Ontario Home Builder - Winter 2016

building and selling the next generation of energy-efficient homes P.50 the cold, hard facts of winter safet y P. 21

what bill 106 means for condominium developers P.17

what does the future hold for ontario’s housing market? P.35

› how R&D is driving mid-rise wood construction › 10 all-star marketing tips

ohba.ca winter 2016 | $5.00

› heating and cooling trends for 2016 › science brings back classic design

winter is coming trades face chilling realities when the temperature drops

PM 42011539

Thank you for helping us build a more energy efficient Ontario.

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

Coughlan Homes CountryWide Homes Delta-Rae Homes Eldora Homes Empire Communities EQ Homes Fandor Homes Fernbrook (Castlemore) Fieldgate Developments & Construction Flato Developments Fourteen Estates Geranium Homes Great Gulf Homes Greenpark Greystone Homes

Habitat for Humanity Halminen Homes Heathwood Homes Jeffery Homes Ltd. Lakeside Developments Lakeview Homes Lancaster Homes Landmart Homes Laurier Homes Lindvest Lormel Homes Lucchetta Homes Madison Homes Marshall Homes Mason Homes

Mattamy Homes Midhaven Homes Minto Monarch Corporation Mosaik Homes Orchard Ridge Phelps Homes Parkview Homes Reid’s Heritage Homes Remington Homes Rinaldi Homes Royalpark Homes San Diego Homes Sean Mason Homes

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

We look forward to building the future with you in 2016.

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contents

35 A Turn for the Better Slight economic growth expected despite higher interest rates in 2016

37 The Affordability Challenge

58

Declining new housing starts could be good news for Ontario’s reno market

42 The Big Chill Frozen fingers, missing tools, weather delays—welcome to winter home building!

42

50 Net Zero EnergyReady or Not The future is now for affordable ultraenergy-efficient homes in Ontario

58 Framing the Discussion

50

Addressing concerns and celebrating the merits of six-storey wood construction

On the cover

Winter can be tough on home building trades. Photo by Margaret Mulligan.

ohba.ca

9 One Voice Six-storey wood amendment shows how OHBA advocacy results in real change

21 Health & Safety Winter poses unique safety hazards. Are you and your crews prepared?

11 Ontario Report Crombie Advisory Panel Report released, OHBA’s annual Queen’s Park Day, Make Way for Laneway Report confirms some populations shrinking, EnerQuality hosts Innovation Housing Forum, EQ Hall of Fame honours Andy Goyda, College of Trades recommendations unveiled, tech tour highlights net-zero projects

23 Marketing 10 inspired tips for 2016 from some of North America’s leading experts

17 Human Capital The impact of Bill 106 on condo builders

27 Technology Two new products highlight the evolution of worksite monitoring 29 Top Shelf From hybrid windows and minimalist bath designs to dazzling electric fireplaces, the latest in builder and renovator gear

67 Better Building Trending colours and tiles for 2016, building a better framework for environmental approvals, the benefits of water monitoring technology, free energy design advice, top five homeowner concerns and a CHBA study reveals what today’s buyers really want 77 Product Focus Manufacturers showcase their wares as the energy efficiency battle heats up 82 Outside the Box Thanks to new technology, classic craftsmanship is back in style

ontario home builder WINTER 2016

5

The official publication of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association Winter 2016 | Vol. 32 Issue 1

editor

Ted McIntyre ted@laureloak.ca

Introducing Amdry, the only insulated subfloor panel with integrated moisture resistant film and raised drainage channels.

associate editor

Norma Kimmins, OHBA art director

Erik Mohr copy editor

Barbara Chambers contributors

Bruce Bolduc, Avi Friedman, Esme Froggett, Tracy Hanes, Marc Huminilowycz, Robert A. Miller, Dan O’Reilly, Michael Ryval, Joe Vaccaro, Mark Wessel PHOTOGRAPHY

Margaret Mulligan advertising sales

Tricia Beaudoin ext. 223 tricia@laureloak.ca Cindy Kaye, ext. 232 cindy@laureloak.ca publisher

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

Wayne Narciso

ste r Sy m te

Conn ec

Published by

Laurel Oak Custom Publishing laureloak.ca

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

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One Voice

Creating Opportunities OHBA’s advocacy work makes things happen

By Joe Vaccaro OHBA’s mantra of “Engage, Inform and Educate” is repeated several times in this column as the advocacy approach we take on industry issues with government, the public, media, stakeholder groups and, of course, our industry and members. It’s an approach that keeps OHBA in the room for important discussions, and at the top of the stakeholder engagement lists when public policy decisions are being made that impact our sector.

OHBA has developed a professional reputation by engaging in respectful dialogue, presenting credible information and providing effective solutions and proposals for government action. If only government would take all of our advice!

An example of a successful industry proposal is illustrated in our feature on six-storey wood on page 58. The seeds of OHBA’s advocacy work on this matter have now sprouted and you can read about the challenges, lessons learned and potential future of this type of new-home construction from builders who are embracing its opportunities.

The story goes back to early 2013, when OHBA, BILD and the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) held a media conference with Toronto’s Chief Planner and Chief Building Official that called for changes to the Ontario Building Code (OBC) to allow this safe housing option for Ontario families. OHBA also joined with other groups, including the Canadian Wood Council (CWC) and the Ontario Forestry Industries Association, to help inform and educate government about the merits of this mid-rise form of construction.

Government took our advice and proposed ohba.ca

OBC amendments to permit six-storey wood construction and included several ‘made-inOntario’ fire safety provisions to ensure the safety of building occupants and emergency responders. MMAH Minister Ted McMeekin joined OHBA at our 2014 Conference as we celebrated the announcement that members could build six-storey wood-frame buildings on Jan. 1, 2015.

In the short 15 months since the announcement, OHBA has been busy helping members get up to speed.

With our partners at CWC, OHBA organized two sold-out housing tours to British Columbia in 2015, where eager members learned first hand how builders in that province have been successfully building this type of housing since 2009. Our recent fall conference welcomed Surrey, B.C. Fire Chief Len Garis, who led an informative session on fire safety and wood construction. OHBA facilitated meetings and forums for members with municipal staff, Tarion and building officials to provide training and expedite the introduction of six-storey wood in Ontario.

OHBA’s work to engage, inform and educate goes beyond the government as we reach out to members and the public. It is an approach we also take in supporting our members in their businesses as OHBA combines effective advocacy efforts with member education and proactive training.

So while our industry is continually developing, changing and evolving, one thing won’t change: OHBA’s commitment to help members stay informed and educated. OHB

“OHBA’s work to engage, inform and educate goes beyond the government.”

joe vaccaro is the CEO of OHBA. ontario home builder WINTER 2016

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Ontario Report

Crombie Report Released In early December 2015, the Crombie Advisory Panel released a 180-page detailed and sweeping report with 87 recommendations coming out of its review of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

OHBA welcomes future discussions with the Ontario government, municipalities, residents, farmers, environmental groups and other stakeholders to improve our quality of life with amendments to the Growth Plan and Greenbelt.

In particular, OHBA supports the panel’s recommendations to: •

•

Increase focused investment in transit initiatives to support complete communities;

Address barriers to intensification and the development of affordable housing by encouraging use of tools such as up-to-date zoning, the development

•

permit system, community improvement plans and reduced residential parking requirements where transit and active transportation options exist; and

Clarify policies in the Growth Plan to better identify strategic areas within the region’s planned and existing transit network that should be a focal point for intensification efforts, in collaboration with municipalities and stakeholders.

OHBA participated extensively in the public consultation process since the Co-ordinated Review was announced in February 2015. OHBA volunteers and staff attended all of the town hall meetings across the Greater Golden Horseshoe and submitted

a comprehensive set of recommendations to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry as part of the first phase of the Co-ordinated Review.

OHBA also met directly with Premier Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ted McMeekin as well as the Expert Advisory Panel during the consultation process to discuss OHBA recommendations. OHBA will continue to be engaged and keep members up-to-date on the Co-ordinated Review during the second phase of the consultation as the government considers the recommendations and potential amendments to the four plans, and how the next phase of consultation will unfold.

CORRECTION In OHB’s annual Awards of Distinction edition, we inadvertently misidentified Timberline Custom Homes. The Woodview, Ontario builder captured the award for “Most Outstanding Home 5,001 SF and Over” for its “Rustic Stoney Lake Home” in Peterborough County. Timberline also hauled in multiple awards at this year’s Peterborough and The Kawarthas Home Builders Association Awards, taking honours as 2015 Custom Home Builder of the Year, Custom-Built Home Over 2,501 SF, Home Renovations of $75,001-200,000 and Home Renovations Over $200,001.

ohba.ca

ontario home builder WINTER 2016

11

Ontario Report

OHBA at Queen’s Park

OHBA President John Meinen with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Ted McMeekin.

OHBA was joined by member delegates from across our network of 30 local associations for the association’s annual Queen’s Park Day held in late fall.

The day began with a breakfast reception in the legislative dining room, which was well attended by MPPs from all three parties, with remarks from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Ted McMeekin, MPP Ernie Hardeman from the PC Caucus and MPP Percy Hatfield from the NDP Caucus. Following breakfast, attendees split up into smaller working groups and attended a series of strategic meetings with MPPs and key ministry staff whose portfolios affect our industry.

Queen’s Park Day offered an opportunity to reconnect with key individuals on issues of importance to the industry and opened the door for future meetings.

OHBA will continue to engage and educate MPPs and key officials on issues of importance to the association and the industry.

OHBA Technology Tour Highlights Net-Zero Projects In mid-November, nearly 50 members from across the province embarked on OHBA’s annual Housing Technology Tour, featuring some of the first Net-Zero-Energy (NZE) homes built in Ontario. The sold-out tour presented diverse strategies from three trailblazing builders to achieve NZE homes in Ontario communities: Reid’s Heritage Homes (Guelph), Sloot Construction (Guelph) and Wrighthaven Homes (Elora). An NZE home means that the amount of energy used is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on an annual basis.

Hosted by OHBA’s Technical Committee past chair Andy Oding from Building Knowledge Canada, the tour visited three different sites in various stages of construction and provided insight into the evolving solutions and lessons learned from builders to build NZE and NZE-Ready homes. The tour demystified some preconceptions about NZE homes and allowed participants to understand the builders’ challenges and opportunities throughout the process.

OHBA thanks all the tour participants, sponsor JELD-WEN Windows and Doors, and builders who featured their projects on this tour.

For more information on this topic, check out our feature article on page 50, “Net Zero Ready or Not,” or contact the OHBA office.

12

ontario home builder WINTER 2016

OHBA and Pembina Release Make Way For Laneway Report

Allowing more small-scale housing units in established neighbourhoods would increase the supply of affordable housing options and help local businesses, according to a new joint report from the Pembina Institute and OHBA. The Make Way for Laneway report confirms that the population of some older neighbourhoods is actually shrinking, as residents age and their children move out.

Introducing more small-scale housing options in these established neighbourhoods would keep the population stable, which, in turn, provides the customers that local businesses need to continue to thrive.

The report highlights four solutions to the obstacles faced by infill developments in these areas. Implementing these solutions would allow small-scale housing to reach its potential and help address the region’s affordability gap. To view the report visit: pembina. org/pub/make-way-forlaneway.

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Ontario Report

College of Trades Review Recommendations Released

One Day—Two Amazing Events EnerQuality, Canada’s No. 1 certifier of energy-efficient homes, will host a comprehensive one-day Housing Innovation Forum on February 25, followed by the annual EQ Awards Gala—two events not to be missed—with early-bird pricing in effect until January 20.

Under the theme of ‘Next Gen Next 10,’ participants from across Ontario will explore the future of ‘green’ home building including new building standards and programs that will lead the way towards the end goal of intensification and Net Zero construction.

Topics include Building codes and energy efficiency standards, low-rise and multifamily building performance, sustainable community development and more.

EQ Hall of Fame Honours Goyda Congratulations to Andy Goyda, who will be honoured as a member of EnerQuality’s Hall of Fame at the annual EQ Awards Gala Feb. 25.

The prestigious award recognizes an individual who has made a significant and long-term impact advocating energy efficiency and green building practices in the new-housing industry. Goyda has worked in the residential industry for more than 40 years and is the 14

Net Zero A panel of builders involved in the Net-Zero Homes pilot program will share their experiences and thoughts on the ambitious program.

EQ Innovation Gauntlet Back by popular demand, the Gauntlet will showcase the industry’s most innovative products and services to a panel of judges in a Dragons’ Den-style competition where the audience decides the winner.

EQ Awards Gala Industry leaders and influencers in energy efficiency will be honoured.

Date Thursday, Feb. 25 Place Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel and Suites in Richmond Hill Register Early-bird pricing until Jan. 20 at eqinnovation.ca

Canadian Builder Lead and Market Development Manager for Owens Corning Canada.

Goyda’s commitment to energy efficiency and the Energy Star program, as well as his unwavering support of builders who are committed to continual improvement, is admired and respected among his industry peers. As well, Goyda has played an important part in Owens Corning Canada’s role as lead proponent for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)’s ecoENERG Innovation Initiative, which provides a guideline for building Net Zero Energy Homes in a production setting across five communities in four provinces.

Past recipients of the Hall of Fame honours include Peter Gilgan, David Horton, Bruce Gough, Ross Elliot and Stephen Dupuis.

ontario home builder WINTER 2016

When the government announced a review of the Ontario College of Trades in 2014, OHBA members took action. Local associations from across Ontario contacted government officials and reviewer Tony Dean to ensure he consulted with all areas of the province.

OHBA was encouraged that the government and Mr. Dean listened and embarked on an extensive regional consultation. The panel met with representatives from 15 different HBAs and more than 50 members. In late November, Dean released his report, which makes 28 recommendations to government and OCOT. Highlights include: • •

•

A robust system for future trade classification reviews that take place outside of OCOT structure New criteria for journeyperson-to-apprentice ratio reviews that incorporates data related to demographic and labour market information, economic impact and the demand for skilled trades in different regions across the provinces New options for employers and workers to appeal OCOT enforcement actions so that enforcement targets the underground economy and high-risk activities

OHBA CEO Joe Vaccaro is now serving as chair of the Ontario Skilled Trades Alliance (OSTA), and the organization has responded to the Dean Report. OHBA also continues to work closely with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce on this issue.

