation. “I’ll have an iced tea with lemon please” or “Diet Coke please” and continue to browse the menu. You are under no obligation to consume alcohol at lunch or any other time of the day.

Polite dining companions will not comment or ask questions.

6. Connections & Conversation It’s the host’s job to keep conversation going during the meal, and guests must contribute with courtesy. Just don’t monopolize the conversation; rather ask questions and express interest.

Light topics include books, travel, vacation, movies and pets. Avoid politics, sex and religion. If you need to talk to the server, don’t interrupt the flow of the conversation. Rather catch the eye of the server if you need assistance, or slightly raise your hand. If they are busy, softly call their name or “server?”

7. Tipping The host is the person who extended the invitation, and they are responsible for paying the bill. Consider these (U.S.) tipping guidelines: bartender: 10-20 % of bar bill; valet: $2-$5; coat check: $1 per coat; server: 15-20% of the bill and 25% for extraordinary service; sommelier: 15% of wine bill.

The tip should reflect the total price of the bill before coupons, discounts or gift certificates. protocolww.com ohba.ca

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Among the launches at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is the new ELAN 8 system.

Honoured as the show’s “2017 Human Interface Product of the Year,” the system promises the truly integrated home of the future with its latest generation of smart home entertainment and control.

ELAN’s strength has always been ease of use, reliability and performance, but the new version enhances the intuitive interface and adds voice control, plus powerful new user-managed features.

“With ELAN 8, homeowners can integrate all of their individual ‘smart’ devices and subsystems, and control them through the intuitive and elegant ELAN interface that anyone can learn in minutes,” says Joe Roberts, president of ELAN’s parent company, Core Brands.

The ELAN 8 software eliminates the need to have multiple apps and control switches for managing lighting, security, audio, video and other aspects of the connected home. All of these components can now be controlled by the intuitive system. In addition to integrating with Nest, Lutron, DISH and other popular subsystems, it enables voice control through Amazon Alexa (the Canadian launch of which is expected this year) to access its common control functions.

Security is also upgraded with a new dynamic video transcoding feature that enables ELAN to pull high-bitrate video from popular cameras and door stations, and dynamically transcode those videos in real time to ensure the footage delivered to the user mobile devices is of the highest quality. OHB ohba.ca

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Product Focus

Photo: Morgante Wilson Architects and Werner Straube Photography

I de a s for B u i l de r s & R e n ovat or s

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Pella’s Architect Series Reserve casement windows

It’s an Open AND shut Case Energy efficiency and convenience feed the development of new models of windows and doors

By Da n O ’ R e i l ly

As builders prepare for the upcoming season, they will be noticing a number of new and/or improved window and door products. Many have only been on the market for a few weeks, while others will be making their ohba.ca

debut shortly.

Included on that list is a greater variety of colours, larger glass, different cladding systems, a greater offering of triple-glazed windows, ones with enhanced sound transmission

ratings, and more ‘historically accurate’ windows.

New legislative changes, the move to net-zero housing and an even greater emphasis on energy efficiency will also have a profound influence on product ontario home builder SPRING 2017

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Product Focus

Want to Take Up the Challenge?

Phantom Screens’ oversized motorized screen can span 40 ft. openings.

evolution, say industry representatives such as Tracy Nadiger, marketing director for All Weather Windows.

“The federal government’s recent announcement regarding mandates for net-zero homes will greatly impact the energy efficiency requirements for windows and doors. Climate targets will dictate the types of products that manufacturers provide to the market.”

Rising hydro costs and carbon taxes are already influencing homeowner buying patterns, and that’s why they’re considering energy-efficient products such as fibreglass doors, says Nadiger.

Of course, there remains demand for modern-style doors with contemporary looks and clean lines. Fixed operating/ operating fixed (FOOF) models such as bi-folding doors and folding glass systems are also becoming more prevalent.

Citing their scratch-resistant qualities and, in the case of All Weather Windows, a 10-year warranty, Nadiger says acrylic foil windows are outpacing paint and aluminum-clad windows because they provide a paint-free alternative to staining. Foils are films that are applied on either the interior or exterior as a decorative or functional benefit.

“New and exciting trends include stainable interior wood foils available in various woodgrain substrates, which will give homeowners the look of wood without the maintenance,” Nadiger notes.

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Touching on window colours, Nadiger says black is currently the favourite exterior clad hue and is even becoming popular indoors. Slate grey is also trending.

Like many of her marketing colleagues, Nadiger says larger-area glass continues to gain favour with homeowners as it allows more light to stream into houses.

