Better Builder, Issue 32 / Winter 2019

FutureProofing
and
EnergyChoices
PUBLICATIONNUMBER42408014
INSIDE
The Heat Is On
Resilient Construction
The GHGST Credit
Ready, Set, Charge!
TEETH Checkup
What’s Your Carbon Footprint?
ISSUE 32 | WINTER 2019

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BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 32 | WINTER 2019
16
1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
2
The Third Wave
Building Resiliency and
Future Proofing Our Homes
by John Godden
THE BADA TEST
3
‘Charging’ Ahead with
Electric Vehicles
by Lou Bada
INDUSTRY EXPERT
5
by Gord Cooke
INDUSTRY NEWS
9
Incentivize Green
Construction and
Builders Will Build It
The Greenhouse Gas
Sales Tax Credit
by Paul De Berardis
INDUSTRY NEWS
13
Clean and Green
Canadian Carbon Pricing Policy
by Alex Newman
SITE SPECIFIC
22
ROCKWOOL Uses a Team
Approach with Builders
by Alex Newman
SPECIAL INTEREST
26
TEETH Checkup
A Look Inside a Collaborative
Research Project
by Steffanie Adams
BUILDER NEWS
28
Ready, Set, Charge!
by Rob Blackstien
FROM THE GROUND UP
30
Future Proofing for the Carbon Tax
by Doug Tarry
FEATURE STORY
16
The Heat Is On
A small Richmond Hill company may have the next big thing in home
heating innovation on its hands.
by Rob Blackstien
30
ISSUE 32 | WINTER 2019
On our cover: Alan Clarke of iGEN Technologies (left) and Dugald
Wells of Marshall Homes. Photograph by Patricia Howell.
Images internally supplied unless otherwise credited.
5
28

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“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things,
so that all the small things go in the right direction.” — Alvin Toffler
I
n 1980, Alvin Toffler published a bestseller called The Third Wave. He described
three historic phases in which civilization has developed. The first was the
agricultural transition from a hunter-gatherer structure. The second was the
industrial age, largely driven by the burning of cheap fossil fuels like coal and
petroleum. The third is the information age, where we connect to the internet
using our smartphones in a process that is highly dependent on base metals.
We know now that the drivers of our prosperity have brought us to our current
situation. When we think about Toffler’s quote today, the “big thing” is climate
change. The “small things” are what we do to move towards resiliency and future
proofing our homes.
This is our annual future proofing issue. Inside, you’ll find information and tips
on future proofing (the process of anticipating the future and developing methods
to minimize the effects of future events) and resiliency (the capacity to recover
quickly from difficulty).
The Ontario Building Code package A1 reference house only requires 28 KBtu
per hour on the coldest day of the year, but this load is too small for most furnaces.
Our feature article on iGEN Technologies (page 16) explores a combination heating
system that provides heat and hot water. It can power itself through a blackout in a
winter storm by generating electricity. Dugald Wells from Marshall Homes is test
driving this technology in his own cottage for potential use in a project in Pickering.
In a now-repealed Code change, electric vehicle charging stations had been
required to be roughed in. Lou Bada explains why he supports the repeal on page 3.
In “Ready, Set, Charge!” (page 28), we profile eCAMION, a Scarborough company
that knows bigger batteries in cars require new technology for rapid charging.
Alice Wang explains how they are working toward a network of high-tech rapid
charging stations.
In “Resilient Construction” (page 5), Gord Cooke talks about resiliency
planning for builders and how it can help us with a more demanding climate.
Additionally, Doug Tarry reviews five significant ways we can reduce our carbon
footprint (page 30).
The third wave requires that we think differently, and collectively, about clean
prosperity. The Sustainable Housing Foundation (SHF) brings together thought
leaders, builders and manufacturers to create an informed path forward. You can
find a recap of the recent Sustainable Housing Foundation Dinner on page 13.
It seems fitting to quote Toffler again for his views of future success: “The
illiterate of the future will not be those who cannot read and write but those who
cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. If you do not have a strategy, you’re part of
someone else’s strategy.” Ask yourself: Is your strategy stuck in the second wave or
is it moving forward in the third wave? BB
The Third Wave
Building Resiliency and
Future Proofing Our Homes
publisher’snote / JOHN GODDEN

O
ntario’s current Ministry
of Municipal Affairs and
Housing moved quickly in
its mandate to repeal regulations
in the Ontario Building Code
requiring the rough-in of car
charging stations in Part 9 buildings
(low-rise) and suspended plans to
implement them in larger buildings.
This was met with great relief
within our industry, but not for
the reasons you might think. Cost
implications are not the only thing
on builders’ minds: we are more
concerned with the implementation
and the value proposition of new
regulations for our customers.
Although the policy to further
“green-up” new homes through
regulations is a no-brainer for any
government looking to score cheap
political points, putting the cart
before the horse (or the charger before
the electric vehicle [EV], as the case
may be) ultimately creates bad policy.
Here’s why.
Many in our industry were quick
to point out that requirements for car
charger rough-ins were problematic
and not well thought out. Our industry
indicated we were willing to work on
more rational solutions in order to
achieve the goal of curbing carbon
emissions. However, in expressing
our concerns, we were often labelled
as uninspired (or worse). The pitfalls,
unworkability and ineffectiveness
of the requirements mattered little
to the policy makers as long as
they could be seen to be doing the
right thing. Although the goal of
electrifying everything from housing
to transportation seems like a good
idea from 10,000 feet (given Ontario’s
relatively low-carbon electrical
generation system), builders have to
build with their feet on the ground.
When we examined Ontario’s
microFIT program and reverse
metering with photovoltaic solar
panels, we quickly found out that the
electrical grid was not always ready
for a mass uptake of the new program.
The infrastructure and utilities were
often inadequate and unprepared.
Similarly, when speaking to the local
distribution companies (LDCs) about
car charging stations, it appeared
that our grid wouldn’t be ready for a
mass uptake. If many people come
home at the end of a work day, plug
in their EVs and turn on the stove to
cook dinner all at the same time, our
electrical distribution system would be
overwhelmed. However, builders were
being compelled to put car charger
rough-ins into thousands of new
homes every year.
It is not solely the problem of overall
capacity of the electrical system: it’s
the peak capacity of the system and
infrastructure that matters more. “Peak
shaving” and trying to match capacity
and demand is the more salient issue
for the LDCs. Utility scale energy
storage systems are not adequately
installed on Ontario’s energy grid.
If we had to rough-in anything in
a home, I believe it would be better to
rough-in for home battery storage. A
home battery could be charged off-
peak and discharged on-peak. It could
also charge a car while discharging
on-peak. It would help the electrical
grid “load-shift” and reduce the use
of natural gas-fired “peaker plants.”
A home storage battery could also
provide some relief in the case of
a blackout, which would also be a
strategy for building in a measure of
climate resilience. As the technology
evolves and improves, battery prices
will go down and electrical prices will
go up. By using a home storage battery,
home owners could realize the value
proposition of storing electricity at
home and take advantage of time-
of-use rates. It would also be a step
towards a distributed energy system.
Following the argument above, you
may ask: “Wouldn’t you still need a
car charger and rough-in for a home?”
Not necessarily. Firstly, we need to
distinguish the level of charging most
drivers will require. Builders were
3
1349968124/SHUTTERSTOCK
thebadatest / LOU BADA
‘Charging’ Ahead
with Electric Vehicles