2016 Ohba Presidents ASSOCIATION LOCAL PRESIDENTS Steve Deveaux (Chair) Matt Langendoen Rod Buchalter Scott Vandersluis Vance De Saulnier Bob Cox Heidi Stephenson Dan Burrows Grant Worton Tim Oomen Shane Sisson Raymond Zenkovich Mike Teepell Alison Alexander Jake Draper Chuck McShane Robert Miller Bob Ridley Chuck Louttet Garnet Northey Gord McCrady Dean Fuisz Peter DeBoer Scott Henderson Shawn Still Bill Veitch Louie Zagordo Chris Kelos Graem Jackson Ben Klundert

BILD Bluewater Brantford Chatham-Kent Cornwall Construction Association Greater Dufferin Durham Region Grey-Bruce Guelph & District Haldimand Haliburton County Hamilton-Halton Kingston Frontenac Lanark-Leeds London Niagara North Bay & District Greater Ottawa Oxford County Peterborough & The Kawarthas Quinte Renfrew St. Thomas-Elgin Sarnia-Lambton Simcoe County Stratford & Area Sudbury & District Thunder Bay Waterloo Region Windsor Essex

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Human Capital

Impact of Bill 106 What the proposed legislation means for condo builders

By Robert A. Miller and Esme Froggett According to government statis-

tics, there are around 10,000 registered condominium corporations containing approximately 700,000 condominium units within Ontario. In addition, over half of new homes currently under construction in the province are condos. Since over one million people in Ontario presently live in condominiums, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services is striving toward increased consumer protection for condo buyers and owners, leading to the recent proposed reform of the Condominium Act, 1998, through the enactment of anticipated legislation called Bill 106, Protecting Condominium Owners Act, 2015. In addition to amending certain provisions of the Condominium Act, this bill would enact the proposed Condominium Management Services Act, 2015, and amend the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act (ONHWPA), together with other legislation as it relates to condominiums in Ontario. The following general overview will focus on what specifically these proposed changes could mean for developers of new condominium projects in Ontario.

The proposed bill will require condo developers to provide prospective purchasers with a guide to be published by the Ministry, which would include information regarding the governance of condominium corporations and the individual rights and obligations of their owners. It is intended that buyers would read this guide during the 10-day cooling-off period following execution of their purchase agreements.

The purpose of the guide would be to provide these buyers with additional insight into the implications of owning and living in a condominium unit, thereby presumably assisting in making an informed deciohba.ca

sion in connection with their purchase.

Certain provisions of the proposed bill are a result of the Ministry’s desire to implement regulations aimed at standardizing condominium disclosure statements, declarations and other condominium-related documents designed to provide potential buyers with the appropriate information.

This would include specific details regarding the condo development that regulators believe would be helpful to assist consumers in making an informed decision. Of particular concern to consumer protection advocates is what they categorize as unpleasant surprises that new condominium owners may discover following closing. They argue that purchasers are charged for additional unexpected costs on the basis that they have not otherwise been properly or clearly set out by a developer in the disclosure documents. One of the stated goals of ultimately implementing the proposed bill is to provide more com-

prehensive rules for developers to follow in respect of clearer pre-closing disclosure in an attempt to eliminate this element of surprise. The proposed regulations, once enacted, would require certain nonnegotiable content in disclosure packages and possibly developers’ websites. This increased standardization could perhaps make it easier for less sophisticated buyers looking at multiple condominium projects to make more meaningful comparisons among the different developments and potentially simplify the decision-making process for them.

The proposed bill also seeks to amend the ONHWPA, such that the current protections will extend to certain residential condominium conversion projects in an attempt to lessen inequities among the levels of protection for purchasers of different types of projects. Currently, conversions of existing residential buildings to condominiums are not covered by the statutory ontario home builder WINTER 2016

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warranties provided under the ONHWPA, as they are constructed on existing foundations. Pursuant to the proposed bill, a residential conversion project cannot be registered as a condominium unless it has been enrolled pursuant to the ONHWPA. It should be noted here that despite this expanded coverage, the pre-existing elements of these residential condo conversion projects will be excluded from the warranties provided under the ONHWPA, such that only the newly constructed components of the building will be covered.

In addition to pre-closing disclosure matters, the proposed bill will place certain restrictions on the practice of developers participating in the sale or leaseback of amenity units. One of the more common—and current—examples of this is when a developer retains ownership of the recreational facilities unit and then sells or leases it back to the condominium corporation. The new regulations will specify which components in the condominium must either form part of the common elements or be owned by the condominium corporation from its inception. The proposed bill will also regulate certain provisions to be included in shared facilities agreements, such as the method for distributing shared costs. These same regulations will also determine in which situations the installation of separate utility meters would be required in order to eliminate the potential inequities arising from bulk metering.

All of these changes implemented by the proposed bill will, if enacted, place a greater emphasis on consumer protection and ultimately lead to a higher onus being placed on developers to make information about each condominium project more accessible to consumers and standardized on their behalf. In instances where adequate disclosure is not made to prospective buyers in accordance with the Condominium Act, as amended, then presumably the cooling-off period shall continue to run, as is currently the case.

It will be interesting to see how the proposed bill, when enacted, will change the manner in which developers disclose the contents of their proposed condominium projects and a prospective buyer’s reaction to these changes. OHB Robert A. Miller is a partner and Esme Froggett an associate with Chaitons’ Real

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health & safety

Baby, It’s Cold Outside There are unique safety hazards in the winter season

By Bruce Bolduc As we all know, every year in construction we have an event occur that can contribute to accidents and injuries at work: winter.

One of the problems we encounter as safety experts is that, even though winter comes along every year around this time, workers seem ill prepared. A perfect example is to look at how many accidents occur on the highways at the first snowfall of the season. Why? We humans get very complacent very quickly and believe that everything is the same as the day before. Sadly, it’s not the case. The weather is different every day and we generally do not adapt very well to change.

One of the challenges is we are not as flexible as normal when we’re cold. Also, winter clothes are more restrictive in movement. Workers need to take time to adjust to the weather and adopt the best work practices accordingly.

Frost can be a hazard that we easily overlook. Heavy frost on metal can cause burns and other damage to exposed skin.

Frost on wood surfaces can cause a slip hazard that, while not likely to be fatal, often leads to lower back strains and injuries. Also, ramps and other access and egress points are dangerous. This can be attributed to a lack of attention when first arriving or setting up on site. Many injuries on site occur when we first arrive or as we pack up.

Snow is, of course, a major hazard for construction. With slips and trips more likely, given the conditions, this is when housekeeping can become that much more important. Materials and other hazards become buried and present a potentially much greater hazard. Housekeeping must be done daily or as often as required during the day.

Temporary heat is also necessary, but also brings on a number of safety challenges.

First, the person installing the temporary ohba.ca

heat, propane or natural gas, must be trained by an approved training provider—and they must have that proof readily available upon request. Heaters greater than 400,000 BTUs must be installed by a licensed gas fitter.

And while it may be mighty cold out, remember that the risk of fire is very real.

Make sure that clearances are maintained and combustibles cleared from the area around heaters. Also, a fire extinguisher must be nearby and readily accessible.

One hazard I find completely avoidable but that occurs all too often is workers drying clothes or warming food and other products on the heaters. Heaters are not BBQs! Also, note that paint and other products have the fire/explosion symbol on them for a reason.

One group of workers I know discovered the hard way that cans of foam insulation will explode when exposed to open flame.

This time of year also brings about a problem with workers smoking indoors.

Besides being unlawful, it also creates a fire

hazard for wood construction.

Builders should be aware of the risk and potential increase in insurance costs associated with allowing this to happen.

Finally, this weather brings on a hazard not often thought about but that can be a major issue with residential construction —and that’s parking. As the snow fills the streets it makes parking and access to the job more difficult. Builders should keep in mind how they’ll maintain access to the lot or site and to where they’ll be removing the snow. They must also take measures to ensure access for EMS when the road is full of construction vehicles.

Safety talks and safe work plans should be reviewed with all sub-trades as well as suppliers and workers prior to the weather affecting their jobs. OHB Bruce Bolduc is the president of Construction Workplace Safety Training Ltd. and past chair of OHBA’s Health and Safety Committee. ontario home builder WINTER 2016

21

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marketing

Expert Advice 10 sales and marketing tips for the year ahead B.C.-based Lasso Customer Relation-

ship Management (CRM) solicited sales and marketing advice from a host of industry experts. Here’s some of the savvy feedback they received.

1. Give credence to each customer!

Great service is not just smart business; it’s a moral obligation. Treat every customer as if they have 10,000 Twitter followers. —Myers Barnes, Myers Barnes Associates 2. Focus on responsiveness in 2016.

The National Association of Realtors does a survey each year with new-home buyers.

They ask buyers what traits they’re looking for in a salesperson. Apart from the obvious of market knowledge, honesty, integrity and understanding the purchase process, is responsiveness. If you aren’t responding in a timely, thoughtful manner, your competition will. Have a system in place and make the effort to fine-tune a sale process that will impress, delight and engage your prospective home buyers. —Dave Betcher, Lasso CRM 3. It’s all about personalization

and customization in new-home sales. There is no one-size-fits-all method anymore.

Your presentations must be individualized for everyone that walks through your sales office. The only way to master this is through powerful questioning and listening. Savvy sales people use to tailor their presentations to meet the specific needs and desires of their prospects. You need to work hard to identify what’s really important to your clients and then master your presentation skills. — Melinda Brody, Melinda Brody & Co. 4. Love what you do and what you create. Your buyers and team can feel the ohba.ca

difference. Love begets love, whether that is in an email, video, text message or a chat. If you put that one ingredient into all that you do, it’s a game-changer. —Ronda Conger, CBH Homes 5. There is nothing more powerful than helping your prospective buyers

make an educated purchasing decision.

By giving them the tools to ask the right questions, and by showing them specifically what sets your company apart, you not only gain trust but you eliminate the room for miscommunication throughout the process.

There’s no reason why every builder shouldn’t be able to tell a buyer—from day one to move-in—what to expect when working with their company. My advice is to make it simple and exciting. Celebrate milestones in the process with your buyers. You’re building someone’s home. It’s where they will live and make their memories, and you have the opportunity to make the experience a positive one. —Mollie Elkman, Group Two Advertising

6. Capture is the keyword! Capture

online home shoppers and nurture them to the settlement table. There is so much online activity today being overlooked because builders aren’t aware that it’s even there. Home shoppers do the bulk of their searching online and their unconscious goal is to eliminate choices; not to pick you. If they eliminate you because your site is poorly built, your product doesn’t show well or any other reason, the gig is up and you didn’t even know that lead existed.

Every builder hoping to capture the market for new homes must take steps to capture online leads. And nothing does that better than a great CRM and marketing automation software. —Brian Flook, Power Marketing 7. Marketing is all about your website. Far more cost-effective and

trackable than traditional advertising, online marketing extends your reach, allowing you to cast a wider net when it comes to grabbing leads. We recommend pairing your Facebook ontario home builder WINTER 2016

23

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ads and Google AdWords with ad-specific landing pages to ramp up your ads’ success at converting clicks into actual leads. —Chip Johnson, Builder Designs 8. One strategy I’m excited to implement is ‘geo-fencing,’ where we

target ads to home shoppers who have just left a competitor’s model home and, within 50 metres, show them an ad incentivizing a visit to our community. With websites, we’re seeing that most of the real estate sites coming online are parallax-scrolling websites (where background images move by the camera slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D scene and adding to the immersion). The use of big, gorgeous photos is also a big trend. And note that social-ad spending is going up as marketers realize the need to nurture their overall ‘web presence’ instead of just focusing on the website. — Robert O’Shaughnessy, New Ground PR 9. You can only have a few areas of focus over any given time period to

be really successful at any of them. This year, I challenge you to make sure one of them is to integrate all of your marketing efforts. The reality is that as the way we market to prospects has changed, many have simply ‘bolted on’ the new thing to their old program. Sure, you have a Google AdWords account, but you may hardly ever look at it, and the ads themselves are dated in their copy or design. Take a second look at everything you do and ask yourself what needs to be updated or overhauled, and what you should put a bullet in. Create a “stopdoing list” so you have time to execute your “to do” list. —Kevin Oakley, Do You Convert 10. If you want to sell more homes, take more pictures and shoot more

videos! I can’t emphasize enough the importance of capturing compelling visual content for your digital and print marketing.

Stop using the same stock photos everyone else uses and create custom content that will click with your customers. Whatever you’re spending now on photography and videography isn’t enough. Double it for 2016 and cut something else that isn’t producing leads that convert into sales. Custom content can be leveraged so many ways that it is easy to justify the expense and see a return on investment. —Meredith Oliver, Creating WOW —Reprinted with permission from B.C.-based Lasso CRM OHB 24

ontario home builder WINTER 2016

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technology

The Evolution of Worksite Monitoring New products improve efficiency and security Looking for a bird’s-eye view, in real time, of an entire worksite? B.C.-based Lightship has launched an advanced productivity and safety system that provides just that. The application, also called Lightship, connects with mobile devices and worksite sensors to track and communicate with thousands of people, and provides a perfect memory of all worksite events. The results are notably improved worker response times and coordination, as well as lower operating costs.

Despite the evolution of communications technology, developers have had to rely on many of the same worksite management tools for years. But Lightship (lightshipworks.com) offers a more modern approach, says Jae Reichel, CEO of Lightship.

“It represents the ‘start-of-the-smarttech’ revolution for site managers,” says Reichel. “Instead of having to rely on technologically limited radio systems and standalone equipment monitoring, site teams will now have clear, real-time awareness of their entire worksite, even in remote locations.

Task assignment and management, sensor integration, event history, automated emergency alerts and a vastly superior communications system means worksites will be better, safer and smarter.”

From an asset performance standpoint, Lightship monitors the usage and downtime of equipment as well as performance levels. It also enables managers to monitor and communicate with workers who are alone or in potentially dangerous locations/circumstances (including automated emergency response communication).

One-Key Solution

When it comes to remotely monitoring your site’s equipment, Milwaukee Tool is introducing One-Key, the first digital platohba.ca

form for tools and equipment. By integrating industry-leading tool electronics with a custom-built cloud-based program, One-Key will provide a new level of control and access to information—one that “will fundamentally change the way users interact with their tools, and help solve user problems the industry has never before been able to address,” says the company.

The first phase of One-Key (milwaukeetool.com/ONE-KEY) will deliver three core benefits that will have an immediate impact on productivity: tool control, inventory management and tool reporting. The program’s capabilities (available through the web and mobile app) are continuing to grow.