Fibertec Window and Door’s marketing and product relations manager Karlyn Knafo concurs. “The trend in custom homes, whether contemporary, modern or traditional, is to have as much glass area in the window as possible,” Knafo says. “Our frame, for example, is both slim and strong, so it can support heavy units up to sevenfeet high, while still providing narrow sightlines.”

Later this year, Fibertec will be rolling out an advanced system for its fibreglass double-hung tilt window, “which will greatly enhance insulation values and performance.” In addition to frame finishes, the line will also be available with an oak interior frame to allow for a more traditional look, Knafo says.

A new National High-Performance Building Challenge to bring the Canadian building market closer to a net-zero energy performance standard is expected to be launched this spring by Natural Resources Canada.

The federal government department is proposing to undertake the project in collaboration with leading building industry associations and/or organizations that share its vision of promoting net- or nearzero-energy designs.

On its website, NRC indicates that, “great technological strides have been made in efficient building design, but there is still work to be done to make routine achievement of net-zero-energy performance accessible to the entire industry.”

An official call for “expressions of interest” will be issued in early September. For more information, contact: info.services@ nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.

Another department initiative that will be of interest to builders and developers is a five-year pilot Energy Star Multi-Family High-Rise program, adapted from the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s program, which will certify and label high-performing new multi-family high-rise buildings.

“We are still in the early stages of the project,” says NRC Programs Chief Frédéric Nolin. “This program covers multi-family buildings that fall under Part 3 of the National Building Code.”

INDOOR OUTDOOR To help builders “blur the lines between indoor and outdoor living spaces,” Phantom Screens has engineered ohba.ca

SAVE THE DATE JOIN US AT OHBA’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE

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Product Focus

Zola’s triple-pane Thermo Alu75 window is available in multiple options.

its motorized retractable screens to span 40-foot-wide openings without any bowing in the roller or sagging in the mesh, says Holly Attfield, project manager, Ontario Screen Systems Inc./ Phantom Screens. That’s well beyond the 25-foot industry standard, she says.

Another signpost of the desire for enhanced views and more natural light is the stepped-up production of large opening patio doors for upscale houses, says Ply Gem’s V.P. of marketing, John Vukanovich.

Ply Gem is also responding to consumer demand for exterior windows with rich, dark exterior colours, which will complement elevations, and neutral colours, which will achieve the same objective inside the home. To meet that desire, Ply Gem offers two energy-efficient, high-strength and durable windows with aluminum exterior framing.

One features a low-maintenance vinyl interior—typically white—to meld with the interior decor. The second version adds beauty and warmth with its interior natural wood framing, which can be painted or stained to match any room environment.

SOUND ADVICE

Ply Gem’s Signature Series exterior window features rich, dark aluminum framing on the outside and natural wood on the inside.

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Citing the growing demand by both builders and homeowners across Canada for triple-glazed windows, Vukanovich says the consideration of energy efficiency plays a prominent role in product creation. But other societal issues also drive product change. In response to the proliferation of urban infill housing projects in both Canada and the United States, especially ones near railways, roadways and airports,

“Market research indicates that large-expansion glass and sleek, minimalist designs are some of the features architects, builders, designers and homeowners alike are looking for in contemporary windows.”

Ply Gem has engineered new soundcontrol glass packages. Expected to be available in Ontario by the middle of this year and featuring variable glass thicknesses, laminated glass or patent-pending asymmetric laminated glass, the packages have a STC (Sound Transmission Class) rating up to 35, which helps to reduce sound by up to 43% compared to windows that have no protection.

“A typical single-hung window unit without sound control glass has an average STC rating of 27,” says Vukanovich, noting that the technology fits into “the same dual-pane sash as a standard glass package so that builders, architects and remodellers can achieve STC performance without upgrading to a more expensive triplepane option.”

Two years of research went into the sound technology, which is approximately the same amount of time Pella invested in the creation of two brand new aluminum-clad wood windows, the Architect Series Reserve and the Architect Series Contemporary, both of which have been on the market for ohba.ca

THANK YOU TO OUR CONFERENCE SPONSOR PARTNERS

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Product Focus

WHAT’S OLD IS NEW

All Weather Windows’ Horizon 7100 features a Renolit exterior foil wrap.

less than a year. Extensive consultations with architects were a key element in the release of these offerings.

In fact, it shaped the design process, suggests Matt Kiernan, Pella’s Director of Innovation.