being asked to provide a rough-in for
a 240-volt, 30-amp level 2 charger,
which can charge an EV to travel
about a 290-kilometre range over an
eight-hour charge. A car charging
unit and installation would have to
be purchased by the home owner at
significant additional costs. If, on the
other hand, a purchaser wanted a level
1 charge, a regular 120-volt plug would
suffice and give an EV a 65-kilometre
range over an eight-hour charge. In
this case, our rough-in would be a
waste of material and money.
According to Statistics Canada’s
Journey to Work: Key Results from
the 2016 Census survey, the median
distance travelled to work for those
who worked outside the home (6%
work from home) was 8.7 kilometres
(9.6 kilometres in Toronto). In Canada,
12.4% of people take public transit; in
the Greater Toronto Area, that number
doubles to nearly 25%. About 6.9% in
urban areas walk or bike to work.
If I were investigating the purchase
of a new car, I would seriously look at a
plug-in hybrid (PHEV), which has both
an all-electric operating mode and
a conventional gas engine operating
mode (used after the battery has been
fully discharged). There are a number
of affordable PHEVs that can travel
about 45 kilometres on an eight-hour,
level 1 charge. I believe it would be
perfectly adequate for most people,
based on the Statistics Canada’s survey.
A PHEV would also work better for those
living in rural areas (who may need to
drive further, more often) or drivers
occasionally taking a long road trip.
In light of this, why would we be
mandated to install rough-ins for level
2 charging stations (with the requisite
200-amp service) in every new home
today and in the foreseeable future,
when someone could use a level 1
charger for their daily commute to
work and back? New technology and
level 3 chargers on a commercial
basis are also evolving quickly and
becoming more commonplace. At the
time the requirements were in effect, I
really believed that we were wastefully
stranding a lot of infrastructure inside
our houses for no good reason.
Someday, driverless cars may make
an appearance and upset the apple
cart altogether. If that day comes,
hopefully the horse will be pulling the
cart and not vice versa. BB
Lou Bada is vice-
president of low-rise
construction at Starlane
Home Corporation
and on the board of
directors for the Residential Construction
Council of Ontario (RESCON).
4
A PHEV would also
work better for those
living in rural areas
(who may need to
drive further, more
often) or drivers
occasionally taking
a long road trip.

A
t the time of writing this
article work is being
completed on a new family
cottage for my brothers and I and
our growing extended families.
The cottage is on the eastern shores
of Lake Huron in Southampton,
Ontario which means we will see the
most beautiful sunsets unfold from
the balcony all summer long and
experience the wrath of relentless
westerly winds howling across
80 kilometers of icy waters from
Michigan all winter long.
Regular readers of this magazine
will recall we completed a modest Net
Zero cottage in Southampton 4 years
ago. Derek Seaman of Seaman and
Sons Builders was so great to work
with on that project, it was obvious
we would be working with him again.
That 2015 project was on a small infill
lot 2 streets back from the shore and
Derek was very quick to point out that
building right on the shore had very
different, exaggerated challenges. For
that reason, while it was a given that
we would be building again to the
Canadian Home Builders Association
Net Zero Labelling Program, we
decided to add the theme of resilient
construction to the project.
As climate change and sustain
ability permeates most every
industry, a rather obvious response
by the building industry would be,
of course, to build ever more energy
efficient homes. Perhaps, though,
a more compelling story is to focus
on the lasting legacy of the homes
you build. I have the great pleasure
of working with hundreds of builders
across North America each year and
I can say with complete confidence
that every one of them takes pride in
knowing that, unlike virtually any
other consumer product, the projects
they build will provide comfort and
safety for generations of families.
Homes designed to better handle the
extremes of what ever Mother Nature
has in store has been a consistent
theme of every housing conference I
have been to over the last 2 years.
It will be no surprise that the
specifics of the conversation always
relate to the imminent risks of the
region I happen to be in. In BC it’s
about fire and seismic resiliency with
the added challenge in coastal regions
of months of rain with little time
for drying. In California, the recent
images of devastating wild fires fuelled
by parched winds are driving design
and construction decisions. In Texas
and the Southeast of the US, right up
into the Maritimes the conversations
are about flooding and severe wind
driven rain. In the Midwest, including
our prairie provinces more frequent
and more severe tornados dominant
new design objectives.
Thus, when we enlisted architect
Mark Rosen of Building Energy Inc
in Ottawa to design the project we
asked him to consider the goal of a
family cottage that should be enjoyed
for generations to come and the
5
industryexpert / GORD COOKE
The Amvic R-30 ICF system forms the building’s structure.

climate challenges most likely to
affect a lakefront property in south
western Ontario. Let me share just a
few of those considerations and the
decisions that followed, some that are
simple and obvious and others that
require changes to Derek’s normal
build process.
It started with the decision to
build fully slab on grade, even though
it might be normal to think of the
extra living space that a basement
would afford the extended family.
The decision seemed vindicated
even during the build as neighbours
up and down the shore had to
mobilize to clean up and dry out
flooded basements due to one those
seemingly more frequent harsh storms.
That slab was protected by the 20 mil
thick gas barrier called Radon Block
that provides both superior moisture
management and soil gas protection.
The entire slab assembly shown in
the picture here included the Radon
Guard foam block that provides R10
insulation value while creating a vent
space. This can be used to eliminate
the need for the typical crushed stone
under a slab. All together we ended up
with approximately R28 under the slab,
included the top layer of the AMPEX
foam that allows for quick and effective
installation of in-floor heating pipe.
If you recall in the now four year
old first Net Zero cottage we built,
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Roof tie-down clips anchor roof trusses to
ICF walls.

unless there is a code change. I would
encourage all readers of this magazine
who are clearly interested, as indicated
by the title of the magazine, in the
continual improvement of new homes
to start including tie-down straps or
strategies on every project. Then put
a sample of these simple pieces of
metal in the hands of every one of your
salespeople. Let them know this is one
of the most cost effective things any
caring builder can do to ensure the
resiliency of homes in the face of ever
more severe storms. BB
We have tracked the construction of the
Cooke Family Cottage project through a
series of film clips. I hope you will check
those out at www.buildingknowledge.ca
Gord Cooke is
president of Building
Knowledge Canada.
we used a pretty standard 2x6 wall
with exterior XPS foam insulation.
In this project we felt an insulated
concrete form structure provided
the generational durability we were
looking for. I was very pleased that at
least one ICF manufacture, Amvic,
has invested in the tooling to get to
higher effective R-values than the
typical industry R22. In this case
we used their ICF-R30 product. This
allowed us to get to the levels of wall
insulation needed to achieve Net
Zero with out adding supplemental
insulation and still benefit from the
inherent air tightness, thermal mass
and climate resistance of a concrete
structure. Winter power outages are
pretty common in this windy area
and it’s comforting for the family to
know that the house will be freeze-
protected for weeks at a time.
Mark, the architect, envisioned
the use a natural stone façade from
a local quarry to create a protective
boundary between the lake and
the house. Drifting sand and wind
driven rain always affect houses on
this shoreline. With the water level
up to historically high levels this
year, up over 12 just this year over
last, it is nice to have this feeling of
safety, especially since it gives such a
beautiful look as well.
The prevailing architectural
look on the lakefront in this area is a
lapped wood siding and Mark wanted
to retain that history even though
painted wood takes a beating off the
wind swept sand beaches. That look
though is preserved with the use of
a far more durable engineered wood
siding product. In this case, the pre-
treated substrate from LPs Smart
Side format has a 50-year warranty
and the paint coating is specifically
engineered for the Canadian climate.
I was particularly pleased that Derek
always installs siding over strapping
to ensure the optimized drainage and
drying of a true rainscreen, backed up
the DuPont Tyvek water management
system.
Although there are many other
details that will ensure the resiliency
of this family project that I hope to
outline in future articles, there is
one last one I want to mention in this
article. There has been talk in the
industry of our code being updated to
include wind resistant elements that
are common throughout the US. One
example is the interest in roof tie-
downs, often referred to as hurricane
straps. The Institute for Catastrophic
Loss Reduction (ICLR), established by
a segment of the insurance industry
and affiliated with the University of
Western Ontario has been sponsoring
research and submitting code requests
for roof tie-down strategies. It is one
of those low cost items that can be so
quickly overlooked in construction and
thus seldom implemented by builders
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BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 32 | WINTER 2019 9
industrynews / PAUL DE BERARDIS
If builders’ initiatives support the
goals of government policy, we firmly
believe they should be rewarded
through some type of monetary
incentive or carbon tax break for
reducing carbon emissions in the
homes they build. There are currently
numerous different types of rebates
and incentives that exist for auto
manufacturers and car buyers in
relation to hybrid and/or electric
vehicles. And there are energy-efficient
renovation rebates and tax credits
that exist for home owners who try to
improve the energy efficiency of their
existing residences. As a matter of
fact, the City of Toronto just launched
their BetterHomesTO program to
provide rebates and incentives for
home owners and renters.
However, once again, there’s
nothing for builders and new-home
buyers looking to ease the financial
burden of building and buying a
high-performance home. In terms
of value for money, it is obviously
much simpler and more cost efficient
to construct energy-efficient homes
from the get-go – especially since
some components, like a wall
assembly, are difficult to upgrade
after the fact. Why not offer incentives
for future-built homes rather than
solely for existing homes, which face a
much more costly and uphill battle to
be retrofitted for energy efficiency?
Look: we all know regulations
continue to come down the pipeline
to reduce GHG emissions from new
homes. This is a highly regulated
industry that becomes an easy target
for rigorous performance mandates
on new homes through mechanisms
like the National Building Code (NBC)
and Ontario Building Code (OBC),
which up the ante on energy efficiency
with every iteration. In addition,
there are other municipal or regional
government requirements – such as
green standards, community energy
plans or even energy mandates within
subdivision agreements – that thrust
additional beyond-Code measures
onto new-home builders. The challenge
for the home-building industry and
their clients (new-home buyers) is
that various levels of government
are addressing their climate-change
reduction targets through lowering
GHG emissions on the backs of new-
home buyers, further exacerbating
housing affordability concerns.
So how can builders soften both
their own financial blow and the
added costs borne by new-home
buyers when it comes to improving
energy efficiency and lowering GHG
emissions? A framework needs to be
created for home builders exceeding
Code requirements and buyers alike
to tap into the many tax breaks and
rebates already offered to existing
home owners (which seem to generally
have little uptake).
After all, we’re building houses that
will be in operation for the next 75 to
100 years. The government needs to
devise a means to incentivize more
low-carbon new builds, without
further financially burdening
builders and home buyers. Under
the federal carbon tax regime, many
manufactured building products and
materials will cost more for builders,
who will then need to recoup those
added costs from home buyers.
Material costs for products such as
concrete, insulation and masonry
cladding will rise. We’re not knocking
the carbon tax per se, but some of
the funds generated from carbon
taxation could possibly be directed
to incentivizing high-performance
homes – hence the GHGST concept.
Let’s compare the home-building
industry to the auto industry. There
is a federal rebate (as well as various
provincial rebates) for electric and
hybrid vehicle purchasers, and these
rebates are ultimately funded by
Incentivize Green Construction
and Builders Will Build It
The government needs
to devise a means to
incentivize more low-
carbon new builds,
without further financially
burdening builders
and home buyers.
H
ave you ever thought about the greenhouse gas sales tax (GHGST)? Of
course you haven’t. We made it up.
But bear with us: what if this concept, the GHGST, was created to give
the federal government (or even the provincial government) a revenue mechanism
to incentivize home buyers to opt for new homes built with green building
practices and technologies? And then, through a fully realized green program,
builders could be given financial incentives to deliver this type of product.