The Inventory Management component creates a central place for users to manage all of their tools and equipment across their network of jobs and operators, enabling companies to keep detailed records of each tool (including non-Milwaukee brands). Managers are also able to assign locations or specific

owners to each asset, providing accountability, while enabling easy information sharing between the field and office. As a cloud-based solution, updates and edits will be synchronized real-time throughout an organization.

The Tool Reporting component allows you to wirelessly synchronize with the web, with the user able to upload data and history to create custom reports that track the success and timing of electrical terminations. The program will also assist in tracking the use and service intervals of tools to maximize uptime.

The cornerstone of the platform, Tool Control, is being added this month to coincide with the launch of the company’s new M18 Fuel Drilling and Driving products, which will sync wirelessly to the app. It will allow users to completely customize their own profile with torque and speed settings. With a touch of a button, users will be able to easily go back and forth between saved profiles so that each application is tackled with the most accurate and productive settings. OHB ontario home builder winter 2016

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Top shelf Ideas for Builders & Renovators

A Hybrid of Durability and Style JELD-WEN Aluminum-Clad Vinyl Hybrid windows offer the same easy maintenance and high performance as an all-vinyl product, but with increased durability. Available in a number of different styles, the model features a variety of customizable design options. jeld-wen.ca

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Top shelf

Illusion of Brilliant Fire Dimplex has added 34” and 74” models to its new Prism Series of linear electric fireplaces. Dazzling colour shining through crystal ice media reveals the biggest addition, with a new ember bed now upgrading what was a warm glow to an eye-catching sparkle. It’s enhanced by seven standard settings and a “Prism” mode that cycles through the full colour spectrum— all operated by a remote control and with a screen that is cool to the touch. dimplex.com

Building ‘New’ with Stone Fresco Building Stone meets the growing demand for an authentic stone product that complements the clean lines and other natural materials showcased in today’s contemporary home. Fresco’s unique tumbled and split finish creates a classic, yet dynamic finished appearance. Arriscraft offers a full selection of naturally made, lowmaintenance and highly durable building stone for modern designs.

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Not Your Ordinary Garage Door Sleek and modern, Steel-Craft’s Contemporary series offers the look and feel of real wood without the maintenance issues. The door’s clean ‘plank-style’ finish fills a growing demand for designer-inspired products, while featuring uncompromising durability and function. This insulated steel door has an exterior that won’t require staining or painting. Unlike real wood, it will not warp, shrink, peel or crack, making it ideal for the Canadian climate. View it with Steel-Craft’s Door Designer tool at Steel-craft.ca .

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ontario home builder WINTER 2016

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Top shelf

Tag-Teaming Wall Air and Moisture Leakage Dryvit’s Backstop NT and AquaFlash are the architect’s ideal air- and water-resistive barrier solution to exterior wall moisture and air leakage.

Chemically bonding together, the polymer-based and liquid-applied Backstop NT protects the substrate, and AquaFlash the rough wall openings.

Engineered to be versatile and easy to apply, once fully cured, these materials can be left exposed to the elements for 30 days or more. dryvit.ca

Maxing Out Minimalism MTI Baths’ new Boutique Collection Vanity Sink is a perfectly proportioned geometric minimalist design—sleek, clean, sophisticated and easy to clean and maintain. Made from a proprietary engineered solid stone, it’s available in a variety of configurations, including 12 sink variations and two designs: the classic Parsons look with squared legs and the more modern waterfall style with solid sides. mtibaths.com

Guaranteed Exceptional!

The trusted Amana brand has introduced the AMVM97 Modulating, Variable-Speed Furnace. The reengineered stainless steel, tubular primary heat exchanger now featured in Amana brand gas furnaces employs wrinkle-bend technology to deliver extraordinary durability and long-term reliability. Its 98% AFUE rating is off the charts, with other features including a touchscreen LCD thermostat, noise-reduction insulation and an arguably industry-leading warranty. amana-hac.com

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ontario home builder WINTER 2016

Hot Fusion Fusing together ease of installation, no-mortar convenience and a rugged, traditional visual effect, Fusion Stone’s Great Lakes style has added two new colours to the lineup: Fawn and Carbon. The patented thin stone veneer system, which can be installed on both new and existing wall assemblies, includes stainless steel clips and screws and is backed by a lifetime guarantee. fusionstone.ca ohba.ca

Hanson Brick is now Forterra Brick We’ve changed our name but our commitment to producing quality brick products has never been stronger. Our new name, Forterra Brick, is an evolution that means we give form — FOR, to the earth — TERRA. But it’s also a promise. One that says every brick we make is made to meet the highest standards — yours.

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*Based on market share and/or an independent national survey at time of ad preparation. © Sears Canada Inc., 2015. All rights reserved.

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eco n o m i c o u t lo o k

% A turn for the better

Slight growth predicted, despite higher rates in 2016

By Michael Ryval

Drastically lower oil prices and a drop in capital investment in the energy sector conspired to weaken the Canadian economy last year, yet 2016 is shaping up to be considerably stronger. Although better economic prospects will eventually lead to rising interest rates and put pressure on the cost of mortgages, the prognosis remains fairly positive.

“We’re expecting that growth will accelerate in 2016 and are forecasting 2.2% real GDP growth in Canada,” says Robert Hogue, Toronto-based senior economist at RBC Royal Bank. “That will be a significant improvement over the 1.2% growth we expect to see for 2015.”

Performance last year was weighed down by a poor first half due to a combination of

factors such as severe weather, supply chain issues emanating from western U.S. ports, and the re-tooling of vehicle assembly plants in Ontario, Hogue notes. “Those factors exacerbated the shock in the energy sector that was due to lower oil prices, which led to a dramatic decline in capital investment in the sector.”

In 2016, Ontario is expected to grow by

ontario’s advantage Unaffected by the shock to the energy sector (as a net importer of oil), Ontario is expected to experience economic growth of 2.1% in 2016. The lower Canadian dollar should also provide a boost to the province’s export market.

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ontario home builder winter 2016

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eco n o m i c o u t lo o k

36

ontario home builder winter 2016

Ontario Market stats 2004-2016 (F)

100,000

Total:

, Multi:

, Single:

90,000

80,000

70,000

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

2016 (f)

2015 (f)

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

0

2004

2.1%. “The province was not affected by the big shock in the energy sector, which really impacted Alberta,” says Hogue. “In fact, Ontario will be a net beneficiary of low prices, because it’s a net importer of oil. Lower crude oil prices mean lower gas pump prices, which benefit households and businesses.” Concurrently, the sharp drop in oil prices, which resulted in a weak Canadian dollar, is also improving the competitiveness of export-oriented manufacturers.

The first half of 2015 was disappointing, Hogue admits, as the expected so-called “lift-off” in non-energy exports did not occur. “Nonetheless, the lower dollar will be a strong boost to Ontario’s export sector. Over the second half of 2015 and into 2016 we’ll see exporters respond to the lower Canadian dollar and a stronger U.S. economy, which should be in full flight in 2016.” RBC is forecasting that the U.S. will see 3% GDP growth next year, compared to 2.6% in 2015.

Monetary policy is a key factor that shapes economies, and the U.S. Federal Reserve was expected to finally start raising the so-called Fed funds rate of 0.25% by the end of 2015.

“These are still emergency-level interest rates,” says Hogue. “The Fed ended their quantitative easing program some time ago.

The next phase will be gradually removing the conventional monetary stimulus.”

With the U.S. economy at close to full employment, Hogue believes that the Federal Reserve will gradually hike interest rates to 2% by the end of 2016.

In a similar vein, rates are expected to move up again in Canada. Hogue forecasts that the Bank of Canada, which twice cut its overnight rate in 2015, will move the rate back to 1% by the fourth quarter of 2016.

While he does not believe that variablerate mortgages will be impacted, fixedrate mortgages, which are tied to five-year bond prices, “will likely face some upward pressure before the end of 2016.”

A benign interest rate environment and supply-demand dynamics helped Ontario’s home-building industry in 2015, as there were an estimated 64,900 housing starts in 2015. That was a 9.8% increase over the 59,134 starts in 2014. “In large part this reflects what is happening in the existing home market,” says Hogue, adding that the forecast for 2016 is 64,300 housing starts.

“There is very strong demand and not

levelling off? Low interest rates and a favourable supply-demand dynamic helped boost housing starts 9.8% in 2015 to an estimated 64,900. While interest rates are expected to climb slightly late in 2016, provincial housing starts next year are still estimated at a healthy 64,300.

enough supply. The market is quite tight and absorption has been surprisingly strong. In short, the market is calling for more units to be built to satisfy all that demand.”

Hogue argues there is a two-tier market.

On one side there are single-family detached homes that are in short supply and command seven-figure prices in some parts of the Greater Toronto Area. On the other side is the condo market, which accounts for about 75% of building activity in the GTA. “That segment is more balanced since prices have not increased as much as single detached homes.”

When figures are reported, home prices in 2015 are expected to be about 8% higher than in 2014. But the rate of increase is expected to moderate to about 4% to 4.5%

in 2016. “We expect that demand will start to cool as affordability is being stretched in the GTA. As interest rates start to rise, it will exacerbate affordability pressures,” says Hogue, noting that currently 59.4% of household income would be required to carry mortgage costs, utilities and property taxes for a single-family bungalow at current prices and interest rates in Toronto.

“We expect household income to rise, but at a moderate pace. Past price increases have put pressure on affordability.”

Hogue argues that 2016 will be the start of a transition toward a higher, more “normal” interest rate environment. “It will likely take a number of years. The dynamics of the market will adjust to the change when interest rates start rising.” OHB ohba.ca

eco n o m i c o u t lo o k

the affordability challenge new housing starts will take a hit from higher interest rates, but the reno market will benefit

By Tracy Hanes

Though market experts predict Ontario’s housing market will start to lose steam over the next two years, it will be a soft landing.

Analysts forecast a modest pullback will mark a return to balanced market conditions in 2016 and 2017. Sales will be strong in select areas of the province, but there are early warning signs that Toronto and Ottawa could be headed for trouble.

And while the new housing sector might not be as strong, there will be opportunities w ithin the three R s: renovation, resale and rental.

Ted Tsiakopoulos, Ontario regional economist for the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, says housing construction in the province will remain ohba.ca

elevated in the short term, with 65,000 starts expected in 2016, roughly the same as 2015. But “we do expect a pullback by 2017,” when Tsiakopoulos expects new home starts to drop to just below 60,000 units. Those figures are well below the projected long-run demand based on Statistics Canada census data.

Diana Petramala, economist for TD Bank Financial Group, says in the first half of 2016 the winding down of pent-up demand created by interest rate cuts in 2015 will result in a gradual slowing of the market. “We will see a more balanced market in Ontario as the market moves back to more sustainable levels,” she says.

“I think low-rise will remain stronger than condo housing,” adds Petramala,

who says even though the population is aging, many older homebuyers still prefer low-rise living to high-rise, although townhouses and stacked townhouses may have appeal to the boomer generation.

The Canadian Real Estate Association predicts the national average resale price to edge higher by 2% to $442,400 in 2016.

Price growth is forecast to be strongest in Ontario (up 2.8%) due to an ongoing supply shortage of listings for low-rise homes in and around the Greater Toronto Area. Tsiakopoulos, however, reports that Ontario average home prices will grow at a slower rate than they have in recent years— ranging between $435,900 and $513,500 in 2016 and $410,000 and $551,200 in 2017—the expected decline due mainly to ontario home builder winter 2016

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eco n o m i c o u t lo o k

Higher End Home Sales Skewing prices higher Growth in Toronto single-detached MLS © sales is concentrated in higher price ranges

2014Q1/2015Q1

50 40 30 20 10 0 -10 -20

<$400,000

$400,000 $799,999

$800,000 $999,999

>$1,000,000

Source: CREA, Toronto Real Estate Board, CMHC calculations CANADA MORTGAGE AND HOUSING CORPORATION

the easing of demand for more expensive housing. Ontario sales, he notes, will range between 193,000 and 225,000 units in 2016 before easing off to between 175,000 and 220,000 units in 2017.

Demand for resale homes will hold up better versus new construction due to affordability.

INFLUENCING FACTORS Tsiakopoulos says the expected long-term decline is mainly due to both lower demand and an underperforming economy.

“Job growth has not matched what we’ve seen prior to 2008,” he explains. “Jobs are important and shape consumer confidence and housing demand, and that’s one reason why we are seeing construction levels remain below the long-run average.”

38

ontario home builder winter 2016

Inventory of unsold new homes is slightly above average as well, with half that inventory in Toronto and a little more than 18% in Ottawa.

“Interest rates are starting to trend higher and when you look at inventories, it’s more of a condominium story—they have edged higher,” Tsiakopoulis says.

“It’s not alarming or problematic at this point, but it’s one of the things we hope the industry takes into consideration. We’re thinking builders will channel buying activity to existing inventory.”

The aging demographic is another inf luence. Most grow th in Ontario households and spending comes from 55to 64-year-olds, who contribute more than 40% in all growth in household formation.

“This group is big, and over time they are less mobile,” says Tsiakopoulos. “Part of

it has to do with aging. Part of it is they are comfortable in their community and don’t want to move away. And part of it has to do with listings in the price range they’d be looking at in terms of a next move. Whether it’s Toronto, Hamilton or Ottawa, listings are fairly tight and there’s not a lot of choice.”

Immigration is another factor, and while Ontario is still gaining immigrants and not losing as many people to the west, net migration has dropped close to a 20-year low and has been slipping from 2012 to 2014, says Tsiakopoulos.

“Ontario is capturing a smaller portion of immigration and we are still losing people to other provinces. It used to capture 60% of migrants, but it’s now sitting around 38%-40%. The housing market doesn’t feel the impact of immigration for three to ohba.ca

eco n o m i c o u t lo o k

home prices growing faster versus incomes MLS Price Income Growth - Ontario

Price

8

Income

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2011

2011

2012

2014

2013

Source: CREA, Statistics Canada, CMHC CANADA MORTGAGE AND HOUSING CORPORATION

five years, but that will eventually be felt.”

Home ow nership w i l l slow as affordability continues to deteriorate and prices will rise sharply in and outside of Toronto, cautions Petramala. However, “we keep underestimating pent-up demand, but those people might turn to rental instead.”

Ts i a k o p o u l i s e x p e c t s m a r k e t s bordering the GTA such as Hamilton, Barrie and Durham Region will fare well due to greater affordability. Southwestern Ontario will also outperform most other areas of the province due to affordability and improving economic conditions.

“Windsor is also very hot and is going to benefit from the low dollar and with manufacturing picking up,” he says.