“In our research, we kept hearing from architects to ‘Stop telling me what my design should be to meet your product specifications,’” says Kiernan, adding that “architects and home builders no longer need to compromise their designs.”

Targeted to architects and builders who want a historically accurate style, the Architect Series Reserve windows are complete with authentic aesthetics, traditional finishes and detailed elements such as putty glaze grilles and butt joinery (where two parts of the window frame meet, one overlapping the other).

Another authentic historical detail is its sash lugs, says Kiernan of the exterior projection used as a stop for old windows, but today employed as a decorative feature. “Other windows have them, but they need to be removed to tilt or clean the windows. Pella’s sash lugs rotate to allow the window to tilt for cleaning.”

Market research indicates that largeexpansion glass and sleek, minimalist designs are some of the features 90

ontario home builder SPRING 2017

architects, builders, designers and homeowners alike are looking for in contemporary windows, says Kiernan. The Contemporary model of Pella’s Architect Series of windows and patio doors feeds that desire with its use of expansive glass, sleek profiles, complementary hardware and modern aesthetics such as a black interior stain finish option.

Colorado-based Zola Windows, meanwhile, is experiencing continued momentum from the Thermo Alu75 released early last year. Offered in extremely large sizes, this is a triplepane, thermally broken aluminum system with an R-11 glass standard and R-15 quad glass as an optional feature.

It is available as a Tilt & Turn window, as well as Lift & Slide, French and entry door model.

The frame incorporates a threechamber thermal break, resulting in superior interior comfort and energy savings. When combined with its multiple lock systems and triple air seals, it exceeds Energy Star requirements by more than 5%, notes Florian Speier, Zola V.P. and head of product development.

MODERN CONVENIENCE Convenience, meanwhile, never goes out of style. Clopay’s new Canyon Ridge Modern Series faux wood garage door

When it comes to choosing windows, there are options available to builders that won’t dramatically increase costs, says a leading design expert.

Windows are generally white vinyl on the interiors. But a great option would be to offer a wood-stained interior window trim with dark bronze accent hardware for the most lived-in rooms, such as kitchens or family rooms, advises Leslee Squirrell, a professor of design and decorating at Conestoga College in Waterloo. “This would add charm and warmth, while not requiring the purchaser to pay for this upgrade throughout the entire house.”

One trend fast becoming the choice of many millennials is Mid-Century Modern, a design aesthetic that was extremely popular from 1940-1965. To make their houses appeal to this market segment, generally in the 30-45 age category, Squirrell suggests builders offer asymmetrical or flat roof lines with plate glass window groupings, narrow or minimal window casings and retro door styles.

“Actually, adapting the interior/exterior to this trend even a little in architecture and interior furnishings would give any builder a leading edge in sales to this demographic segment,” Squirrel says.

is constructed from durable, low-maintenance, insulated composite materials that won’t rot, warp or crack. It premiered at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando Florida in January.

In explaining the business case for launching the energy-efficient fourlayer doors, Clopay’s V.P. of Marketing Pat Lohse says that, “the demand for modern design shows no sign of slowing. When it comes to a garage door, customers want clean, simple designs, windows for natural light, ohba.ca

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EQUIPMENT RENTALS | SALES | SERVICE | TRAINING

16783 Thorndale Rd. Thorndale, Ontario, N0M 2P0 Tel: 519-461-1180 Toll free: 1-800-265-7086 Fax: 519-461-0903 www.trscomponents.ca Since 1974, TRS has offered builders a single source supply network of wall panels, roof trusses, floor panels. Our supply and install expertise will make your next job faster, easier and more efficient.

With an Ontario-wide team of more than 400 experts, we do whatever it takes to help eliminate what’s standing between you and getting the job done.

CRSrents.ca 1-844-822-1111

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Product Focus

Recognizing an Opening in the Garage Industry

and a variety of finish options to complement other exterior elements, whether it’s paint or stain,” says Lohse, citing feedback the company received in group consultations with architects and builders, accompanied by input from its dealers.

Clopay’s Canyon Ridge Modern Series garage door

Modern or contemporary garage door designs are migrating from the United States into Canada, says J-François Morin, marketing advisor for Garaga Inc. In 2016, the St-Georges, Quebecbased manufacturer launched three new garage door designs, including the European-style VOG, a galvanized steel product with a light woodgrain finish.

“Homeowners love it because it’s modern and contemporary,” says Morin, conceding Garaga was surprised by the degree of positive reaction.