taxpayers – yet this analogy eludes
governments when it comes to the
new-home building market. To me,
it seems like a win-win scenario,
where housing affordability concerns
and climate change woes can be
addressed through the same green
building incentivization policy.
Through this same program – and
bear with us, we’re throwing out ideas
here – let’s set the table for builders and
home owners to share in some type
of carbon tax credit, tax break, rebate
or whatever other creative policy
mechanism to reward exceptional
green building practices.
Our friend, Better Builder publisher
John Godden of Clearsphere, was
involved in rating 1,523 homes last
year built to standards beyond the
OBC. There are five builders shown in
the chart below. They deserve more
credit for reducing carbon because
they produced 15% less CO2 emissions
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CARBON EMISSION SAVINGS FROM FIVE GTA BUILDERS
BUILDER
CO2 EMISSIONS
REDUCTIONS (TONS)*
NUMBER
OF HOUSES
CO2
REDUCTIONS
CARS OFF
THE ROAD
BROOKFIELD 1.303 196 255.38 151
EMPIRE 1.657 484 801.98 160.4
HEATHWOOD 1.658 168 278.54 55.7
STARLANE 1.520 261 409.77 82
ROSEHAVEN 1.516 414 627.62 125.5
TOTAL — 1523 2373.29 474.7
*Note: Emissions based on individual builder performance calculated on reference house, when compared to NBC 2015.

than other builders in other provinces
who build strictly to NBC. When we
benchmark these builders’ homes
built in 2019 compared to the NBC
emissions, the chart shows how many
cars they took off the road by building
houses that were 30% more efficient.
These five builders’ homes have
taken 475 cars off the road per year in
perpetuity (think five tonnes of CO2
per car against reductions).
While that makes a difference,
we have to be vocal and engage with
government so they can understand
and also support what our industry
is doing to make a difference. In fact,
there is more potential to making
houses greener than cars because
of their vastly longer lifespan – you
can get maybe 10 to 15 years out of a
brand new car before it is replaced or
scrapped, whereas a home has a useful
service life of at least 75 years. You
tell me: where is there more bang for
your buck when it comes to reducing
emissions?
So we’re suggesting various levels of
government engage with the building
industry to support and incentivize
low-carbon, new-home building.
Sure, the government can continue
gradually raising the bar simply
through increasing regulation – but to
truly get builders and home buyers on
board in a meaningful way, they need
the financial support to bring high-
performance building to the masses. A
high-performance green home should
get incentives: the buyer needs an
incentive to buy it, but the builder also
needs incentives to build it so that it’s
still financially accessible to consumers.
Everyone loves Tesla as a disruptive
game-changer – so why can’t we do the
same with high-performance green
homes? Where will that Tesla be in 100
years – when today’s new homes are
still standing, while contributing less
and less to greenhouse gases?
Let’s give the GHGST concept some
serious consideration. BB
Paul De Berardis is
RESCON’s director of
building science and
innovation. Email him at
deberardis@rescon.com.
11
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BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 32 | WINTER 2019 13
industrynews / ALEX NEWMAN
M
ichael Bernstein is no
stranger to party politics –
and he’s heard pretty much
every question there is about carbon
tax. He believes that the carbon tax
is the best action to lower costs while
spurring innovation in the economy.
And he’s not alone in that view, either
– he points out that putting a price on
carbon use is widely considered as
the most affordable way of reducing
carbon while staying profitable.
The 30-something director of
Canadians for Clean Prosperity has
plenty of experience in this area. He
has an economics degree from Yale
and a master’s in public administra
tion from Harvard, plus practical
experience as director of two profitable
organic food delivery companies
(Mama Earth and Farms Forks).
Speaking at a recent Sustainable
Housing Foundation dinner, he says
he tries “to walk people through the
logic of carbon tax, why it’s needed
and why it should not be a partisan
issue.” Although the provincial and
federal Conservatives are in favour of
eliminating the carbon tax, Bernstein
observes that the tax doesn’t have to
run counter to conservative values:
“Preston Manning, for example,
is in favour [of carbon pricing].
Mark Cameron, senior policy
advisor to [Stephen] Harper, is in
favour. Conservatives have led on
environmental issues in the past –
like Brian Mulroney, who made an
impact on the environment by taking
Clean and Green
Making the Case for a Canadian Carbon Pricing Policy
PHOTOGRAPHYBYMIKEDAY
Top: Michael Bernstein of Canadians for Clean Prosperity presents the economics of carbon taxation. Bottom: John Godden hosts a carbon tax game
show. Dinner guests purchased carbon offset tickets for the cash draw. The winner, Jiri Skopek, donated his prize to Canadians for Clean Prosperity.