“The north and east are not growing as much. Northern Ontario has been hit by ohba.ca

commodity prices, and in Ottawa, public spending restraints are taking steam out of consumer spending.”

Petramala cites Kitchener, Guelph, Hamilton and Barrie as hot markets, as well as Kingston to the east. She says while there has been a huge shift to city living in recent years, and Toronto has outperformed other markets in Ontario, that coincided with the rise of the Canadian dollar and a decline in manufacturing. Although the GTA has more than 30% of the province’s jobs, it’s possible that trend might reverse, she says, with our weaker dollar helping the export market.

“We might see more manufacturing jobs come back in areas outside the GTA and that might help support housing markets elsewhere.”

POTENTIAL TROUBLE SPOTS Toronto, though, is showing signs that trouble could be brewing, according to CMHC’s fourth-quarter Housing Market Assessment (HMA), a report that identifies potentially problematic conditions in the Canadian housing market in 15 Census Metropolitan Areas. The report is based on overheating of markets, acceleration in growth of house prices, overvaluation and overbuilding. In particular, there was strong evidence of problematic conditions in Toronto and moderate evidence in Ottawa due to price acceleration and overvaluation.

Recognizing the need to rein in control, the Federal Government, effective Feb. 16, will institute a hike from 5% to 10% for ontario home builder winter 2016

39

eco n o m i c o u t lo o k minimum down payments for the portion of a home mortgage in excess of $500,000.

“In Toronto, things have been driven by homes at the upper end of the price spectrum and single homes, as opposed to condos,” says Bob Dugan, chief economist for CMHC. “Houses in the $1 million+ range have had stronger growth than lowerpriced homes.”

The third Ontario market included in the report, Hamilton, has little risk for looming problems, as home sales grew faster than the number of new listings and strengthening employment helped to support home ownership demand.

Dugan says the aim of the CMHC report is to promote market stability by acting as an early warning indicator to get the message out on overbuilding before a crash in prices is inevitable.

W hat could also ease the risk is a moderation in pr ice g row th and a strengthening of fundamentals such as income growth, says Dugan. Weaker economic growth in other parts of Canada has stemmed some of the migration from Ontario to the western provinces, and that, in turn, will create population growth in some Ontario centres.

“The prices are growing faster than the fundamentals, but the fundamentals are improving,” says Tsiakopoulos. “We are starting to see some job growth and that’s one possible way to resolve the imbalance.

We are calling for a pretty significant decline in house price increases. But cer ta in ly t he mig rat ion stor y and employment story are positives.”

Even though Toronto’s market has been identified as being at risk, “the fundamentals are pretty good, but we are running a little ahead of what the fundamentals can support,” says Dugan.

A rise in interest rates would create problems for many Ontario markets.

“There is no major drop in interest rates going forward and the risk is a possible rise,” says Petramala. “If the Federal Reserve (in the U.S.) raises rates, longer term Canadian rates will go up.”

THE OPPORTUNITIES Tsia kopou los is bu l l ish on resa le, renovation and rentals. With mortgage carrying costs expecting to trend upward, 40

ontario home builder winter 2016

resulting in declining affordability, there will be a shift to more affordable houses.

That’s not just condos, but resale homes and rentals, he says.

“We see a lot of potential in the resale and renovations market, and though we don’t officially forecast the reno market, that doesn’t mean we don’t track it,” Tsiakopoulos notes. “If current conditions persist, it could represent a $26.5 million annual market in Ontario.”

The resale market is a major driver for renovation spending, Tsiakopoulus says, and resale activity hit new records in 2015, “We know that within a year of purchase, most resale buyers spend to upgrade their home. Even though existing home sales will ease somewhat next year, it doesn’t matter, as reno spending will carr y momentum through 2016.”

Tsiakopoulos says the most common renovation is remodelling of rooms, with most of the focus on kitchens, bathrooms and basements.

And with many 55- to 64-year-olds (who supply most of the growth in households and spending) opting to stay in their current homes due to declining mobility and lack of housing choice, they will change their homes “in a way that makes sense for them.”

Wealth also plays a role in the reno market, and the share of home equity is growing, particularly for that older demographic.

The number of echo boomers, the secondmost inf luential group in household formation, is also growing, but more of them are choosing to rent rather than buy in expensive markets, contends Tsiakopoulis.

“Builders and investors are responding to this growing demographic and declining affordability and bringing forward newer rental projects,” he says. “However, they are not the first out of the gate. Pension funds and big institutions have been investing heavily post-9/11 in purpose-built rental units. Then small condo investors got into the game. And now you are seeing developers bringing new rentals on stream.

Rental starts in Canada are currently at the highest level since the 1990s.”

Petramala also expects more people gravitate to renting due to affordability.

However, while she cites a balanced state of rental vacancy as 3%, the current rate is

KEY POINTS Ontario starts to remain below long-run potential levels Resale and reno activity will remain elevated Prices are driving declining affordability; increasing interest rates will also contribute to that issue by 2016 Lower Canadian dollar helping exports More rental units are entering market

MORTGAGE RATES According to CMHC, mortgage rates are expected to begin to rise moderately from current levels late in 2016. The one-year mortgage rate should be in the

3%-3.8% range, while the five-year rate is forecast to be 4.7%-6%. For 2017, the one-year mortgage rate is expected to be around 3.9%-4.8%, while the fiveyear rate is forecast to be within 5.1% and 6.5%.

just 1.8%. With vacancies that tight, the rental return rate is high for Toronto and Ontario—good news for builders of rental buildings.

“The younger group doesn’t see any stigma in renting—perhaps unlike previous generations,” says Tsiakopoulos. “It’s a lifestyle choice. And with 86% of rental stock built before 1979 and new buildings coming on stream, landlords of older buildings will respond to the competition and support renovation spending.” OHB ohba.ca

TED I M I L AL SPECIE OFFEdRe!rs readers TIM buil t

me 6a ario Ho uary 31, 201 t n O r Only fo r before Jan ow.ca e h Regist www.cmpxs M Jan16 H de #: O DMISSION o C r e t En EA E FRE N O T GE

Winter home building is filled with challenges

the big chill

By Ted McIntyre

“I remember one winter where we had a very tight schedule at a subdivision we were working at in Rockwood,” recalls Aldo Folino of Dorval Electric in Oakville. “It must have been -20C that day. You could see your breath when you talked, and ice formed in your nostrils every time you breathed through your nose. I had to run up and down the flight of stairs just to get my blood flowing. When nailing on the device boxes, my gloves would stick to the metal, and when I tried to strip the outer insulation of the wire it would chip like wood.”

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It’s quite literally the cold, hard truth for tradesfolk contracted

by Ontario’s new-home builders: Come winter, life tends to get a little more complicated, and a lot slower.

“A basic electrical rough-in of a standard-sized house will take one electrician and one apprentice approximately eight to 10 hours in the warmer months, but anywhere from 12-16 hours in the dead of winter,” says Folino. “It is very difficult to work with so many layers of clothing on. We try to wear thin knit gloves so that we can operate hand tools, but unfortunately they don’t do much to combat the the cold.”

“It probably takes 30% longer in terms of physical days,” says Pietro Bellai of Ottawa’s Bellai Brothers Construction, which forms, places and finishes concrete for high-rise and low-rise clients, including Minto, Claridge Homes, Tamarack, Ashcroft and Broccolini, to name a few. “From November to April, we typically lose one working day a week to weather-related issues. We charge a premium for a job because of extra time required, but sometimes we think it’s not enough. It’s even tough on heavy equipment— things move a lot slower before oils heat up and hydraulic leaks occur. And stone is frozen at the mining pits and you get clumps coming off your stone slinger—especially after a snowfall, where you’ll get snow and clumps of ice in the mix.” “ The job changes drastically come winter—especially preparation,” echoes Perr y Fraser, owner and president of P. Fraser Construction Ltd., who has been framing homes for 20 years. “Winter framing can take 20%-25% longer. On a normal single-family house, what would usually take 8-10 working days in the summer becomes 10-13 in the winter.

“There are a lot of days where we have to remove snow and ice until almost 11 a.m. before we can start cutting and nailing,” says Fraser, who now frames exclusively for Marz Homes. “We try to keep everything tarped if we know weather is coming, but a lot of times you have to take a sledgehammer to a big sheet of ice to get the wood apart. And, of course, the wood is harder to nail.

You try to clean the snow off the tools as much as you can, but it really does wreck tools a lot quicker. Then the nail gun stops working. And we have to start using antifreeze in the lines of the pressure hoses.

“Your physical movement slows down, and there’s not much you can do about it,” Fraser continues. “You go from wearing shorts and a T-shirt in the summer to wearing five layers, including a hard outer shell and gloves, which slows down your ability to mark stuff and pull nails out.

“I don’t think the average customer appreciates the inefficiencies of winter work,” says Paul Machado, president and V.P. of Operations at NHC Roofing and Exteriors in Chatham. “Equipment runs less efficiently. Air compressors and nailers freeze up. But the human body also starts to shut down and you’re often focused on keeping yourself warm.”

Absenteeism also increases— both due to illness and hazardous road conditions, which further hampers the process.

“There are also the unseen dangers associated with snow and ice,” says Fraser. “You don’t know what’s underneath. Just walking can be a hazard, with ruts left from machines and other stuff. You can suddenly drop down a few inches and twist a knee or ankle dropping as you’re walking along. Or you can slip. It takes so little to hurt yourself in the winter.”

But while it’s hard to beat Mother Nature, it’s impossible to fight the earth’s rotation, notes Fraser. “In winter, the problem is also daylight time.

In summer, if you need to work a couple extra hours to finish a house, the sun shines until 9 p.m. In winter we finish at 4:30 in January. Sometimes my employees don’t understand why I’m pushing a little harder come spring and summer. I have to explain that they’re making their hourly wage over the course of the entire year. Our production goes down in the winter, and my profit drops significantly.”

No builder better appreciates the glacial pace that can be produced by a glacial climate than Starward Homes’ president Bran-

“From November to April, we typically lose one working day a week to weather-related issues.

We charge a premium for a job because of extra time required, but sometimes we think it’s not enough.”

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don Campbell. “I had a terrible experience building my own house in the winter,” Campbell relates. “My framer finished the first week of January of 2014, just as a large ice storm hit our area. My roofing contractor was shingling my house for over six weeks, a job that would have normally been done in one. I felt so bad for them trying to work under those conditions. I lost four months of construction due to frost heave that temporarily lifted some of the structure of my house. I couldn’t pour the basement or main f loors to encase the radiant floors, and couldn’t do much else until that got done. I had heaters running in my house constantly, just trying to keep it from freezing any more than it already had, but there was no way to bring it up to temperature until Mother Nature cooperated in May. Of course, all of our homeowners’ houses were also behind schedule, and I had to send my trade partners to those houses first before worrying about mine, so I really lost six months of construction before I got back on track.”

And the Toughest winter trade is…

“My framer finished the first week of January of 2014, just as a large ice storm hit our area. My roofing contractor was shingling my house for over six weeks, a job that would have normally been done in one.”

While every trade has its challenges, the most problematic has traditionally been those dea l ing w it h concrete, as embattled workers attempt to pour and cure it before it freezes. But technology has at least come to the aid of that industry in recent years.

Although they include a surcharge, superplasticizers (also known as high-range water reducers) provide a flowability to concrete and have given trades an additional 45 minutes to an hour to manoeuvre.

There’s also self-consolidating concrete, which can be poured in one corner and, like soup, will flow evenly all the way around up to eight feet.

“The new ready-mix products with their additives have helped us out a lot, including mixes where you can pour up to -15C without heating enclosures. It’s one of the reasons we keep pouring in the winter,” says Bellai. “We’ve known about these products for 10-15 years, but I still talk to developers and general contractors ohba.ca

all the time who have not yet been exposed to them.”

As for old technology, Doug Harkness, the general manager of Orangeville Precast Concrete Ltd., helps the masonry contractors it deals with by keeping sand stored indoors. “And we try to load trucks the night before and put them inside too so that materials are at least warm and dry to start the day.”

But who’s really got it the toughest? W hile Campbell doesn’t envy any winter trade, his pick would be roofers.

“There is a lot of added risk to slipping on a plywood roof when there is ice on it, and it’s not easy to clear a high-pitched roof of all its ice and snow. And there is also nowhere to hide from the wind. I don’t envy those guys in the dead of winter, or even the dead of summer, for that matter.”

“The job is inherently dangerous to begin with, since you’re always working at least 10 feet above the ground,” says Machado. “There are jobs where we’re shovelling two or three feet of snow before we can start tearing off shingles.

And beneath that you’ve typically got a half-inch of ice on top of the shingles, so we use a torch to melt the ice. And the shingles are frozen and more rigid, so they’re tougher to cut during an installation, meaning potential knife hazards since the guys are straining to cut shingles at -2C that they could almost tear with their hands at 25C. And because shingles are more brittle and less absorbent from a compression standpoint, the nail can blow right through it, so we have to dial back the nail guns.

But we also add an extra nail; in the summer we have five nails per shingle, but six starting in late October to ensure retention to the roof deck prior to the shingle sealing. So changing that routine also slows things down.”

“Thankfully there have been no serious accidents to date,” Machado says. “Ironically, there are more summer mishaps, with guys cutting themselves or putting nails into knees or a foot.

There can be a complacency in the summer, whereas I think in ontario home builder WINTER 2016

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Winter Safety Tips The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety offers advice for your employees working in cold conditions. Beyond the obvious need for heated warming shelters such as tents, cabins or rest rooms, for continuous work in temperatures below the freezing point, work should be paced to avoid excessive sweating.

If such work is necessary, proper rest periods in a warm area should be allowed and employees should change into dry clothes. And prevent contact of bare skin with cold surfaces (especially metallic) below -7C, and when handling evaporative liquids (gasoline, alcohol, cleaning fluids) below 4C.

Equipment Design:

Metal handles and bars should be covered by thermal insulating material. Also, machines and tools should be designed so that they can be operated without having to remove mittens or gloves.

Emergency Procedures:

Procedures for providing first aid and obtaining medical care should be

clearly outlined. For each shift, at least one trained person should be assigned the responsibility of attending to emergencies.

procedures in case of cold injury. While working in cold, a buddy system should be used.

