BY STEVE LLEWELLYN
LLEWELLYN.STEVE@DAILYGLEANER.COM
09 APR 2013 08:46PM
What was your heating bill last month? How would you like to live in a home that costs nothing to heat and light at the end of the year?
Richard Kowalski, president of Eastern Solar Systems, owns the first of 80 such energy-efficient homes he is planning for a subdivision in Mazerolle Settlement, west of Fredericton.
Maple Leaf Homes of Fredericton won the EnerGuide Canada rating service’s Most Energy Efficient House of 2012, sponsored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., for building the home, which is rated 99 out of 100 by the EnerGuide Canada.
That means it is one the most energy efficient homes in Canada.
On the roof it has photovoltaic solar panels that produce electricity, thermal solar panels that heat the domestic hot water and a geothermal heat pump system underground.
That basically means the home at 70 Illingsworth Dr. will generate enough electricity during the rest of the year to offset any costs during the winter. It’s called net zero metering.
“At night when we’re not generating power, we borrow power back that we lent to NB Power during the day,” said Kowalski.
“It can produce up to 10 kilowatts per hour. We’re generating anywhere from 30 to 40 amps and up around 350 volts.”
That’s enough to run the normal appliances and heat a modern home, he said.
The house automatically tracks how much energy it’s producing and sending to NB Power or how much it is drawing from the grid. All the homeowner has to do is set the thermostat.
“There’s two registers on the meter,” said Kowalski.
“One registers how much we’re putting out into the grid and the other registers how much power we’re taking back.”
“You subtract one from the other and that lets you know where you stand with relationship with the power company.”
The first 1,740 sq. foot home is built and for sale now. There is an open house this Sunday from 1-3 p.m.
He said whoever buys it will have a zero carbon footprint as long as they turn off any unnecessary lights and appliances.
NB Power says a similar property, without the energy-efficient perks, would cost, on equalized billing, $400 per month for electricity and heat. That works out to a savings of $4,800 per year.
Kowalski said he wanted to move into the country on a four or five acre lot, but could not find one the right size. So he bought a 130-acre property in Mazerolle Settlement.
“I figured being the entrepreneur I am, I’d … chop it up into little pieces and keep the big piece,” he said.
Kowalski said he expects to live in the third home in the subdivision after the road into the centre of the property is built this spring.
Jacques Roy, sales manager of Maple Leaf Homes, said this is the fourth year in a row the company has won the award.
“We got probably the highest Energuide rating in all of Canada on this particular house,” he said Monday.
“This house generates much, much more power than it uses.”
“At the end of the year your energy costs are zero.”
Roy said the Illingsworth Drive home doesn’t require any special technical skills to operate.
“It looks like an average house,” he said. “The only thing that needs to be done is every couple of months you change the filter in your geothermal unit.”
“There is no maintenance.”
He said so far in New Brunswick, Maple Leaf Homes has built five houses and a six-unit town house that are energy efficient.
Roy said it costs about 20 to 25 per cent extra to build a house with these energy-savings systems. That means the payback is seven to 10 years, he said.
That includes the $7,500 rebate from Efficiency NB, said Roy.
“It’s feasible,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense.”

For the 4th year consecutive Maple Leaf Homes has won the Most Energy Efficient House Award we continue to offer the most energy efficient homes on the market today.

A bungalow in Bathurst, NB was recognized at the Canadian Home Builders Awards of Excellence ceremony earlier this month with the ‘Energuide Rating Service Most Efficient House Award’ (Energuide rating of 93). It’s the third year that Maple Leaf Homes has won the category.

Maple Leaf Homes also won the” Energy Efficient Community Award” for the first EcoPlus net-zero townhouse community of its kind in North America.  Those homes generate more power than they consume.

The company also took home the ‘Home Builder of the Year Award’ which recognizes excellence in energy efficiency, quality and service.

Part of the reason for the high ratings is that the homes are manufactured in modules in a factory environment by workers who excel in their area of the building project.  The other reason is arctic experience.

Sales Manager, Jacques Roy said, “If you look beneath the Arctic Circle, Maple Leaf Homes has built some of the most energy efficient structures on earth.  We’ve shipped them in modules by rail, ship and ice-road to mining camps for example.  Those structures can be very large, housing several hundred people while providing everything from dormitories to recreational facilities.  They are also located in areas where a pin-hole in the building envelope will create moisture problems.  We have learned to think energy efficiency, tight building envelope and air quality that keep a building and its occupants healthy.  Attention to detail also counts and it can only occur in a manufacturing environment using highly skilled builders, architects and others.