important steps on acid rain. At the
end of the day, though, this should not
be a partisan issue.”
While he agrees with a more
conservative/less interventionist
perspective, he notes that “if you
want to address climate change,
there are only two ways to go about it:
[either] set a price on carbon pollution
and let business owners figure out
how to work around that, or have
government step in and dictate how
to reduce emissions.”
It would be fair to say that the 85
people who attended the event were
committed to greener construction
practices. Even so, Bernstein says
there were lots of questions about
carbon pricing and varying view
points on the policy. He explains that
“the money goes back to you first, and
then you decide what you want to do:
pay higher prices on what you used to
pay, or save money by purchasing
things that are not manufactured by
those who pollute. It’s like finding a
$20 bill on the sidewalk. The money
is there; the choice is yours whether
you’ll pay up for something that
pollutes or save the money.”
How it affects business – and
builders – is a question he gets a
lot. The answer is that the federal
government has compensation
programs around energy efficiency.
He points specifically to two
programs that provide grants of up to
50% on home retrofits and new energy
equipment, like HVAC and boilers.
Bernstein argues the programs
“should stimulate some new
construction demand. These funds
comprise about 7% of the total carbon
tax revenue.”
But the biggest possible benefit to
builders is “avoiding the economic
consequences that come with a
warming climate, something the Bank
of Canada (BOC) has warned is a major
threat to the Canadian economy. In
fact, the BOC sees investors pulling
out if a company doesn’t have a
sustainability plan in place. This
affects the economy directly.”
While net zero is technically feasi
ble through the use of more efficient
envelopes and mechanical systems, it
would add substantial costs to build
ing. But Bernstein expects that will
change “since the pace of technologi
cal innovation happens very fast. Take
the battery and solar panel industry
– the price has come down a lot, and
home owners are very interested.”
Growth spurs more growth – and
with the rapid rise of the clean tech
sector, ever more energy-efficient
products are coming to market.
The demand for green building will
continue as buyers become more
informed, and wise builders will
prepare now to capitalize on that,
Bernstein says. Tridel, for example,
is currently piloting CarbonCure
concrete products in their buildings.
“Consumers are increasingly going
to look for, and even expect, these
things when they set out to purchase
a home. If you build homes that are
ready for an EV [which had been part
of the Ontario Building Code until
the provincial government recently
rescinded it], for example ... consumers
will be appreciative,” Bernstein
says. He adds that builders who are
on the cutting edge of low-carbon
construction should be able to export
their knowledge to other jurisdictions.
Although the Doug Ford
government has put the carbon tax on
the shelf for the time being, Bernstein
argues that the carbon tax is inevitable.
China has now put carbon pricing in
place, and the US has carbon pricing
on a third of its economy. “From a
business perspective, the world is
moving to a cleaner economy, which
means renewable energy and products
will be at a premium. We should
capitalize on that now – because if we
delay, we’ll miss the opportunity and
ultimately our economy will suffer.”
Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg
has shown the importance of climate
change activism around the world,
including in Canada. Nevertheless,
Bernstein writes in a recent Maclean’s
article that “it’s also important for
[Canadians] to know that we don’t
all have to stop flying, swear off meat
or close down our heavy industry to
address climate change.” Instead, we
already have a much better solution:
an economy-wide carbon tax and
rebate. BB
Alex Newman is a writer,
editor and researcher at
alexnewmanwriter.com.
Bernstein explains that “the money goes back
to you first, and then you decide what you want
to do: pay higher prices on what you used to
pay, or save money by purchasing things that
are not manufactured by those who pollute.”

W
hen talking to people about his
company’s product, Alan Clarke
likes to say: “iGEN has solved a
problem that most people don’t even know they
have until it’s too late.”
The chief business strategy officer of six-person
iGEN Technologies (based out of Richmond Hill,
Ontario) is referring to a challenge many home
owners in Ontario have faced in recent years –
namely, power outages in cold weather.
The one essential thing you need to be func
tional during a winter power outage is your furnace
– but given that it’s an appliance that requires two
power inputs (natural gas/propane and electricity),
when the lights go out, so does the heat.
It was this exact scenario that sparked an idea
for engineers Michael Chatzigrigoriou and Patrick
Lai, who suffered a lengthy power outage in the
wake of an ice storm in 2012. Clarke says that the
two HVAC consultants came to the conclusion that
“this is ridiculous; this is what we do for a living,
and we can’t heat our own homes.”
featurestory / ROB BLACKSTIEN
A small Richmond Hill company may have the next
big thing in home heating innovation on its hands.
The Heat IsOn

The pair determined that there had to be
a better way. They set about creating a self-
powered furnace, a concept that – when pre
sented to the masses – elicits plenty of ‘why
didn’t I think of that?’ reactions, Clarke says.
Chatzigrigoriou and Lai spent about a
year building a prototype and, by 2013, what
would become the i2 was born. At this point,
the pair decided to devote themselves to
the project full-time in an effort to bring the
product to market.
Running Itself
The i2 uses natural gas or propane, converting
that energy into heat and enough electricity
to run not only itself when the power goes
out, but also a hot water heater, with enough
surplus to keep your modem running and your
cell phone charged.
The benefits the unit offers are plentiful,
including utility cost savings from a more
efficient heating appliance, environmental
benefits (given that the i2 results in lower
greenhouse gas emissions than traditional
heating appliances) and the peace of mind
that home heating won’t be affected by a
blackout or utility interruption.
While there was an early investor in the
company (who has since been bought out),
iGEN has been mostly self-financed and is now
100% owned by Chatzigrigoriou, Lai and the
team. Clarke says the company also received
grants from various government agencies and
industry associations and is currently engaged
in efforts to raise more equity to “fuel our
growth” – no pun intended.
The original concept for the i2 was a single
unit, but the box was extremely heavy and
large – about 50% wider than a traditional
furnace, meaning it couldn’t fit through
standard-sized doorways.
At this time (late 2017), the i2 was being
tested at three independent labs. Once the
performance data was verified, the next stage
was to streamline the product down to a more
manageable size.
The answer came in serendipitous form,
as UK-based competitor Flowgroup plc had
developed a product that operated on a similar
principle (a replacement for residential boilers
that generated an electricity stream that could
be sold back to the grid). The company was
running into some difficulties, so it wound up
disposing of the business unit.
iGEN pounced, taking Flowgroup’s inven
tory of about 1,000 units off its hands and
gaining the rights to the worldwide patents
and intellectual property.
17
VANESSACLARKE
Alan Clarke of iGEN Technologies (left) and
Dugald Wells of Marshall Homes are testing
iGEN’s i2 units in Wells’s new cottage.

Solving Issues
This solved a couple of issues for iGEN.
First, they were able to overcome the
challenge of how to separate the heat
and electricity generation from the
heat distribution in the home. Second,
by breaking the solution into two
pieces, the size issue was resolved.
Now, there’s a wall-hung piece
(the boiler unit and vapour expansion
cycle module, which generates the
heat and electricity) and a floor unit
that replaces the furnace, which
includes a heat exchanger with a
blower fan. Heat is transferred from
the boiler unit to the heat exchanger
with a hot water loop.
While the i2 uses the same
ductwork as existing gas furnaces,
Clarke explains that the installation
process is a bit different, but
traditional furnace installers should
have no issues mastering it.
Still, the product is so unique
that gaining certification for selling
the i2 in North America has proved
challenging because, Clarke explains,
no standard currently exists for self-
powered appliances. In fact, iGEN is
working with the Standards Council of
Canada to develop a standard for this
product, something it hopes is com
pleted later this year or early in 2020.
In the meantime, iGEN has been
granted approval to run an early
adopter program – an initiative
that’s generated promising results,
including an estimated $1,863 utility
cost savings over a 10-year period in
a 1,500-square-foot home. The case
study numbers were provided by third-
party simulations, so they are merely
estimates, Clarke says. But he adds that
the company is heavily monitoring
these initial field installs to get a more
accurate sense of the annual savings.
Early Adopters
Clarke says the 44,000 BTU per
hour output i2 is ideal for homes
between 1,000 and 2,200 square feet,
depending on the house age, quality
of construction, tightness of envelope
and insulation quality.
According to Clarke, another 20 to
40 early adopter installs are planned
before the end of 2019, but none may be
more important than the i2 that’s being
tested in Dugald Wells’s new cottage.
That’s because this trial is not
simply for a customer, but possibly
a key business partner. Wells is the
general manager of Pickering-based
Marshall Homes, an innovator
in energy-efficient housing and a
company that’s keenly interested to see
if the i2 is ready for prime time.
Wells had been familiar with iGEN
for some time, thanks to his long
association (both professionally and
personally) with Clarke, who himself
first heard of iGEN while he was doing
consulting work for Marshall Homes.
In the walkout section of the
cottage, Wells had roughed in for
radiant floor heating, but was unsure
he was going to go that route given that
it would require a second boiler.
He says what really caught his
attention was when he heard about
iGEN’s acquisition of Flowgroup’s busi
ness unit because, over in the UK, it’s
generally all hydronic heating, he says.
Wells’s goal was to tap off the iGEN’s
coil – the boiler in the UK version – to
take hot water to use in the radiant
flooring loop as well as for the forced
air, “because otherwise I would have to
buy a whole new furnace.”
Running the Numbers
Wells approached Clarke to find
out whether this would work. The
iGEN team went off, did a bunch of
calculations and determined that it
could in fact be done.
The i2 heating system installed and monitored in Coach House.
COURTESYiGENTECHNOLOGIES