Clothing:

Education:

Workers and supervisors involved with work in cold environments should be informed about symptoms of adverse effect exposure to cold, proper clothing habits, safe work practices, physical fitness requirements for work in cold and emergency

Clothing should be worn in multiple layers, which provide better protection than a single thick garment. The air between layers of clothing provides better insulation than the clothing itself. The inner layer should provide insulation and be able to “wick” moisture away from the skin to help keep it dry. And note that almost 50% of body

the winter the subconscious kicks in and says, ‘This isn’t safe to begin with, so now we need to take even more precautions.’”

While there is no complacency in the winter, there is a greater likelihood for worker errors, contend two tradesmen, under the condition of anonymity. “Inspectors can’t do every electrical connection in a home in the summer,” observes a Mississauga electrician. “But with all the stops and starts of winter, and different crews working at different times on the same housing project, those inconsistencies can increase, so inspectors I know must be really vigilant.”

“The danger factor increases, the conditions are more difficult and there is inevitably a higher percentage of errors, although we try to correct those errors as the job goes along,” adds a Niagaraarea roofer.

One casualty of winter is unavoidable, Machado notes: lost items. “If roofers drop something, it either slips down into the trough, or onto the yard. And if the yard is covered in snow, it’s hard to find that tool—especially if it’s not retrieved right away. We had 46

ontario home builder winter 2016

heat is lost through the head. Clothing should be kept clean since dirt fills air cells in fibres of clothing and destroys its insulating ability.

Always wear the right thickness of socks for your boots. If they are too thick, the boots will be “tight,” and the socks will lose much of their insulating properties when they are compressed inside the boot. The foot would also be “squeezed,” which would slow the blood flow to the feet and increase the likelihood of blisters.

Eye protection must be separated from

the nose and mouth to prevent exhaled moisture from fogging and frosting eye shields or glasses.

Nutrition:

Drink fluids often, especially when doing strenuous work. Caffeinated drinks such as coffee should be limited because it increases urine production and contributes to dehydration. Caffeine also increases the blood flow at the skin surface, which can increase the loss of body heat.

a customer who we’d worked for in late fall and early winter call us in the spring and say, ‘I found one of your pry bars.’”

Time is money Winter expenses add up quickly for builders, notes Campbell, from renting heaters to premiums paid to masons for enclosing their work area in tarps to prevent mortar from freezing. “One of the biggest hidden costs is all the extra labour to continually move large cylinders of propane around the sites, cover exposed concrete and footings with straw or insulated blankets and keep access to all work areas clear of snow and ice for safety,” says Campbell. “In fact, we are not only responsible for clearing access to our homes under construction, but sometimes clearing municipal roads so that our new homeowners can access their houses, even though those homeowners are paying taxes.”

While condominium builders haven’t got the luxury of waiting out winters, given multi-year projects, home builders have decisions to make, says Campbell. “The hardest thing about winter ohba.ca

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A concrete solution to winter construction?

There is an alternative to combat the challenge of winter concreting, says Concrete Ontario director of marketing Ross Monsour: insulated concrete forms. “ICFs are a perfect winter building component because it keeps the heat of hydration,” says Monsour, while also facilitating the construction process.

Keeping concrete above the 5C threshold, much less from freezing, requires a notable expense for builders, from the additives, straw and other warmers required to keep concrete workable and prevent the ground around it from freezing.

The Ready Mixed Concrete Industry applies a seasonal premium for winter heat costs (generally from Nov. 1 to Apr. 15) to the associated time and labour costs.

“I work with four of

the major producers in Canada and we thought there’d be a big uptake when they went to an R20 basement in the Ontario Building Code, because the system itself gives you the forming system, the internal strapping attachments and the insulation, so it’s really almost like three trades in one,” explains

installation standpoint,” says Monsour, who believes there’s also a learning curve involved for builders who cite cost as a prohibitive factor.

“When you look at cost, if you put R20 on the inside of the basement, you actually lose that interior space, and generally builders sell on square footage. Further,

“The system itself gives you the forming system, the internal strapping attachments and the insulation, so it’s really almost like three trades in one.”

Monsour, who works closely with CHBA on Net Zero.

“Builders say that homeowners want to see the insulation they’ve paid for—meaning to see it on the inside, even though the ICF puts it on the inside and outside and simplifies things substantially from an

you don’t have to bring in a framing crew, since you already have these webs embedded in the polystyrene insulation.

You don’t have to bring in an insulation crew.

And you already have your forming at the same time. It’s a lot easier on the trades too since the ICFs are lightweight,

construction is trying to guess what kind of winter it’s going to be four months beforehand. Every fall, builders are faced with the option to stop pouring foundations, ensure all houses are bundled up before winter and virtually stop production—at least the construction that is exposed to the elements. Builders that did that for the last two winters looked pretty smart, as those were some of the toughest in the past decade. The alternative is to keep putting basements in throughout the fall and sometimes even into January, which keeps everyone busy and helps create even-flow scheduling. And it’s often much easier to keep good trades on your site when you’ve kept them busy all winter, rather than competing with everyone else to get good trades in the busy spring market.”

Still, after absorbing the wrath of Old Man Winter in recent years, Starward learned some lessons, says Campbell. “We definitely planned less outdoor construction this winter—partly by design and partly because we are in between projects with serviced 48

although you do have to know how to do concrete since you still have to brace them properly for the pour. And while normal foundations are eight inches, with ICFs you can go six inches with reinforcing steel, achieving all the same or better insulation values.

If you wanted to go without the reinforcing

ontario home builder winter 2016

steel, in Ontario you can pour an eight-inch ICF form, but most will go with steel since they’re saving on the two inches of concrete.”

ICFs make most sense if the developer is going to be the owner-operator of the building, adds Monsour. “A lot of hotels in Ottawa in the six- to

eight-storey range have gone ICF in the last five years. And we have a 24and 22-storey building in Kitchener and London, respectively, that are student residences, so the turnaround time is quick, and the energy savings are huge.

Retirement homes are also a good fit. People who own the building will get the most benefits from it, not necessarily the guy who’s developing and selling it as cost-effectively as possible.”

It’s also nice not to have to worry about spring cracks, says Monsour. “Once concrete freezes, it loses its ability to gain strength. There’s the potential it will start rehydrating when the temperature warms up. That’s another advantage of ICFs—you don’t have to worry about weather condition.

It’s a four-season product.”

lots. But we made sure we were focused on the basics—things like having the ground around our houses cleaned up and sloped away from the houses in a better pre-grade to prevent water from ponding beside the foundations or building materials from being frozen in the ground.”

It’s not quite a case of frozen assets. The winter home building market will continue to evolve—even the ability of contractors to access up-to-the-minute weather information has marked a step forward in dealing with less-than-ideal conditions more efficiently.

How can things be further improved to facilitate winter construction? Organization, says Machado. “It’s a common theme in new-home construction—not being able to complete your job because another trade hasn’t completed theirs yet. But it’s way worse in the winter. The more builders can coordinate with their trades once the weather turns cold, the better.”

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The back elevation of Reidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Heritage Homesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Net Zero Energy home features solar photovoltaic cells. The Guelph home was the first of a national demonstration project to prove that Net Zero homes can be built on a community level.

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Building and selling the next generation of energyefficient homes B y

M a r k

W e s s e l

In the spring of 2014, Natural

ready or not! ohba.ca

Resources Canada (NRCan) posted on its website that “with the R-2000 level fast becoming the code-built energy requirement for homes in many jurisdictions, there is a need to take energy efficiency to the next level and make netzero-energy homes a reality.”

In hindsight, the announcement could very well have been the tipping point in Canada for net-zero construction (a home that produces as much energy as it consumes), as not long after, NRCan funded a project with Owens Corning to build 25 net-zero-energy (NZE) homes.

“We had been conducting research on net-zero-energy housing for over a decade and the concept had been around for longer than that,” observes Mark Carver of NRCan. “But it’s a concept that had existed predominantly in other countries that weren’t as challenging weather-wise. So our inspiration came from builders here in Canada who wanted to apply the net-zeroenergy concept in our cold climate.”

Through the ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative (ecoEII), NRCan funded the project with Owens Corning. The project ontario home builder winter 2016

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Reid’s NZE home features a basement battery room, triple-pane JELD-WEN windows, Owens Corning’s CodeBord Air Barrier System and Rheem’s hybrid air-source heat pump water heater.

involved five builders (including Minto and Reid’s Heritage Homes in Ontario), all of whom agreed to build at least five NZE discovery homes apiece, with the goal of building those residences at a price point that would be within reach of everyday consumers. The plan is that they would be setting the stage not just for NZE homes, but for NZE communities.

It was a 180-degree change in mindset from how net-zero-energy homes had been built previously—mostly one-off custom-built models for more affluent, less price-sensitive consumers willing to pay an additional $120,000+ to have an NZE-qualified home.

In order to introduce affordability into the equation, a rethinking was in order, Carver explains. “We knew we needed to focus on the technical stumbling blocks. We had to reduce space-heating requirements by at least 50%. And we couldn’t keep using expensive proprietary mechanical systems that nobody knew how to service.”

As a consequence, the lion’s share of the $1.96 million in funding flowing from NRCan was dedicated to technical c o n s u lt i n g a nd s u p p o r t f o r t he participating builders.

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A nother sig nif icant par t of this process involved the extensive software simulations NRCan had conducted that analyzed hundreds of thousands of different technological configurations that could conceivably go into an NZE home—all in the pursuit of the optimal mix of products and solutions that the project’s participating builders could incorporate into the construction of their pilot homes.

THE NEW (NET ZERO ENERGY) WAVE Just this fall, as a result of all the up-front planning and thought that had gone into the NZE pilot program, Reid’s Heritage Homes unveiled its first NZE discovery home in the Guelph communit y of Westminster Woods, with prices starting in the mid-$500,000 range. As Jennifer Weatherston, Reid’s director of innovation explained, the company’s overarching goal with these homes wasn’t just to demonstrate that Reid’s was capable of building an NZE home, but that it can build an entire community of NZE homes at a price appealing to consumers. “What really inspired us was to build a net-zero-

energy home in a way that was affordable in a manner that we could repeat, using components that were user-friendly,” says Weatherston.

“I think one of the learning experiences we’ve had with this home is that yes, it does cost more. But if it nets out with your annual utility bill, then it really doesn’t cost more. And if you have a healthier, more comfortable home, then it’s a no-brainer,” Weatherston adds.

Pe r h a p s t he mo s t ne w s w o r t h y announcement made at t he Reid ’s Heritage launch for its NZE-Ready home (all of the features of an NZE home, prior to adding solar panels) was the declaration that by the end of 2016, all future communities the company builds will solely be NZE-Ready homes, making Reid ’s the first builder in Canada to make such a commitment. It’s a promise that Weatherston describes as “a natural transition” in light of the company’s history of building more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly homes dating back to 2007, when it built the first LEED Platinum home in Canada.

Almost at the same time Reid’s was launching its discovery project, Minto was following suit in its Arcadia community in ohba.ca

Kanata, with the introduction of the 2,406 sq. ft. Killarny model, a detached NZEReady home priced to sell for $495,600, with comparable non-NZE models selling for $452,900. In other words, just over $40k more to get the home to NZE-Ready and then, by Minto’s estimates, another $25k-40k to pay for rooftop solar panels to reach net-zero-energy status. The numbers are in line with NRCan’s goal of narrowing the price gap to well under $100,000 between Net Zero Energy residences and homes of less stringent standards.

But the question now facing these trailblazers is whether they can get consumers to buy into paying 10%-20% more for a NZE-Ready home. Derek Hickson, Minto’s manager of innovation feels the key is not to focus solely on the financial pros and cons of owning a netzero-energy home. “With our model, we estimate owners will realize $1,500 to $2,000 a year in energy savings. But I like to focus on the benefits on top of that: the added health, comfort and resiliency of these homes. For instance, from a resiliency standpoint, with twice the insulation, these homes stay a lot warmer.

So if you experience a blackout, by our calculations these houses not drop below 16C for about 24 hours on a typical winter day in Ottawa.”

Apart from playing up the big picture, Minto is also addressing the affordability issue by introducing not just NZE detached homes, but less expensive NZE townhomes in the Kanata community. “I think it’s really interesting that Minto is looking at multi-family townhouses as part of their net-zero-energy offering,” observes Carver. “Most of the net-zero-energy homes are still detached, but with these townhomes Minto is responding to where the market demand is heading.”

Associate with Building K nowledge Canada and chair of CHBA’s Net Zero Energy Housing Council observes: “We want to create a clear path for builders that want to build to Net Zero Energy so that it is no longer nuanced, but contains clear metrics.”

CHBA is positioning net-zero energy as part of a full spectrum of energy performance levels, rating Energy Star homes 20% more energy efficient than homes built to code, R-2000 homes 50% more efficient, NZE-Ready homes 80% more efficient, and NZE homes 100%

“With our model, we estimate owners will realize $1,500 to $2,000 a year in energy savings.

But I like to focus on the benefits on top of that: the added health, comfort and resiliency of these homes.”

tighter than homes built to code thanks to their energy production capabilities.

“Think of it in terms of good, better, best,” says EnerQuality President Corey McBurney. “The Ontario Building Code is good. Enery Star is better, and net zero is best—the ultimate in energy efficiency.

We need to remember that the OBC is good by any standard, especially compared to other provinces and U.S. states. The fact is we’re already ahead. EnerQuality’s job is to help builders do even better, and Energy Star for New Homes has proven to be the most effective system. As we see it, Energy Star is how we’ll get to net zero.”

EnerQuality has remained ahead of the curve. Just as it was quick to market with Energy Star and R-2000 workshops for builders, the organization was also the first to offer NZE training, with a program that was launched in October.

ANYTHING BUT STANDARD Feeding off the momentum and market buzz of the NRCan/CHBA discovery project, together with the fact that several other builders across the country are building or planning on building NZE homes, in September CHBA launched the Net Zero Energy Labelling Program as a way to increase awareness and stimulate demand for this emerging standard. As Andy Oding, Senior Building Science ohba.ca

At $495,600, Minto’s new NZEReady Killarney model in Kanata is priced to sell.

ontario home builder winter 2016

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Owens Corning was enthusiastic about partnering with Natural Resources Canada to help construct 25 NZE homes across Canada. The company’s exterior insulating sheathing Codebord Air Barrier figures prominently in construction.

Net Zero Training PIECES OF THE PUZZLE In helping not only builders but consumers come to grips with the technology that goes into building an NZE home, Candice Luck of buildABILITY, the lead consulting firm working on the NRCan project, has a genuine knack for getting to the heart of what goes into net-zero energy in order to get to zero. In a recent interview on CBC, (one of a growing number of mainstream media outlets that are starting to report on net-zero energy), Candice explained that it isn’t about building a home with hundreds of thousands of solar panels in order to balance out the energy typically consumed by a conventional home, even though, technically, that could be one approach.