Maple Leaf is also celebrating the arrival of new homes across the ice road leading to Attawapiskat First Nations community in Northern Ontario. Roy said, “That event has caught international media attention and has given us an opportunity to help solve a housing crisis while talking about what goes into a house in the north. We knew that the homes we shipped were modern, efficient structures.  These awards show the people of Attawapiskat and all of our customers just how well our homes perform.”

Image with caption: “The most efficient home in New Brunswick has been recognized with the “Energuide Rating Service Most Efficient House” award. With an Energuide rating of 93, the house was manufactured by Maple Leaf Homes in Fredericton, NB.  The company also built houses now arriving at the Attawapiskat First Nations community. (CNW Group/Maple Leaf Homes )”. Image available at:http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120220_C5636_PHOTO_EN_10237.jpg

Image with caption: “Maple Leaf Homes was also judged the winner of the Energy Efficient Community Award for the company’s part in a net-zero energy community.  The Eco Terra Drive project in Fredericton involves energy efficient townhouses that generate more power than they use. (CNW Group/Maple Leaf Homes )”. Image available at:http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120220_C5636_PHOTO_EN_10238.jpg

For further information:

Mr. Jacques Roy
Sales Manager – Maple Leaf Homes Inc
(506) 450-1243 jroy@mlhomes.nb.ca
www.mlhomes.nb.ca

HOME BUILDER OF THE YEAR FOR 2011!

The home builder of the year award is the most prestigious award given to the builder who demonstrates excellence in energy efficiency, quality and customer service.

ENERGUIDE RATING SERVICE MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT  HOUSE OF 2011!

this award was for the squire green project which in partnership with EcoPlus Home we achieved an impressive energuide rating of  93  (this is the third year Maple Leaf Homes has won this award)

ENERGY EFFICIENT COMMUNITY OF 2011!

This award was for the ECO-TERRA Drive Project, in partnership with Martin /Davis  Eco Housing and EcoPlus Home the ECO-TERRA project is a six unit NET ZERO townhouse project located on Fredericton’s North side equipped with photo voltaic, solar thermal panels and Geo thermal heating units these units product the energy they consume for more info click on www.martindavisecohousing.com

Some families on the First Nation have no running water or electricity and have had their basements flooded with sewage. Meanwhile, others are living in tents as the cold weather has started to hit the northern community.

Fredericton-based Maple Leaf Homes has received a contract to build homes for Attawapiskat, which has been put under the national spotlight after the federal government sent in third-party management to run the reserve.

The company is not new to building modular homes for cold climates.

Chris McLean, the assistant general manager of Maple Leaf Homes, said the company learned many important lessons about cold climate construction when it built homes for mining camps in northern Canada. Those techniques will be used in the homes that are heading to Attawapiskat.

“We’re putting more lumber in the floor, it’s a stronger build, with closer spacings, and we’re able to fill that cavity completely with insulation,” McLean said.

“We’ve kept all our plumbing above floor level, for any water lines, to reduce any chance of freezing. The only pipes we see through the floor are going to be drain drops for the plumbing itself. There won’t be any water supply in the flooring system whatsoever.”

The modular homes will also be filled with extra wall insulation and sprayed in roof insulation. There will be mould resistant paint on the walls and vapour barriers under the houses.

The company will also upgrade exhaust fans, and air exchangers with extra power. The units are designed to warm the frigid air coming in and to reduce condensation.

On Dec. 10, the federal government announced that it had purchased and ordered 15 modular homes for a total cost of $1.2 million. The modular homes, measure about 75 square metres, each include three bedrooms.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence sent a letter to Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan after the original order was placed saying that 22 homes were needed on the reserve and not 15.

About 1,800 people live in Attawapiskat. The federal government has put the reserve under third-party management. That move has been opposed by the chief and band council, but some residents have endorsed the plan.

The federal government says it has given Attawapiskat around $90 million since 2006, including $4.3 million for on-reserve housing. It has also ordered an independent audit of the community’s finances.

Homes will arrive in late December

The Fredericton-based company has been working quickly in order to get the homes finished and ready to be sent to the northern Ontario reserve.

With 300 workers, and five different trades working on a house at one time, the company can turn out three homes a day.

The modular homes are expected to be in northern Ontario by late December. (Catherine Harrop/CBC)Dennis Psiuk, the company’s head of special projects, said the first houses will leave Fredericton on Dec. 19.

“Our plan is to have all 22 units into Moosonee just before Christmas,” he said.

The challenge then will be waiting for the opening of the ice road that will go to the reserve.