“So, with one unit, I am serving
both my radiant floor heating loop as
well as my forced air distribution,”
Wells says. This offers multiple
benefits, as his forced air system
will run less often, and the radiant
floor heating is more comfortable
than forced air. It will deliver more
even temperatures, greater energy
efficiency, more comfort and fewer
noise and temperature fluctuations
with the forced air going on and off.
19
When Wells test drives the i2 this
winter, it will be because Marshall
Homes is considering adding the unit
into the homes in an upcoming and
very unique new housing development.
Altona Towns, a 27-townhome project
in Pickering, “goes right to the heart
of how the electricity market works in
this province.”
This ambitious project is a window
into the future of housing, featuring
a community that will be powered by
a microgrid, thereby reducing both
utility bills and carbon footprint. It
features a solar array and a powerful
standalone battery made by Tesla.
The Tesla Powerpack is a fully
integrated energy storage system that
includes DC batteries, a bi-directional
inverter and a Powerpack controller
with intelligent software. It delivers
multiple applications, including peak
shaving, load shifting and emergency
backup.
POWERPACK
250kW/500kWh
EV CHARGER
7.2kW 240V 30A
TOWNHOUSE
TOWNHOUSE
BLOCK
TESLA POWERWALL
5kW/13kWh
TRANSFORMERTRANSFORMER
SOLAR
INVERTER
MAIL + METER
BUILDING
SOLAR PV
25kWdc
Note: Powerpack has enough capacity
to support household consumption
for several hours during an outage.
Publically accessible
pay per use EV charger
at visitor parking area.
Note: A selected home will have a
Powerwall installed as a demonstration
of nested microgrid features.
UTILITY
THE MICROGRID AT ALTONA TOWNS
ORIGINALDIAGRAMCOURTESYMARSHALLHOMES

By being deemed a special demon
stration project, Altona Towns was
able to barter an agreement with
utility company Elexicon and Opus
One (which creates grid control
software) so that – in the absence
of virtual net metering – the condo
corporation will be compensated for
all the power generated that becomes
available to the grid. The residents
will benefit from this through
reduced condo fees. Wells said
they had to come up with this plan
“because government policy is still in
the dinosaur age.”
Cogeneration
This brings us to the issue of cogener
ation (or combined heat and power
(CHP)) and the possibilities it creates.
Currently, Wells says, it’s a one-way
street, in which the utility gives you
power and you give them money. So,
if you want to have your own power
generation or storage, you’re on your
own (with the exception of special
deals involving wind or solar farms).
CHP systems tend to be large-scale
grids, and micro CHPs are for small
communities. Clarke calls their system
“nano CHP” because it’s simply for the
appliance. “We’re not trying to power
the whole house; we’re just a better
heating plant,” Clarke says.
Wells will put that theory to the
test this winter as a trial run for much
bigger things. “We’re interested, but
... at the end of the day, we’ve got to
satisfy 27 home owners and we want to
make sure that equipment functions
as advertised,” he says. This will be
determined by his own findings, the
results from the other early adopters,
and how iGEN’s service and response
holds up should there be any issues.
If nothing else, Wells’s neighbours
are fascinated by his cottage plans. He
had a group of friends over and was
showing them the i2. Suddenly, Wells
was backed into a corner where a pile
of wood lay, surrounded by a transfixed
audience gathered in a semi circle. So,
he found himself on top of the wood
pile, lecturing about the technology as
they lobbed question after question at
him. Obviously, there’s interest in this.
Lots at Stake
And just as clearly, there’s a lot at stake
for iGEN over the next few months, but
Clarke is bullish. “Depending on how
well we are able to perform in Dugald’s
cottage this winter, I think if everything
goes as well as we expect it will, that
will make a stronger case for Marshall
Homes to include our units,” he says.
For Wells’s part, while he’s with
holding judgment on the technology for
the time being, he’s already made up
his mind about the people behind the
i2. As an entrepreneur himself, he has
a good sense of what it takes to make it,
and he sees those qualities in iGEN.
“I’m really impressed with them.
They’re calm, they’re thoughtful.” The
fact that they’ve been at it for a few
years – with great personal sacrifice –
speaks to their commitment, he adds.
“They’re not a flash in the pan.”
Wells says if he were a Dragon’s
Den investor, he’d be quite interested
in iGEN: “I like what I see, but it’s early
days. They’ve got a lot to prove.”
The opportunity for iGEN to prove
it’s ready for prime time begins in
earnest now. BB
Rob Blackstien is a
Toronto-based freelance
writer. Pen-Ultimate.ca 
FLUEOUT
SCROLL
IS DRIVEN
ELECTRICITY
OUT
RETURN
HEATING
SYSTEM
NATURAL
GAS OR
LPG IN
HOT WATER
OUT
FUEL BURNS
IN THE
COMBUSTION
CHAMBER
HOW THE iGEN MCHP BOILER WORKS
ORIGINALDIAGRAMCOURTESYiGENTECHNOLOGIES

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sitespecific / ALEX NEWMAN
I
f there’s one thing you can do
with today’s buildings that makes
financial and environmental sense
for the future and is the number one
way of mitigating climate change, it
would be “improve your insulation,”
says Emma Smetaniuk, commercial
and residential sales representative
for ROCKWOOL™
.
That’s not just her opinion,
though – it’s also the opinion of the
International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA).
Smetaniuk never expected to work
in the construction materials industry
but, looking back, it all makes sense
now. Emma’s father was in the
construction business, as a framer,
for over 30 years. He was always a
fan of stone wool insulation when he
was building houses. After university
– Oswego in New York on a hockey
scholarship! – she returned to Canada
to work for Lafarge in their leadership
and development program. “It was a
fantastic opportunity; I got to grasp
multiple product lines and jobs within
the industry. I was very thankful
for the opportunity, especially the
mentorship,” she says.
But when the sales opportunity
arose at ROCKWOOL four years
later, Smetaniuk took to how the
company positively contributes to
our overall health and well-being.
The importance of what we do with
today’s buildings – and how we
move forward with newer builds and
renovations – essentially determines
the legacy we leave for future
generations. “ROCKWOOL is a leader
in high-performance and quality
stone wool insulation, and I wanted to
be part of it,” Smetaniuk explains.
ROCKWOOL’s particular
suitability to the task certainly makes
Smetaniuk’s job easier: “The product
has a massive list of qualities capable
of contributing to the fight against our
biggest environmental challenges.” She
starts with how durable, hydrophobic
and mould- and mildew-resistant
the product is. It’s also permeable,
breathable, fire resilient and energy
saving, and has dimensional stability,
she adds.
It can also take the heat,
thanks to a much higher
melting point than other
insulation. “You can literally
take a blow torch to it, and it
won’t burn. Actually, it can
withstand temperatures of up
to 1,177 °C,” Smetaniuk says.
“That’s important in residential
use, especially now that we’re
building homes much closer
together – duplexes, semis,
condos, multi-units and mid-
rise wood frame buildings.
Stone wool is non-combustible
and ideal to satisfy building
code requirements for zero
lot line applications. Even
detached homes are closer.”
Because ROCKWOOL is
hydrophobic – that is, water
repellent – it’s effective when
there are compromises
in the building envelope,
Smetaniuk says. “The inorganic
composition makes ROCKWOOL
mould and mildew resistant,
so if condensation were to get
trapped in, it wouldn’t affect
the material. In addition, its
high vapour permeance maximizes
the drying potential if there is moisture
present in the wall assembly.”
As well, the thermal comfort it
provides can’t be underestimated.
Proper insulation can reduce a build
ing’s heating needs by up to 70% by
helping to create an airtight building
envelope, along with proper air barrier
detailing. This seals out drafts so
interiors aren’t only more comfortable,
but cost less to heat and cool. “Due
to the product’s physical structure,
ROCKWOOL Uses a Team Approach
When Working with Builders
Emma Smetaniuk of ROCKWOOL.