“We always looked at conservation first,” said Luck. “And that means giving you a super-tight, super-insulated building envelope. This is exterior insulation put on the outside of your walls, right before your cladding. It replaces the wood sheathing and reduces thermal bridging in your studs. And then inside your walls between the studs there’s high-density batt insulation. And then what we’re using is the highest performing triple-pane windows. That means there are two layers 54

ontario home builder winter 2016

EnerQuality’s next two-day edition of the The Road to Net Zero Builder Training Pilot will be held in Toronto on Feb. 2-3 at 20 Upjohn Road. This follows two highly successful Net Zero training sessions in Ottawa and Toronto, where builders interested in participating in the CHBA Net Zero Labelling Program can be among the first in market.

Spaces are still available to train with two highly esteemed instructors, Building Knowledge’s Andy Oding, Chair of the CHBA Net Zero Energy Housing Council, and EQ Hall of Fame recipient Ross Elliott.

For further information, visit: enerquality.ca/training.

of gas in between to keep it insulated. And then we move into mechanicals and we’re looking at new heat pump technology. So this entire house, because it’s so airtight and so well insulated, could probably (be heated) with just two hair dryers. An air source heat pump exchanges the heat in the summer for cool air to act like a cooling mechanism, and then takes the cool air and exchanges it into heat in the winter. And we’re using a Hybrid Heat

Pump water heater. And finally there’s HRV [Heat Recovery Ventilator]. It’s really the lungs of the house to improve air quality. Because these homes are so air tight, you need to make sure there’s proper ventilation.”

Those steps will get you NZE-Ready. For consumers willing to go the last mile to get to Net Zero Energy, it’s a matter of spending the extra money for solar photovoltaics (PVs), with about 30 solar panels required for an average home, according to Luck.

Andy Goyda of Owens Corning says the company’s Foamular CodeBord rigid foam insulation has been around several years, but was in less demand when code did not reference metrics for airtightness. But now, Goyda notes, most voluntary programs and some building codes are calling to measure airtightness. “R2000 calls for 1.5 air exchanges per hour at delivery stage, and (with the CodeBord system) we’re coming in at that rate of exchange at the framing stage! And that’s the benchmark for netzero energy.”

Another critical piece of the puzzle is triple-pane windows, which have only recently begun to command the same attention as double-pane models, partly because the price gap between the two continues to narrow. Consequently, both ohba.ca

Reid’s and Minto are using JELD-WEN’s triple-pane vinyl casement windows, feat u r i ng ‘ L ow-E ’ coat i ng , wh ic h are optimized for maximum energy efficiency during the heating season. As Lisa Bergeron of JELD-WEN is quick to point out, the triple-pane product literally is a window of opportunity for energyconscious consumers. “Windows are the best way to increase the performance of the building envelope, so highefficiency windows optimized for the right application will be the important challenge over the next few years.”

ENERGY SAVERS W hether you’re talking to supplier representatives such as Goyda and Bergeron or the companies intent on building NZE homes, it’s generally recognized that by far the most important piece of the puzzle is the home’s thermal envelope.

The second-most important piece is energy conservation. In that regard, one of the biggest energy hogs in a home has historically been hot water use. Although standard gas and electric water heaters have improved their energy efficiencies in recent years, Mark Muzyka of Rheem says “even a tankless water heater that has an energy factor of .94 will not perform adequately to ensure a home meets the net-zero energy qualifications.”

The solution some of the builders in the current NZE discovery program have turned to is Rheem’s Hybrid Heat Pump water heater, which has a 2.45 energy factor—so almost two-and-a-half times more efficient than a conventional hot water heater. The product is only just being introduced into the Canadian market and while it’s priced at $1,5001,800—arguably higher than what most consumers are used to spending—the system more than pays for itself, delivering $4,000 in energy savings over the 12-year life of the product.

The other critical part of the energy conser vation equation according to Building Knowledge’s Oding comes down to lifestyle. “Homeowners make different choices when it comes to the lights and appliances they use. Are you using Energy Star appliances? Do you have a beer fridge?

So we have the technology to get you to Net Zero Energy, but ultimately it comes down to how people want to live their lives.”

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MicroFIT vs Net Metering Homeowners have access to two programs to help them turn a profit—or at least cut costs—when it comes to energy use. The microFIT program, launched in 2009, provides participants with the opportunity to develop a small or “micro” renewable electricity generation project (10 kW or less in size) on their property.

Participants are paid a guaranteed price over a 20-year term (40 years for waterpower projects) for all the electricity they produce and deliver to the province’s electricity grid, enabling them to more than cover their investment costs, while also contributing to a healthier environment by generating electricity from renewable sources, such as solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, water and bioenergy.

The Net Metering program, meanwhile, is available to any Hydro One customer who generates electricity primarily for their own use from a renewable energy source (wind, water, solar radiation or agricultural biomass) while using equipment with a total nameplate rating of 500 kW or less.

Net metering allows you to send electricity generated from Renewable Energy Technologies to Hydro One’s distribution system for a credit towards your electricity costs. Excess generation credits can be carried forward for up to 11 months to offset future electricity costs.

ZERO OBSTACLES With all of the technology that goes into building an NZE home, buildABILITY’s Luck says the up-front concern when the most recent discovery program was launched was the technical challenge of building NZE and NZE-Ready homes.

But thanks in part to technical support subsidized by NRCan, the participating builders have passed with flying colours.

Instead it has been some of the community stakeholders that have posed the greatest challenge. Luck says one of the obstacles

for ne w-home bu i lders h a s be en Ontario’s microFIT program (microfit. powerauthority.on.ca). The program provides allows homeowners to develop a small or “micro” renewable electricity generation project on their property.

Homeowners are paid a guaranteed price over a 20-year term (40 years for waterpower projects) for all the electricity they produce and deliver to the province’s electricity grid, whether that’s through solar panels or other means. The problem is that the onus is on homeowners to apply.

“Builders can’t apply on behalf of homeowners for the microFIT program, because it’s only geared to homeowners,” Luck explains. “And technically the home is owned by the builder until it’s built and ownership is turned over to the purchaser.

So builders are then left to decide whether or not to build a more expensive NZEReady home without any guarantees they’ll sell the house.”

Since utilities have, to date, refused to budge on this technicality, Luck says builders such as Minto have found a workaround by making one of the five models in its Arcadia community, the Killarny, an NZE-Ready home only. So instead of pre-building a bunch of NZE-Ready spec homes, they’re getting buy-in from the consumers in the pre-sales stage.

There’s a general consensus among builders, consulting firms and other suppliers that another potential roadblock to gaining wider acceptance for netzero energy is getting consumers to comprehend what the term actually means and what the added benefits are in order to justify the additional cost, even with the greatly reduced price gap.

“Seventy-five percent is consumer out reac h—how you e x pl a i n wh at net-zero energy is to the consumer,” observes Oding of Building Knowledge.

“How do you help them to understand the intangible benefits of living in an NZE home? Sure, part of the marketing message is the energy savings. But it’s just as important to convey to them that these homes are extremely comfortable, quiet and healthy.”

The hope is that sales will not simply be a numbers game, but that intangibles such as the positive impact net-zero-energy homes can have on the health and wellbeing of homeowners could turn out to be the biggest selling point of all. OHB ohba.ca

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Framing the Di scus s ion

A rendering of Heartwood the Beach, a Fieldgate Homes and Hullmark wood-framed, mid-rise condo planned for 1884 Queen St. E., Toronto.

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ohba.ca

R e s e a r c h

a n d

a dva n c e

n e w

t ec h n o lo gy

m i d - r i s e

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co n s t r u c t i o n

By Marc Huminilow ycz

On January 1, 2015, after years of advocacy efforts by Ontario’s building industry, the Canadian Wood Council and numerous Ontario municipalities, the Ontario Building Code amendment to permit sixstorey wood-frame construction was finally put in place.

The new code change was great news for Ontario on multiple fronts: Builders benefit from new construction opportunities and increased employment; municipalities are able to intensify neighbourhoods with under-utilized land on major avenues and corridors; residents are the beneficiaries of more affordable housing; and Canada’s forestry industry is discovering an expanded market for its sustainably produced resource.

While the new regulations will be similar to those employed in British Columbia—which in 2009 became Canada’s first province to adopt mid-rise woodframe buildings—Ontario’s code features more stringent safety requirements, including the use of non-combustible materials in areas such as stairwells and balcony sprinklers.

However, six-storey wood construction has been embraced in B.C. and in several countries around the world, where buildings of 10 storeys or higher are ohba.ca

commonplace—that despite six-storey wood construction encountering its fair share of opposition, mainly from the perspective of fire safety. Last September at OHBA’s annual conference, Len Garis, Adjunct Professor and Fire Chief for the City of Surrey, B.C., helped quell those fears with a comprehensive presentation on fire safety of mid-rise wood-frame residential buildings.

Quoting statistics from the Sprinkler Systems and Fire Outcomes in Multi-Level Residential Buildings report that Garis co-authored with Dr. Joseph Clare in 2012, Garis’ detailed seminar covered a massive amount of research on building fire safety, including a simulation modelling study from the National Research Council, a retrospective analysis of residential building fires in British Columbia and case studies from other jurisdictions with wood-frame buildings.

Topics included fire simulations, fire incidents, sprinklers, injuries and loss of

life (firefighter and public), retrospective analyses, balcony fires, fires in buildings under construction, comparisons of fire incidence by construction type and other information extracted from 1,942 fire incidents that occurred in B.C. between October 2006 and October 2011.

“An overwhelmingly consistent theme emerges,” Garis observed. “Although fire services have typically responded with concerns to changes in the building code (that allowed) this type of construction, the available information suggests that these structures will perform at least as well from a fire safety perspective as those already permitted.”

Does construction type make a difference? Garis cited statistics that your likelihood of dying in a fire in a steel-frame building is the same as in a wood-frame building, assuming both have sprinklers and smoke alarms that are operational and compliant with the NFPA 13 standard.

Garis also noted that Ontario’s code ontario home builder winter 2016

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Branching Out

Developed by Core Urban and engineered by Strik Baldinelli Moniz, Templar Flats in Hamilton is among Ontario’s current six-storey, wood-frame projects.

Six-storey wood-frame construction is gaining momentum in Ontario.

Here’s a sampling of projects that fall under the new code amendment, each in various stages of design or construction.

The Sandman Hotel, Hamilton

changes make provisions to address the challenges of wood-frame buildings under construction—including fire safety planning, training, best practices, firewall construction and site security— as well as fires that originate from their exteriors, such as balconies, which would be required to also have sprinklers according to the new code.

“Industry stakeholders have the right to ask questions about wood-frame construction. We have lots of data,” said Garis, adding that the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs received a $1.1 million grant from the federal government to collect fire safety data on the subject “so that decisions can be made based on the quantitative evidence.” He encourages anyone interested in investigating the research further to download a complete report from the University of the Fraser Valley titled, “Taller Wood Buildings and Fire Safety,” at cjr.ufv.ca.

Fire concerns aside, almost a year after the code change, six-storey wood is quickly gaining acceptance among builders and municipalities across Ontario, who are realizing its many advantages in both economics and planning. This is welcome news for the Canadian Wood Council and its Wood WORKS campaign (see wood-works.ca) to promote the use of wood in building construction.

“We’ve been selling the concept for four

years,” says Ontario Wood WORKS Technical Director Steven Street. “The code change was the first step. Now we need to make sure that the technical details of this type of construction and the principles of wood—its design capabilities, behaviours and limitations—are understood by builders, engineers and architects.”

According to Street, wood used in construction comes from Ontario, Quebec and different parts of Canada, giving builders a choice of product according to their projects’ performance requirements and design efficiencies. Originating mostly from managed forests on crown lands, it is a versatile, healthy and sustainable product.

Street applauds the “pioneers” who have already embraced sixstorey wood. “There’s a massive amount of momentum,” he says. “Governments are quickly adopting the new code regulations and working with designers and builders to make things happen. The fact that so many projects are on the go within one year of the code change is amazing. The next five years will be really exciting!”

In a construction field lacking in wood-frame blueprints, several forwardthinking builders and designers in Ontario are leading the way. Structural engineer Mike Baldinelli of Strik Baldinelli Moniz has already been involved in the design of three mid-rise wood-frame

“the fact that so many projects are on the go is amazing.”

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Six-storey, 208-unit hotel in the city’s east end. Hamilton was Ontario’s first city to issue a permit for mid-rise woodframe buildings in excess of four storeys.

Templar Flats, Hamilton

Six-storey infill residential rental project in downtown Hamilton combining the adaptive reuse of two existing buildings.

Builder: Core Urban Inc. Engineers: Strik Baldinelli Moniz 356 Dundas St., London

Six storeys, 69 affordable housing rental apartments. Engineers: Strik Baldinelli Moniz Aquablu Luxury Lakeshore Condos, grimsby

Five-storey, 124 units, including four attached townhomes. Builder: Homes by DeSantis. Design/Project Management Consultants: Capital Build Oak Park Phase II, Oakville

Five-storey, 100-unit condo building.

Builder: Ballantry Homes.

Engineers: Strik Baldinelli Moniz The Cabin, 45 Dovercourt Rd., Toronto

Six-storeys, with 25 two-storey units.

Builder: Curated Properties Heartwood the Beach, Toronto

Six-storey, 70-unit condo is both Toronto’s first wood and first crosslaminated timber mid-rise.

Builder: Fieldgate Homes and Hullmark Engineers: Moses Structural Engineers Architect: Quadrangle Architects The Gallery Condominiums, Barrie

Four- to six-storey condo development.

Builder: Pratt Homes

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Homes by DeSantis says woodframe projects such as AquaBlu, a five-storey luxury condo in Grimsby, offers aesthetic flexibility on top of environmental benefits.

“From a design perspective , wood comes with a unique set of benefits and challenges.” projects completed in Ontario: six-storey buildings in London and Hamilton, and a five-storey version in Oakville.

“From a design perspective, wood comes with a unique set of benefits and challenges,” says Baldinelli. “Depending on where in Ontario the structure will be built, things like geology (soil type and seismic factors) and wind loads need to be accounted for. Wood moves more easily than other materials, so hold-downs and shear walls need to be designed and installed to prevent the building from moving more than prescribed by code.”