Regional trends include the demand for “real wood” garage doors and entry 2 9

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doors on $2-million plus homes in the Greater Toronto Area. But don’t expect the market for “full-view” garage doors to cross the border, as they’re simply impractical for Canada’s cold climate. Although designers and architects are asking for this product, they forget that a “glass garage door” is not manufactured as a large windows unit, with thermal breaks, explains Morin.

The appeal and importance of well-appointed garage doors varies significantly along geographic, income and age categories.

Prepared to pay for a quality product, baby boomers want something unique, such as a specific colour or row of windows, which differentiate their house from their neighbours.

On the other end of the spectrum are first-time buyers, who are simply satisfied with a good product. “The garage door design is not their first priority,” Morin notes.

Except for its technology, that is.

Models with applications that enable homeowners to open their garage doors with their mobile telephones is appreciated. And that’s one door that will never close. OHB

C.G. Johnson fitted a prototype of his sectional garage door to his Model T Ford.

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Photo: overhead door (Model t)

Garaga’s European-style VOG galvanized steel garage door features a woodgrain finish.

Thirteen years after the first Ford Model T rolled off the line, most homeowners had converted carriage houses to store their car rather than a horse and buggy. But a space-saving measure was needed to deal with the large doors required by these new-fangled garages (from the French word garer — “to shelter”).

Indiana’s C.G. Johnson to the rescue! In 1921, Johnson patented a door that could be lifted upwards, folding parallel to the garage ceiling. Just five years later, he did one better—inventing the electric door opener to assist those who had trouble lifting the heavy wooden door.

Product Showcase

Dealerships Available

1-888-644-2844 almarvinyl.ca t

Vinyl & Aluminum Products

Distributors and custom fabricators of low maintenance fence, deck, railings and pergolas.

Visit one of

Canada’s Largest outdoor displays

www.beavervalleystone.com t: 416-222-2424 or t: 905-886-5787 f: 905-886-5795

Main Office & Yard: 8081 Woodbine Ave. SE Corner Woodbine/407 Office & Yard: 125 Langstaff Rd E., SE Corner Yonge/Hwy 7-407 Manufacturing Plant: 12350 Keele St., Maple We Deliver!

Leak-Bye

The Interior Foundation Drainage System Be sure to use the Leak-Bye interior foundation drainage system. Used by award-winning builders, Leak-Bye diverts inside moisture from foundation leaks and condensation to the floor slab drainage system below.

Leak-Bye, your best defense against water penetration.

Leak-Bye Incorporated

RR#3 Mt. Forest, Ontario N0G 2L0 ATTN: John Plume Toll Free: 1-800-393 LEAK (5325) Tel: (519) 323-4123 Fax: (519) 323-4793

Date: Aug 25, 2016 Filename_ Version#

2338_BV_OHBA DIRECTORY 3.479W x 3H revised size Client: 10 Carriage House Court Richmond Hill ON L4E 4V3

647-283-1093

Desc:

BEAVER VALLEY

Supplier: Trim:

Built By: Artist:

Acct. Mgr: 3.479" x 3"

Safety/Live:

0" x 0"

File Built at:

100% (1:1)

MC

Great Rates!

# Colours: 4C

PMS

PMS

Archaeological Assessments Need an archaeological assessment for your development plan approval?

Email: derek@bluestoneresearch.ca Phone: 226 977 3441 Website: www.bluestoneresearch.ca

Bluestone Research Inc. ohba.ca

AchaeologyAssessments_01.indd 1

STAGE 1 Archaeological Studies STAGE 2 Archaeological Field Assessments STAGE 3 Archaeological Site Documentation STAGE 4 Archaeological Site Mitigation

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Words to Build By

“The more heads we bring to the table, the more we’re able to think three and four dimensionally, and the better the outcome.”

Eric DenOuden, President, Hilden Homes

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BUILDS

COMMUNITIES

Well trained. Highly skilled manpower.

That’s our specialty!

When a community is built from the ground up, there is no labour force on the planet, better skilled to get the job done right the first time. LiUNA members and retirees made a commitment to their careers, which means a commitment to our communities.

A commitment to build the BEST schools, airports, hospitals, office buildings, tunnels, power plants, roads, bridges, low rise and high rise housing in the country. When the work is done, LiUNA members and retirees continue to live, play and grow in their communities, with the guarantee of a pension that is also....simply the BEST! Approaching 100,000 members and retirees across Ontario, LiUNA is committed to building communities throughout the Province.

While our affiliates specialize in representing construction workers, we also represent many other industries including manufacturing, health care, custodial services, convention and show exhibits.

Ontario Provincial District Council visit www.liunaopdc.org today