density and thermal properties, ROCKWOOL
insulation saves energy by maintaining indoor
temperatures for all climates,” she notes.
The acoustic benefits also contribute to overall
well-being. When the party wall cavities between
duplexes or towns are filled with ROCKWOOL
insulation, you get quieter rooms on either side. That
works as well for schools and office buildings, which
makes for better learning and work environments.
ROCKWOOL batt insulation is friction fit and
prevents gaps, thus decreasing sound transmission
from room to room. Typical code party walls have
sound transmission class (STC) ratings of 53. Using
ROCKWOOL can yield an STC of up to 60.
Like any premium product, you pay a bit more for
it – but it pays huge dividends. For example, energy
efficiency is enhanced, energy costs are reduced
and overall indoor air quality is improved, as the
material has a GREENGUARD®
Gold certification.
This certification indicates lower product emissions
and actually garners LEED points.
The company has paired up with several
builders, including Cleary Homes, Absolute General
Contractors, Brookfield Residential, Empire TEETH
Homes and Doug Tarry Homes. The Tyendinaga
Mohawk Territory in Deseronto (near Quinte) is
using ROCKWOOL in a new fourplex, for which
Absolute General Contractors is hoping to achieve
LEED Gold certification. Emma’s competitive
hockey days taught her the importance of being a
team player. As such, she is very supportive in her
relationship to builders. A good example is Cleary
Homes, with whom ROCKWOOL worked on 30 homes
in the Orchard East Community in Bowmanville.
Cleary provided a finish-ready basement detail
consisting of Comfortboard™
(R-6) and Comfortbatt®
(R-14) on all 30 homes. Working with both Cleary
Homes and Absolute General Contractors was a real
honour because those companies saw the benefit of
such a sustainable product and how that contributes
to the overall health and well-being of the future
home owners.
Every project has different insulation needs,
23
AMVIC AMDECK
MODULAR ONE-WAY
CONCRETE SLAB
ICFVL FLOOR LEDGER
CONNECTOR SYSTEM
ELECTRICAL
OUTLET

depending on the type of home or
commercial building. ROCKWOOL
has been developing its Elite Builder
Program, which aims to educate
builders in determining which
products work best with their
projects. In fact, its building science
and technical support team provides
complimentary services to help
builders, architects and designers
find ways to increase their buildings’
energy efficiency.
The end goal, Smetaniuk says,
is to provide builders with the
tools required to construct high-
performance buildings that reduce
operating costs, enhance safety and
maximize occupant comfort. All these
factors enhance a builder’s brand
through home owner experience.
Three popular products comprise
the lion’s share of ROCKWOOL’s
residential line: ROCKWOOL
Comfortbatt®
, Safe’n’Sound®
and
Comfortboard™
. Comfortbatt®
is used
to insulate exterior walls, ceilings, ex-
posed floors, attics and basements,
to keep heat in and cold out and
deliver a top R-value to the home.
Safe’n’Sound®
adds fire protection
and sound dampening and is used
in interior walls and ceilings and
between floors.
Comfortboard™
is a rigid
insulation board that is denser than
our batts and is typically used above
and below grade as a continuous
insulation layer. It’s suitable for
both commercial and residential
applications, but it is especially
good in basements. In the fourplex
being constructed for the Mohawks
of the Bay of Quinte by Absolute
General Contractors, two inches
of Comfortboard™
was used in the
crawl space to thermally protect the
insulating concrete form (ICF) foam
foundation. The main exterior walls
and party walls are insulated with
Comfortbatt®
. Using ROCKWOOL
secures more points, which Absolute
General Contractors needs for a LEED
Gold certification.
Comfortboard™
was also used
in a recent research project run by
George Brown College, but initiated by
ROCKWOOL, Empire Communities,
Clearsphere and DuPont. The idea
was to install insulation into three
homes and monitor the results. George
Brown’s building science research
team monitored the assemblies,
evaluated the homes’ capacity for
handling heat and moisture, and
looked for ways to improve above-
and below-grade insulation to pass
on to Ontario builders. (See “TEETH
Checkup: A Look inside a Collaborative
Research Project” on page 26.)
On one TEETH house, DuPont’s
CM20 insulation was applied with
2.5 inches of ROCKWOOL Comfort
board™
, then tested against the pink
foundation blanket of the other house.
“The results,” says Smetaniuk, “were
telling. When installing moisture-
sensitive insulation in moist areas,
it can lead to mould and mildew
growth and to decay, which can also
potentially affect home owner health.”
“In addition, basement blanket
insulation systems often get com
pressed during installation, resulting
in lower overall effective R-values. The
hybrid rigid insulation system tested
in the study maintains its dimensional
stability and performs as intended,”
says Smetaniuk. “The rigid insulation
system of ROCKWOOL and DuPont was
found to perform at least 25% better
than the foundation blanket.”
Emma’s view on climate change
is to understand the science behind
it – so you can give voice to issues that
are contributing to it. She believes
travelling smart with alternative
means – like using carpools, cycling
and public transportation – can make
a huge impact. Working with the
ROCKWOOL team, Emma believes
their product is perfectly suited
to tackle many of today’s biggest
sustainability and development
challenges, from energy consumption
and noise pollution to fire resilience,
water scarcity and flooding.
Both Emma and ROCKWOOL would
welcome the chance to be on your
team. Don’t hesitate to contact them
for information on the Elite Builder
Program. They would like to show
you how they’ve helped other builders
meet the challenge of climate change
while constructing quieter, safer, more
comfortable and resilient homes. BB
Alex Newman is a writer,
editor and researcher at
alexnewmanwriter.com.
The end goal is to provide
builders with the tools
required to construct
high-performance
buildings that reduce
operating costs, enhance
safety and maximize
occupant comfort.