While the steel and concrete industries have well-established design tools for building construction, no design software has existed for mid-rise wood. “Wood has lagged behind,” says Baldinelli. “Seeing an opportunity, we spent one year developing a wood design program. We have a lot of confidence in it.” His company also 62

ontario home builder winter 2016

recently received funding from Natural Resources Canada to work with the University of Western Ontario on developing a stand-alone program that all engineers can use. “Many people don’t know how to design these buildings,” Baldinelli adds.

“This is what the industry needs.”

By next April, a total of eight five- to six-storey buildings will be designed by Strik Baldinelli Moniz, and the company plans to do modelling this winter on its first eight-storey wood-frame structure.

“Work on several projects has given us the liberty of tweaking (client) designs to make them cost-efficient, optimizing costs versus benefits,” says Baldinelli.

Based on experience in B.C. and elsewhere, six-storey wood-frame construction is about 10% less expensive than using steel or concrete.

Baldinelli also cites reduced builder costs, although not as dramatic. “The cost of using wood in a building versus using concrete and steel is a savings of 10% to 12% per sq. ft.,” Northern Ontario Business Magazine noted in a November interview with Baldinelli. “The building is lighter and it’s faster to erect—12 to 14 months with a concrete building compared to eight to 10 months with wood.”

There are a lot of carrying costs builders can save, Baldinelli adds.

Determining actual savings depends on many factors, notes Street, including “how

the building is constructed and what wood structural systems are employed. One builder may have a system to achieve a much higher STC rating than others. From historical data gathered in B.C., many projects have achieved quite significant savings not only on materials, but on foundations, as the buildings are lighter, and on prefabrication, which results in a quicker build-time.”

For his part, architectural designer Keith Reycraft of Orchard Design, currently working on a six-storey-wood, 85-unit residential rental building in Cambridge, appreciates the design flexibility and visual appeal that wood offers.

“Although our budget has been adjusted throughout the project, we’re still creating a nice-looking building with glass railings and lots of windows,” he says.

One of the main design challenges that Reycraft experienced with his project had to do with minimizing the transfer of loading from floor to floor. “We tried to stack the units as much as possible, while at the same time meeting barrier-free requirements,” Reycraft says. “It’s all coming together thanks to seamless conversations between the designer and the structural engineer. The mechanicals are important too. We needed to account for headroom clearances of pipes in relation to floors.”

Even though Orchard Design is not yet clear on what the final costs of the Camohba.ca

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bridge project will be, Reycraft believes in the many benefits of wood-frame construction. “Wood makes buildings work, offering a high return on investment,” he says. “Builders are looking for budget-conscious options to offset the high cost of materials and land these days. Wood also offers the advantage of speedy construction.” Reycraft explains that, compared to other building materials, wood can be easily brought to the site by truck, then staged and craned into place on site, without the need for large storage spaces.

David Moses, principal of Moses Structural Engineers in Toronto, has over 15 years of experience in wood and heavy timber construction and coordination. His company is currently involved in 10 midrise wood-frame projects in various stages of design, approval and construction.

While six-storey wood offers advantages to builders and municipalities over concrete, including time and cost efficiencies, Moses admits that it also has its challenges. “The code is very specific when it comes to the re-aligning of walls, especially shear walls,” he explains. “This can affect the layout of spaces in residential units. For example, Toronto has midrise guidelines for its avenues, specifying stepping back on upper floors and stacking them so as not to obscure views. And the spacing of the grid is different on the main floor versus the upper floors.”

But these are minor challenges, Moses says, adding that each project involves a learning curve. “But it’s all manageable; you just need to sit down and address issues early in the design process,” says Moses, who sees a bright future for sixstorey wood, despite its slow acceptance and familiarity among municipal building officials and builders.

Among Ontario builders capitalizing on the changes in the building code, Homes

by DeSantis has been one of the first out of the blocks. One of the developer’s current projects is AquaBlu, a five-storey,

Wood Works!

Mid-rise, wood-frame construction offers many benefits to builders, municipalities, residents and the environment: • Wood is a sustainable, renewable and recyclable resource.

• Wood is economical—it’s lighter, more easily transportable and quicker to build than steel and concrete.

• Wood is ideal for infill installations where a large crane is not possible.

• Wood allows for more intensive land use—the ability to intensify neighbourhoods with under-utilized land on major avenues and corridors.

• Wood offers smarter, more affordable housing—15% to 20% less than conventional construction.

• Wood creates jobs and stimulates the economy.

124-unit wood-frame luxury condominium project in Grimsby. In addition to the economic and environmental benefits of wood, company president Gabriel DeSantis values its aesthetic flexibility. “Wood gives us versatility with the beauty aspects of construction,” he says. “It allows us much more architectural creativity and a leap forward in interior design.”

DeSantis says modern consumers are demanding smarter, more affordable spaces. “Wood allows us to meet the consumer demand by delivering a much better product at an affordable price,” he says, adding that his AquaBlu project, supported with marketing materials promoting its woodframe attributes, sold out in the first few hours of its launch.

Being an early adopter, DeSantis claims that his company’s experience with this type of construction led to the development of methodology that paved the way for projects of greater heights. Having their share of early scrutiny from municipal building officials didn’t hurt either. “The Town of Grimsby’s Director of Building and Enforcement John Schonewille has been very supportive of our current project,” DeSantis says.

Another company welcoming the

“It gives us the chance to develop infill sites that have not previously made sense financially.”

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ontario home builder winter 2016

change with open arms is Barrie-based Pratt Homes. “Wood is what we know,” says Pratt Homes owner Heljar Hansen.

“It gives us the chance to develop infill sites that have not previously made sense financially. We can keep control of the projects ourselves and keep them within a framework that we’re familiar with.”

Not that the practice is all smooth sailing. “I guess the industry is experiencing some challenges related to wood shrinkage, but nothing that can’t be solved,” says Heljar, whose company is currently planning the Gallery in Barrie, a foursome of six-storey, wood-frame buildings.

“And mid-rise wood has been fought by interest groups. As such we are having some challenges due to a myth that wood will not perform good enough in a midrise application,” Heljar concedes. “But with time and proper information to share with the public, this will change.”

Almost one year after the change in Ontario’s building code, the future of six-storey wood construction looks secure.

Municipal building officials are getting up to speed. Engineers and builders are embracing new design techniques thanks to new software programs being developed.

Perhaps the only piece of the puzzle missing is on the marketing side with consumers who, besides being the beneficiaries of a more affordable housing option, may not be aware of the many other benefits. But it would appear that six-storey wood is just the most recent step in mid-rise construction.

How high can it go? The sky just may be the limit. OHB ohba.ca

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Better building

Natural brights, such as CIL Paint’s Peacock’s Plume Teal, deliver a tranquil feel to a living space.

Colours of 2016

Paint companies weigh in on the hottest hues for the new year In an increasingly stressful, hazard-filled world, the colours on the homefront in the new year will be more comforting than ever.

According to paint brand Sico, yellow-gold is the “it” colour for 2016 and a huge decorating trend, delivering a warm, nurturing aura to living spaces. Citing Buckwheat Yellow as the brand’s “Colour of the Year,” Mathieu Hamel, assistant brand manager for Sico, explained that golden yellow is reminiscent of both sunkissed wheat fields and the dazzling vintage glamour of the 70s.

“It’s reflective of a less complex time in history and of people’s increasing quest to return to cocooning, moving away from the fast-paced urban and social-media world in search of more natural living, simplicity, peace and refuge,” he said, adding that walls, furnishings, accessories and hardware will all have the golden touch in the year ahead.

The company’s other colours trending for 2016 are equally nature-based, soothing and nurturing, Hamel emphasizes. ohba.ca

Think muted brights—hues that are toned down with an infusion of grey, such as earthy greens, warm browns, rustic reds, easygoing blues and soft neutrals.

With an overall theme of “voyage,” the Sico paints 2016 collection features colours such as Natural Green, Cobalt Shadow Indigo, Norwegian Spruce Teal, Tomato Peel Salmon Red, Ancient Lava Grey and Shiatsu Sand.

PPG Paints, meanwhile, has unveiled its own palette designed to deliver safe haven through colour. The 2016 collection of 22 rich, nurturing hues ranges from sturdy darks such as metal grey and burgundy, to earthen mid-tones such as olive brown and indigo blue, to matted taupes and soft grey-whites.

Taking the top spot as the PPG Paints brand Colour of the Year is a soft, muted green called Paradise Found.

“We will be seeing these warm, saturated colours across the board when it comes to consumer goods, and home decor is no exception,” says Valerie Jager, channel marketing manager for ontario home builder WINTER 2016

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PPG Architectural Coatings, explaining that their popularity is a direct result of the complex state of the world as well as increasing counterculture acceptance.

“When it comes to getting away from it all and taking sanctuary, everyone can agree that there’s no place like home.”

From the standpoint of Dulux Paints, the 2016 colour palette is filled with “a charming assortment of misty-coloured, comfor ting hues that build on the resurgence of last year’s paler tones,” says Martin Tustin-Fuchs, brand manager for Dulux. “The pastels of 2016 are more natural and pigment-infused than the popular shades of the ’80s—they’re subdued yet vibrant, muddied yet rich and subtle yet strong.”

Picture sunset shades of pale coral, blush pink, sandy yellow, dusty grey, sea-foam green and earthy tan brown.

Anchored by dark grey, black and light neutrals, the new pastels are livable and elegant in any decor setting, he said.

In incorporating these pastels into decor, Tustin-Fuchs suggests pairing the pastels with whites and brights, while balancing the decor with wood as well as metallic finishes.

CIL’s top paint colours for the year ahead are similarly bundled under the theme of tranquility, including brownhued neutrals, beachy driftwood tones, natural brights, cloudy translucents and soft pastels. These are warm, down-toearth colours that promote a sense of serenity, according to Alison Goldman, brand manager for CIL paint, a brand of PPG Architectural Coatings.

“We’re seeing a move away from the saturated greys, blacks and acidic brights that were popular the last few years,” Goldman explained. “The warmer 2016 tones deliver a more modern and livable colour scheme that translates beautifully into any living space.”

The hottest colour of them all? Think pink, Goldman says, citing Chemise Pink as the CIL paint Colour of the Year. “Soft blush pink will be incorporated in all elements of home decor in 2016, from walls to furnishings to accessories,” she said, adding that the new pink works particularly well with soft green, pale brown, chalky grey and slate.

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(Top left to right): Marca Corona BrickLane, Cir Recupera, Brix Micro-Brick, Monocibec Eclipse.

(Bottom left to right): Bardelli Tangram, Refin Labyrinth, Sicis SICIStone, Ornamenta Frames.

Another Brick in the Wall

World expo showcases trending tiles Wondering what new Italian tile products will be popping up in 2016? News from Cersaie, the world’s top exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings held in Italy late last fall, suggests two of the most popular trends will be “fragments” and “brick.”

The latter front covers the gamut, from micro to macro, polished to rustic, and with designs ranging from faithful interpretations of old brick walls and brick with mortar spills to painted brick and marble and wood designs in a brick format. A few stand-out products include a new miniature brick collection (Micro-Brick) designed by Nendo for Brix, brick tiles that can be custom ordered in 150 colours from Emilceramica, and L-shaped tiles designed to wrap corners such as Del Conca Cantina, Cir Recupera and Marca Corona BrickLane.

On the fragments side, playing with the idea of modularity, Italian ceramic companies are designing fragmented patterns on square and rectangular tiles to produce large dynamic compositions. By randomly mixing and matching geometric shapes, the tiles pop with vivid, kaleidoscopic effect. Of special note is Flaviker’s Supreme collection, produced with the new Wall & Porcelain ceramic technology from ABK Group that combines the best qualities of ceramic and porcelain stoneware to create a whole new typology of tile. ohba.ca

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Building a Better Framework for Environmental Approvals in Ontario

By Walter Yee The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) is working to create a modern regulatory system for environmental approvals.

The Ministry’s Modernization of Approvals Branch (MAB) is leading the implementation of a modernized approach to environmental approvals to create faster, smarter, streamlined government-tobusiness services, while maintaining high standards of environmental protection.

MAB is supporting modernization through partnerships that put sustainable, innovative solutions into action. The branch works with stakeholders to propose, evaluate, communicate and support modernization activities within the context of a risk-based, client-centred system.

The first major milestone on modernized approvals came in 2011 with the implementation of a new two-pronged, riskbased, online environmental registration system. The first stream of approvals was for more routine activities that present lower risks to the environment, risks that are well understood. Applications for these types of activities then became eligible to be submitted online through the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR). The second stream was for more unique or complex activities that required an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA).

The Ministry has worked closely with OHBA and a number of other construction associations, including numerous meetings and site visits OHBA members.

The Ministry has proposed short-term

water-taking exemptions and EASR draft regulations. A technical paper (which OHBA generally supported) was posted to the EBR in the spring, and draft regulations were posted in November for a 45-day comment period.

Since 2011, the following sectors have qualified for EASRs, resulting in time and cost savings for clients: automotive refinishing, commercial printing facilities, heating, non hazardous waste transportation systems, small ground-mounted solar facilities and standby power systems.

In 2015, an important next step towards modernization took place when the Ministry developed an electronic Environmental Compliance Approval System (eECAS). Moving to electronic service delivery means clients can apply for an ECA anywhere, pay for and then track the status of their application from their computer. And it won’t stop there. The Ministry is committed to modernizing other permitting, licensing and approvals programs over time, which will result in real benefits to clients, taxpayers and the government. These include such programs as brownfields, municipal wastewater and pesticides.

To support the release of eECAS, the Ministry is conducting a controlled launch.

During that launch, a limited number of online applications will be received and processed to better train Ministry staff and make adjustments to improve the client experience—something the MAB is committed to.

During the controlled launch period, ohba.ca

Ministry staff directly involved in the business of approvals received in-class training. The Ministry also developed a series of eECAS e-learning modules available to all its staff to allow them to get comfortable with the new system before its public launch. Two tutorials for external clients will be made available online.

Other sources of guidance to support clients include an updated ECA guide, as well as updated or new sample applications that provide a common understanding of the level and extent of documentation required for Ministry decision-making on an ECA. Through learning by example, clients receive clarity, consistency and support for thorough and complete submissions. This material is also going to be available online.

The Ministry is well on the road to becoming a more modern regulator.

The positive benefits include improved effectiveness, flexibility, transparency and cost efficiency. As of early December 2015, there were 4,082 EASRregistrations, generating approxmately $32.2 million in savings for businesses that have registered since 2011.

Building an approvals system for the future

Given the ongoing success of the EASR and the potential benefits to Ontario’s regulated sector, the branch continues to propose additional EASR candidates for consideration by the Ministry.

Ontario is part of the North American manufacturing heartland and home to thousands of manufacturing businesses.

After California and Texas, Ontario has the most manufacturing employees of any jurisdiction in the U.S. or Canada. Proposing a new EASR to target low-risk, well-understood manufacturing sectors under the category of ‘general manufacturing’ would streamline the approvals process for a wide variety of sectors in the province, providing significant benefits while continuing to ensure that these businesses operate without compromising Ontario’s environmental health.

Moving forward, MAB is also looking at other potential sectors or activities for EASR consideration including agribusiness, electricity distribution stations and nonemergency Tier Four generators.

For more information on the MAB or modernization of approvals, contact Program Implementation Manager Walter Yee at (416) 325-7561 or at Walter.Yee@ontario.ca. ohba.ca

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Top 5 Building Concerns for Homeowners Home energy costs, noise and mould are some of the top concerns of surveyed Ontario homeowners, according to a recently released report from MasonryWorx, the Ontario association representing brick, block and stone manufacturers.

The five most popular concerns for Ontario homeowners, according to the research report: 1. Excess energy use 2. Noise from an attached house or apartment 3. Excess street noise 4. Mould problems in the home 5. Rotting or damaged exterior wood or stucco

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Selling Homeowners on the Benefits of Water Monitoring The average household’s leaks can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, notes Toronto-based Municipal Water Savings Corp. While that number is likely much lower for new homes, there is much to be gained by the company’s Eddy Home suite of products, including the the Eddy Water Management System and IQ Meter.

Monitoring for water leaks and usage 24 hours a day, the simple, easy-to-use technology gives homeowners peace of ohba.ca

mind about the safety of their water, while also averaging 15% in annual water savings.

Homeowners will also enjoy the benefit of cleaner clothes and longer-lasting appliances since the water will be free of lime scale and iron oxide. Softer water also makes your hair and skin healthier, and results in lower costs for soap and detergent.

A very intuitive app enables homeowners to be alerted of leaks and to turn it off from any mobile device or computer. There’s also an automatic shut-off in case of problems.

“People say they’ve never had a broken pipe. But they may also never have had anyone break into your house, yet they still have a security system,” the company notes. “Why not one for your water?”

Homebuyers can also save up to 10% on home insurance rates with the addition of leak protection technology, Municipal Water Savings contends. The fee is $20/ month for residents ($30 including the filtration system). Homeowners have a free 60-day trial.

The benefit to home builders? For their upsell, builders receive $400 per system installed. municipalwatersavings.com

EASIER, FASTER INSTALLATION OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE DESIGN

Free Energy Design Advice Insulation manufacturer ROXUL Inc. has introduced its Energy Design Centre (EDC) on its website, ROXUL.com/edc. The EDC will serve as a one-stop hub for building industry professionals to access a wealth of resources, high-quality tools, training and tailored advisory services to unlock the energy savings potential of their buildings. The site is supported by a panel of international building science and energy efficiency experts from top-tier industry and educational institutions.

In addition to providing direct and customized support to commercial building professionals, the EDC provides comprehensive access to the latest third-party building science research, presentations, multi-media, case studies, product and service solutions, specification and application guides, technical and data sheets, industry news, events and more. ohba.ca

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Stratford ’s R&D Development Group, which boasts Renomark membership and an A+ Better Business Bureau rating, is espousing the virtues of an outdoor sump pump system, which not only prevents basement f looding during a power outage, but requires no holes in the footings of a home. Installation below the frost line means it won’t freeze. And R&D uses an attractive decorative faux rock to not only conceal the exterior device but even complement your landscaping. rndgroup.ca

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New CHBA Study Reveals What Today’s Buyers Really Want

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Want to know what homebuyers are looking for in your own backyard or across the country? The inaugural CHBA Home Buyers’ Preference Study provides a treasure trove of valuable information to that effect for builders and industry members alike.

The study allows users to drill down to their particular communities to get a sense of what consumers are looking for,

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notes Avid Ratings Canada president Tim Bailey, whose company helped orchestrate the nationwide survey. Given that there were 209 questions on the survey, 1,600 responses of 12,000 new-home buyers solicited (13%) was extremely impressive.

O f fered for $ 495 to non- C HB A members, the huge study, including applicable provincial reports, is available to CHBA members for 40% off ($295) and for $195 to survey participants. As a special incentive, complete data and reporting on the survey results from their customers is offered free of charge for participants—company-level data that will not be available to anyone other than the participating company.

A mon g t he s t ud y ’s re ve l at ion s was residents’ desire to maintain a little breathing space. At a time when intensification is being pushed on many government levels, 51% of respondents noted that they were actually looking for 30’ to 50’ lots, with 55% indicating they would be in the market for a new home next time around.

Three big things new-home buyers were looking for? Storage, energy efficiency and kitchens, says Bailey, specifically, walk-in closets and energ y-efficient homes, appliances and windows.

What 10 items don’t they want? Open parking or a single garage, laminate countertops, a swimming pool, vinyl siding, a home workshop, a hobby/game room, whirlpool tub, stucco exterior, outdoor whirlpool spa and an outdoor fireplace, advises the study.

For mid-rise and high-rise buildings, buyer wants include 24-hour security, wireless internet/wifi and a health club.

Desired community features include walking/biking trails, accessibility and active lifestyles; parks and recreational facilities to support those lifestyles; and landscaping.

For new-home buyers, 83% said their first point of contact was the builder website. But over 28% said social media was not important to them at all! As website info goes, testimonials are becoming less important today, Bailey indicated.

The two top resources for deciding to buy a house included pricing information and model homes.

For information on the survey, visit chba. ca/members-area/homebuyer-preferencestudy/value.aspx. ohba.ca

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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR PARTNERS

product focus

Dow’s easy-to-handle Styrofoam Cladmate CM 20 rigid foam insulation is suitable for above and below grade and under concrete slabs.

Let’s Call it a Wrap The latest in heating and cooling for 2016 By dan o’reilly Encompassing manufacturers and distributors of building

wrap, insulation, HVAC and other inventory, the heating and cooling industry is a much-diversified one. Most company representatives, however, would agree with the comments of Paul Duffy, vice-president of engineering with spray-foam insulation firm Icynene. As Duffy sees it, there are three top issues— ohba.ca

and many secondary ones—currently facing the industry and homebuilders who purchase and install their products.

One is energy efficiency. Its emphasis, along with the commitment to address climate change, are pushing much higher levels of insulation, airtightness and equipment efficiency in building codes, Duffy says. ontario home builder WINTER 2016

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product focus

Top and bottom left: Icynene Classic Plus open-cell spray foam insulation provides an R-Value of R4 per inch, while its ProSeal medium-density foam allows for a higher initial pass of three inches and is suitable for use year-round.

Above: The need for higher effective R-values in walls helped drive the debut of Dupont’s Tyvek ThermaWrap R5.0, a weather barrier combined with a 1.5” thick insulation blanket with an R-5 value.

A second issue is “installed performance.” Better-insulated, air-sealed homes generally provide improved comfort and homeowner satisfaction. With that added performance, though, come higher consumer expectations and annoyance with small performance defects.

“A good analogy would be the fact that a consumer would put up with poor acceleration from a used car but would be less tolerant of the same performance in a newer sports car,” Duffy explains. “Meeting code isn’t good enough; meeting high performance and expectations is what is needed.”

The third issue concerns ensuring durability, indoor air quality and moisture control. Proper ventilation, air circulation and high-quality materials are required to control condensation and air quality, as well as avoiding durability problems in windows, walls and roof assemblies.

“Ventilation, in particular, is no longer an option, but an essential part of a well built home,” Duffy notes.

Dow Building Solutions senior residential account manager David Kelly emphasizes the correlation between insulation and

HVAC products. With the increased focus on energy efficiency, higher insulation levels and reduced air leakage, there has been much more dialogue about “right-sizing” the furnace air conditioning based on a higher performance building envelope.

That objective has been addressed with the introduction of the new CSA Standard F280.

“This (standard) shows how the house works as a system and also how important it is to coordinate efforts for a highperformance home between trades,” says Kelly.

Protecting the building envelope with both its rigid insulation and spray foam inventory is Dow’s focus, says Kelly, who points to the Styrofoam Cladmate CM 20, a “rebranded” multi-purpose rigid foam insulation suitable for use in all residential construction, including above and below grade and under slabs.

“We have seen a trend that building codes across North America are changing and requiring a higher effective R-value in walls,” says Dupont marketing specialist Maggie Abbey.

Last fall, Barrie-based Napoleon Products became the first

“Meeting code isn’t good enough; meeting high performance and expectations is what is needed.”

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product focus

From left: Insulapack’s lightweight, argon gas bubble-foil insulation measures up to 48” wide and 750’ long. Napoleon’s high-efficiency Condo Pack heating and cooling unit features up to a 96.8% AFUE rating; and the ultra-quiet and efficient Lennox SL18XC1 air conditioner.

Ontario manufacturer to produce a Condo-Pack high-efficiency packaged heating and cooling unit, a self-contained system that is installed in every unit and specifically designed for smaller condominium buildings ranging from 20 to 40 units.

The need to comply with the 2012 update of the Ontario Building Code requiring a 90% efficiency rating for gas furnaces was the catalyst for the product’s development, says Stephen Schroeter, Napoleon’s V.P. of sales and marketing.

The system now has an energy efficiency rating of up to 96.8%.

Another industry concern centres on the belief that basement fibreglass insulation has the potential to generate moisture and mould growth, as well as losing its R-value when compressed with staples and mechanical fasteners.

T h at wa s t he t h i n k i ng beh i nd Markham-based Insulapack’s invention of the Sure-R Basement Wrap, a bubble wrap insulation that can deliver an R-20 rating with just 1.8-inch thickness.

“What sets the Sure-R apart from other bubble wraps is that it replaces airfilled pockets with argon, which delivers much higher value than air,” says sales representative Peter Kostek.

Easy to install using a spiderweb-like adhesive, the Sure-R does not require pins or tape and will cut down on the amount of physical labour inherent with batt insulation, Kostek says. “No more bending over all day to install the bottom strap.”

Of course, a more educated and demanding public continues to propel product research such as Lennox Industries’ decade-long testing of its new Quantum Coil technology, found in the recently

released SL18XC1 air conditioner.

“Homeowners have a strong desire for connected, highefficiency homes that can stand up to the elements. We designed the SL18XC1 to support that vision,” says Lennox District Manager for Eastern Canada Rick Bastmeyer.

Looking to the future, there are three broad product developments that warrant monitoring by home builders, says Warren Heeley, president of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada.

“Consumers really want to knock down those utility bills,” says Heeley, who notes that the industry is responding to that demand with more technically advanced products—a pr ime example being systems that provide heating and water supply for the house, as well as, in some cases, ventilation.

Z one cont rol s t h at w i l l a l low homeowners to regulate and select heating and cooling for different areas of the house will also become more prevalent, Heeley predicts. “As it stands now, when most people turn up the thermostat, it heats up the entire house.

How do we get past this norm?”

The third item is the advancement through the entire newhome market of ‘smart’ controls that give homeowners the freedom to remotely regulate the various functions of their heating and cooling systems from a smartphone. “As with all electronic products, prices will come down with new technologies and new players. And smart control availability will eventually be the norm.” OHB

Easy to install using a spider-weblike adhesive, the Sure-R does not require pins or tape and will cut down on the amount of physical labour inherent with batt insulation.

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outside the box

New Craftsmanship

Modern science is bringing back classic design

By Avi Friedman I LIVE IN A semi-detached duplex built

more than 80 years ago by a tract builder for middle-class families. My wife and I purchased it because we liked the neighbourhood, where tall trees form a beautiful green canopy over the street in the summer.

But there was something else—we appreciated the craftsmanship expressed in the home’s exterior and interior details. The railing just outside the front windows is a charming piece of ornamental iron. The transom above the entry door is made of small squares of stained glass. When the sun shines, it lets a special quality of light into the foyer. The floor in that area is paved with brown squares of natural stone. There are numerous curved and square arches in the house, while the doorframes have bevelled and right-angle corners engraved into them.

They certainly do not build them like that anymore. My home was constructed when labour costs were much reduced and such crafted details were the norm.

Nowadays, builders can offer such intricate details only to those willing to pay for them, mostly in custom-design homes.

Are the old, lovingly crafted details that once made a place so special gone forever?

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is yes. Some natural resources like certain tree species have become extinct or prohibitively expensive. When you actually do spot mahogany or solid cherry, it’s likely a veneer.

Many of the craftsmen—their skills brought here from the Old Country and perfected over time—are gone, without having passed on their skills to newer generations.

And then there is the monetary aspect.

There are not enough buyers in tract developments willing to pay the real cost of handmade details. But then, our value system has changed and with it our attachment to craftsmanship. Homes have become a traded commodity and we have become more transient. For some, residences are investment portfolio items; not places where generations of family will reside.

But there is hope. A visit to a renovation store reveals a resurgence of new and intricate products. Some items that have reappeared are beautiful ceiling rosettes (the moulded circle in the middle of the ceiling), nicely shaped floor mouldings, wonderfully curved ceiling edges, art decolike light fixtures, Queen Anne-style door handles and bathtubs with brass legs.

Products like these have returned because manufacturers recognize market-

ing tendencies and potentials when they see them. They also have new technologies like 3-D printing and composite materials at their disposal. Computers can now trace and build the moulds of old forms.

The steady hands of old artisans have been replaced by sophisticated, programmable machines that can produce an item with extreme accuracy and speed at low cost.

Along with the new machines have come new raw materials. We rarely have lumber brought from the Amazonian rain forest, but there is no shortage of medium-density fibreboard. Extruded plastics and soft recycled metals are also extensively used.

Cast gypsum and moulded artificial wood products help replicate ceiling edges and articulate kitchen cabinet doors.

It is ironic that cutting-edge technologies help recreate old artifacts and traditions. Innovation has always been an evolutionary process, and it is no different in the realm of building products, even if it is used to bring back the past. We may have replaced the craftsperson, but we at least kept the craft. OHB Dr. Avi Friedman teaches architecture at McGill University. avi.friedman@mcgill.ca ohba.ca

Ontario Provincial District Council

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ONTARIO "Well Trained. Highly Skilled Labour. Simply the Best, since 1903".

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! Jack Oliveira

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