specialinterest / STEFFANIE ADAMS
Clearsphere and Empire were
looking to improve on the below-grade
basement insulation blanket and to
explore new systems that could create
better efficiencies in construction,
better comfort outcomes and long-
term durability. There has been a
concern with new-home builders
that installing a roll-down insulating
blanket was causing visible moisture
issues, thereby creating call backs
and warranty claims from clients.
Empire Communities – along with
Clearsphere, ROCKWOOL and
the Dow team – were interested
in comparing the blanket to their
innovative below-grade wall assembly.
George Brown College’s Building
Science Research Team monitored
above- and below-wall assemblies
and attic assemblies in two Empire
Communities homes to evaluate their
capacity to manage the movement of
heat and moisture effectively. Each
home was constructed with different
above- and below-grade wall assem
blies to meet different levels of
standards and codes. The individual
wall assemblies in each home varied
from each other in terms of material
thickness and material properties.
The above-grade wall assemblies
in each house were measured against
current Ontario Building Code (OBC)
2012 standards and Energy Star
standards, as well as the anticipated
changes for the 2017 OBC and Energy
Star programs. The attic assembly
was measured against the 2012 OBC
and the proposed changes for the 2017
OBC. Lastly, basement assemblies
were tested against package J in Table
2.1.1.2.A in the 2012 OBC (the typical
industry standard for builders across
Ontario) and the anticipated changes
for the 2017 OBC.
The GBC team collected and
transmitted the data remotely for the
duration of a full heating and cooling
cycle, enabling for an assessment of
the durability and performance. Data
collected from each of the above- and
below-grade wall assemblies as well
as the attic was monitored, analyzed
and interpreted to provide insight
and validity to the effectiveness of
materials and assemblies and to verify
thermal resistance. Analysis included
moisture content, relative humidity
TEETH Checkup
A Look Inside a Collaborative Research Project
T
he Empire Homes TEETH (Three Energy Efficient Test Homes) project
was initiated by Clearsphere, ROCKWOOL™
(formerly ROXUL™
), Dow
Building Solutions™
and Empire Communities, along with Dahai Zhang,
Dr. P. Christopher Timusk and Steffanie Adams of the Building Science Research
Team at George Brown College (GBC). The objective of the Empire Homes TEETH
project was to investigate improvements in below- and above-grade standard
residential building practice for Ontario builders.
Three different wall treatments tested together in hybrid house: R-22 glass fiber
batts and R-22 and 24 stone wool batts with R-5 continuous insulation on exterior.
Insulating blanket tested against composite hybrid insulation
system for conduction and moisture at varying wall heights.

and temperature sensors to provide
a holistic analysis of the assemblies.
Lab tests were also conducted using a
guarded hot plate device to measure
the thermal conductivity of the
basement blanket wrap in various
states of compression. The results
from testing the thermal conductivity
of the mock-ups suggest that there is
a higher effective thermal resistance
with rigid material that does not
compress when it is installed.
Results of the research project
have just been released and there will
be further details to come. BB
Steffanie Adams
is a professor of
Architectural Studies at
George Brown College.
27
Check out our website at www.gsw-wh.com
Typical sensor
location at grade.

buildernews / ROB BLACKSTIEN
I
f we consider the car an extension of
the home, then doing what we can
to remove gas cars from the road is a
big concern – especially given that in
the battle to reduce carbon, they pose
a larger issue than houses do.
As Lou Bada points out in his
column (“‘Charging’ Ahead with
Electric Vehicles,” page 3), poorly
conceived, government-mandated
regulations are not the answer.
But clearly there is a problem here,
as the current infrastructure, the
costs involved and the strain on
the electrical grid create a virtual
chicken/egg scenario that is stalling
electric vehicles (EVs) from reaching
critical mass.
However, a Scarborough, Ontario-
based company is shifting its battery
storage technology into the EV space
in an effort to help solve the logistical
challenges this industry currently
faces.
eCAMION was founded in 2009
and until recently was a community
energy storage provider, mostly work
ing within the utilities, government
and heavy industrial sectors. The
company designed and manufactured
lithium ion battery storage, often
working with utilities such as Toronto
Hydro to install the units in remote
neighbourhoods that lacked sufficient
power quality, says Alice Wang,
eCAMION’s marketing specialist.
The company’s batteries provided
typical energy storage benefits, such
as power quality control and peak
shaving, and were designed to help
facilities use energy in a more efficient
way while lowering electrical bills.
In 2017, eCAMION opted to pivot its
target market towards the EV charging
sector. Wang says the company noted
the challenges this market faced, given
how power-intensive EV charging was
and the demand charges levied against
this application with how much electri
city it drained. “That’s how eCAMION
decided to get into it,” she says.
The main issue facing EV owners is
an inability to charge their vehicle in
a timely manner. Currently, the most
popular models available are Level
Two chargers, which typically take five
to 10 hours to fully charge a vehicle’s
battery. That generally leaves owners
to either charge overnight, or simply
stop for an hour or so to top up.
Level Three chargers are much
faster (taking no more than an hour
to fully charge an EV), but are scarce
at this point. They also pose their
own challenges because, for a single
EV, a Level Three charger requires
the same amount of power from the
grid as 40 houses.
With the demand charges asso
Ready, Set, Charge!
A Scarborough company’s technology may help solve
the challenge of electric vehicles reaching critical mass.
Alice Wang (Marketing Specialist), Monsoon Fu (RD Manager)
and Carmine Pizzurro (CEO) of eCAMION.

This technology will be showcased
in a government-funded pilot project
with Natural Resources Canada to
electrify a 3,400-kilometre stretch
of the Trans Canada Highway in
Manitoba and Ontario as the first leg
of the initiative.
Located in groups of three charging
stations, there will be 34 sites in total,
essentially 100 kilometres apart.
All told, there will be 102 charging
ports across this stretch, and upon
completion, they will explore
extending this across the rest of the
Trans Canada Highway.
While the government has adopted
an “if you build it, they will come”
mentality, selling this technology to
the private sector is another story.
Wang says one of the roadblocks is
that property managers of existing
buildings think it’s too expensive
to retrofit their electrical system to
ciated with consuming that much
power, small wonder it’s difficult for
operators to make a business case
for installing Level Three chargers.
Currently, Wang estimates, only about
10% of the few hundred charging
stations in the Greater Toronto Area
are Level Three, with the other 90%
being the slower Level Two models.
eCAMION is developing a customer-
facing EV charging sub-brand called
Jule Energy, under which it will target
this market. “It’s a super relevant
application for electric vehicles, both
now and in the future,” she says.
Supported by eCAMION’s tradi
tional battery storage technology,
Jule Energy battery storage units will
be hooked up to EV charging stations,
thereby supporting the demand so
that the electricity is not being drawn
directly off the grid. “So basically,
the battery acts as a buffer,” Wang
explains.
The battery will charge from the
grid slowly overnight and during
off-peak hours, but will be capable of
dispensing power at high levels to an
EV charger. The system can support
any level of charging – even chargers
Level Four and above (known as “super
chargers”) that can fully charge an EV
in 10 to 20 minutes. “So the technol
ogy is really getting to the point of gas
car convenience, almost,” she says.
29
support chargers, or they simply
believe the demand isn’t there to
warrant it.
But with the introduction of the
battery storage system, the business
case is easier to make as property
managers can better manage energy
within their buildings, perhaps
integrate the unit with a solar or wind
system, and support a row of eight, 10
or even 15 charging stations.
So there are multiple applications
for this technology, Wang says. “Think
of the battery as the hub to integrate
emerging energy and sustainability
technology.” BB
Rob Blackstien is a
Toronto-based freelance
writer. Pen-Ultimate.ca 
Level Three chargers
also pose their own
challenges because,
for a single EV, they
require the same
amount of power from
the grid as 40 houses.
An Audi Etron plug-in hybrid gets charged by an eCamion
transportable level 3 charging station.

fromthegroundup / DOUG TARRY
But this is the federal government
we are talking about, so the odds
are very high that they will not fully
understand the nuances needed for
our industry. Given the November 1
announcement of a 50% increase on
electricity rates in Ontario, reducing
our energy consumption is going
to become another major driver
affecting home buying and home
renovating affordability – especially
if the provincial government does
not apply another incentive to
reduce the consumer burden. For the
moment, let’s assume that we need
to go it alone and find ways to reduce
the impact of the carbon tax on the
end user (our home buyer) or home
renovation, as the case may be.
Here are five options that might
make a lot of sense in the near future
to help your consumer afford your
offering:
1. build a smaller home;
2. adopt a high-performance program
(make your homes super airtight
and add more insulation);
3. install right-sized high-
performance mechanical systems
with better windows;
4. use materials that sequester carbon
or have a low carbon impact for
value added; and
5. add solar generation.
Now, before you think that I’ve
gone off the deep end, let me walk you
through it. The first three options are
basic affordability decisions within
an Energy Star home, and number
4 is easy if you build with wood. As
for number 5? If you build a high-
performance home, you really don’t
need that much energy to power it.
When we built the Hope home a few
years ago, we were able to run the home
(including air conditioning during a
hot June) on 30 amperes. If we don’t
have to account for the occupant (and
all their TVs, computers, electronics,
washers and dryers and stoves, oh
my…), it’s not really that far fetched.
Let’s have a look.
Build a smaller home
There are quite a few factors here.
Besides the obvious fact that a smaller
home will be more affordable for
the consumer, you are using fewer
materials in the home, which reduces
the per-lot carbon footprint. The
operational carbon is also significantly
less. I looked at a 1,460-square-
foot bungalow built to Energy Star
that had a heating load of 19,200
BTUs and a cooling load of 16,000
BTUs; I compared it with our largest
production two-storey home (at 2,990
square feet), which came in at 32,500
BTUs heating and 21,600 BTUs cooling.
Once the basement was factored
into the home, the bungalow was
I
t’s hard to believe that, in a few short years, we’ve gone from worrying about
if we can build to net zero to now facing some hard conversations about
dealing with the impact of the coming carbon tax. In the last edition, Lou Bada
eloquently laid out his concerns about the carbon tax being equated to a “sin
tax.” Lou believed that the carbon tax should not apply to buying a new high-
performance home or to doing a deep energy retrofit on an existing home, and
that our customers deserve a fair carrot for making these types of decisions. I
wholeheartedly agree with Lou.
Five Ways to Future Proof for the Carbon Tax
172977688/ISTOCKPHOTO

approximately 66% the size of the
larger two-storey and needed 59%
of the energy to heat and 74% of the
energy to cool (see table at right).
These homes are typical of
what you would see in a regular
subdivision. But with the crisis in
affordability, the desire for much
smaller homes is gaining a great deal
of attention. We are currently working
on a tiny-home community that will
have homes as small as 400 square
feet, and I can’t wait to see how low
the loads are for these homes.
Adopt a high-performance
home program
If you were to change your specs to the
Energy Star program, the total energy
consumption of the home would
drop by 25% to 30%, compared to
National Building Code (NBC) 2015.
Once you are able to build to Energy
Star, moving up to net zero-ready
is not much more than adding a bit
more insulation and making it super
tight. A net zero-ready home can be
as much as 70% to 80% more efficient
than an NBC 2015 built home and
can mean a massive reduction in CO2
emissions over the life of the home.
While some of us have spent
years figuring out how to make our
homes super airtight (less than 1.0
ACH), many builders I’ve talked to
don’t have any idea of how tight their
homes are. This is because they don’t
test – and often don’t want to know –
because they are concerned with the
cost to “fix it” if the home turns out to
be super leaky. But here is the really
great news: for a bit more than $1,000
net cost, most builders can get their
home to less than 1.0 ACH, simply by
filling the big holes, removing some
costly steps and using AeroBarrier
to air seal their home. All that time
wasted trying to seal up a home can
be done in as little as a half-day on the
job site. That’s a big-time solution to
the hardest part of getting to net zero.
Install right-sized high-
performance mechanical
systems with better windows
I look at mechanical systems and
windows together for the simple
reason that window selection affects
mechanical sizing. In these smaller/
tighter homes, it is the type and quality
of the window that is the next lowest-
hanging fruit. Improving your window
to triple glazed (U-value of 1.4 or
lower) will help with the heating load.
However, the biggest impact on HVAC
sizing is now the sensible cooling load
from the windows and the latent load
from humidity. Selecting a window
with a solar heat gain co-efficient
(SHGC) of less than 0.3 can reduce
your air conditioning requirements by
half a ton (or more) on a home. That
means a smaller air conditioner and
smaller duct sizing to help offset the
savings of picking the better windows.
It also provides greater comfort to the
occupant year-round and additional
carbon reduction.
Once you have your windows
selected, don’t let anybody change
them. Then, give this information to
the HVAC designer, who needs to be
current with the CSA F280-12 sizing
standard. It is somewhat alarming that
there are still many HVAC designers
out there using the old standard. If
you are not sure, check out the Master
Planning Decision Guide for Natural
Gas Mechanical Systems, available
from Natural Resources Canada.
Use materials that sequester
carbon (or low-carbon impact)
I love wood. I love the smell of fresh
wood and the look of all that lumber
creating the skeleton of the homes we
build. I also love that wood is a carbon
sink and a sustainable construction
practice. But there are many more
products within a home.
Where possible, we are now looking
at products with low-carbon impact
and that are GreenCircle or GreenTag
certified. For example, BASF is now
offering a new version of their Walltite
(CM01) spray insulation that uses a
hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) blowing
agent, which has significantly less
carbon impact than their current
insulation, which uses a hydrofluoro
carbon (HFC) blowing agent.
31
For a bit more than
$1,000 net cost, most
builders can get their
home to less than 1.0
ACH, simply by filling
the big holes, removing
some costly steps and
using AeroBarrier to
air seal their home.
DOUG TARRY HOMES NEAR NET ZERO ENERGY STAR 2017
ABOVE
GRADE
BASEMENT
TOTAL
SQ. FT.
HEATING
BTUs
COOLING
BTUs
BUNGALOW 1,460 1,460 2,920 19,200 16,000
TWO-STOREY 2,990 1,430 4,420 32,500 21,600
66% 59% 74%

Add solar generation
Okay, so now we have a home that is
pretty much built to net zero-ready.
Add the solar panels and you’ve taken
another step to reduce your carbon
footprint. But what about the carbon
emissions during construction? What
if we were able to produce the needed
energy on the job site with a mobile
solar generator station? That’s crazy
talk, right?
Not so fast. A great number of
subtrades are now using an increasing
array of battery-powered tools, from
hammers, saws and screwdrivers to
paint sprayers, mixers and many more.
It’s already happening.
When we did Project Hope, we
supplied the majority of our energy
needs with a mobile solar energy station
from Anvil Crawler. It came equipped in
a 20-foot shipping container, including
a battery backup array. It may not meet
all of your needs, but for production
builders, it is an innovative solution.
Conclusion
I share this list of ideas to encourage
dialogue, in the hope that others will
join us on the journey to a lower-carbon
economy. By no means is this intended
to be the only solution. There are great
energy consultants available to help
builders find their way, and I encourage
industry stakeholders to work together
through voluntary programs to move
our industry forward.
What is missing? Like Lou said, it’s
the carrot. To add a carbon tax and not
incentivize the needed reductions in
our industry is a missed opportunity,
and we need to encourage our MPs
and MPPs to ensure it is implemented
fairly. BB
Doug Tarry Jr is director
of marketing at Doug
Tarry Homes in St.
Thomas, Ontario. 
Another example is the paint
and specialty coatings available
from Graphenstone Canada. This
is a line of paints and specialty
coatings that are Global GreenTag
and Cradle to Cradle certified. These
products contain zero volatile organic
32
compounds (VOCs) and many of them
absorb CO2. I believe this is so critical
to our occupants’ health and the
health of our planet that I became the
product importer for Canada with my
wife, Carolyne.
Contains
Graphenstone
technology
Puriﬁes the
environment
Breathable.
Absorbs CO2
High
performance
Washable
UNIQUE PROPERTIES
The most advanced solution in ecological
paints coatings with Graphenstone technology.
®
Contact:
Graphenstone Canada
17-280 Edward Street E. St. Thomas
Ontario N5P 4C2
Call us at: 1-519-488-5200
1-888-840-0153
Email: info.canada@graphenstone.com
www.graphenstone.ca
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
ADV-Canada-V2019.pdf 3 15/11/19 12:46

Trailblazer
Matt Risinger
Builder and building
science expert
COMFORTBOARD™
has received ICC-ES validated product acceptance as continuous
insulation for multiple applications. For more information visit rockwool.com/comfortboard
Continuous stone wool insulation that improves thermal performance
Trailblazing requires conﬁdence, expertise and a desire
to do things right. Matt Risinger uses non-combustible,
vapor-permeable and water-repellent COMFORTBOARD™
to help wall assemblies dry to the outside, keeping clients
comfortable inside. It cuts down on heat loss and
improves energy efﬁciency so that what you build
today positively impacts your business tomorrow.
3773

Better Builder, Issue 32 / Winter 2019

Better Builder, Issue 32 / Winter 2019

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Better Builder, Issue 32 / Winter 2019