The houses will cost around $100,000 each. And the company said, if they are maintained, they should last indefinitely.

Psiuk said the company will install a camera and post the construction of the homes on the Internet, so the community can watch their homes being built.

The contractors say the band council is responsible for installing sewer and water connections now. But they will have help connecting the houses when they arrive.

The company is sending a crew of experts in the installation of houses in sub-arctic conditions.

From CBC News

A house like this costs about $50,000 more than a regular pre-built bungalow. (Jennifer Henderson/CBC)

A new factory-built bungalow in Dartmouth has been deemed the most energy-efficient home in Nova Scotia, and it could cost a homeowner virtually nothing to run.

The house at 113 Lakecrest Dr. promises energy savings of at least 75 per cent compared to a regular bungalow with electric or oil heat.

It has an EnerGuide efficiency rating of 94 per cent — the highest in the province.

There are two types of solar panels on the roof: thick grey ones to produce solar energy for hot water and slimmer plates to produce electricity.

“This house generates more heat and more electricity than it needs,” said Tom Black, spokesman for EcoPlusHome, the company behind the home.

“Over the course of 12 months, you can expect a power bill of very close to zero, if not zero.”

EcoPlusHome makes this claim based on the experience of a family of six who spent a year in the company’s first home in New Brunswick.

The house consists of two air-tight sections built by Fredericton-based Maple Leaf Homes. Bosch, a German company, supplied the solar panels, along with a geothermal heat pump that keeps the interior cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The bungalow is about $50,000 more than a regular pre-built home.

But EcoPlusHome president Axel Lerche said it pays off in the end for both residents and the environment. He said it’s like taking away 500 cars — and all the greenhouse gas emissions they spew — over 25 years.

This “poster home for energy savings,” as Energy Minister Charlie Parker called it, qualifies for incentive rebates worth $13,265, which is the maximum amount available for newly built homes.

Patterson Sales says it will apply that amount against the price of the home. It expects to list the house for about $395,000 this fall.

With energy bills continuing to rise, representatives of EcoPlusHome are convinced that they’ve developed a model homeowners will want to check out.

]]> http://mlh.mybusinessadmin.com/dartmouth-home-boasts-highest-energuide-rating/feed/ 0 http://mlh.mybusinessadmin.com/save-75-or-more-on-your-energy-bills-with-an-ecoplushome/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=save-75-or-more-on-your-energy-bills-with-an-ecoplushome http://mlh.mybusinessadmin.com/save-75-or-more-on-your-energy-bills-with-an-ecoplushome/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:01:22 +0000 mlhomes http://mlh.mybusinessadmin.com/?p=3174 Read More

Join us on August 21st from 1-4pm to learn how you can reduce your energy costs and carbon emissions when you buy an EcoPlusHome at Sterling Meadows.

The first two EcoPlusHomes at Sterling Meadows are projected to save their owners 75% or more on their energy bills for electricity, heating, cooling and hot water than if the houses had only been built to code with lower energy efficiency (e.g. EnerGuide rating of just 69). In addition, annual projected green house gas emissions are expected to be at least 80% lower – the equivalent of taking three cars off the road each year.

With energy prices increasing every year and supply in question, these savings are compelling enough to take a closer look.

The buzzword in sustainable home construction is net-zero housing … a house that provides owners with the opportunity to use less energy than it generates. In other words, zero energy consumption from the power grid which translates into huge savings!

While “living off the grid” conjures up images of a modest dwelling beside a lake in the woods, inhabited by granola-eating tree-huggers, a net-zero home is a game changer in the sense that it offers a comfortable and viable living option that is suited for living in suburbia.

The net-zero concept depends on two key elements: the energy efficiency/generating capacity of the home, and the energy consumption patterns of the homeowners. With the potential of an EcoPlusHome, homeowners with the desire to save money and the planet can now be closer than ever to living a net-zero lifestyle within their own four walls depending on how much energy they choose to consume.

It is important to note that EcoPlusHome energy consumption, energy cost savings, and green house gas emission data are calculated using Natural Resources Canada official statistics for an average family of four (two adults, two children). These statistics also assume the EcoPlusHome uses compact fluorescent lighting and EnergyStar rated appliances.

Using advanced alternative energy solutions by Bosch, Martell Home Builders – in partnership with EcoPlusHome and Maple Leaf Homes – are building two EcoPlusHomes at Sterling Meadows (off the Old Shediac Road)with pre-construction EnerGuide ratings of 93 out of 100.

The Martell EcoPlusHome is the premier energy-efficient home on the Moncton market with a payback on a homeowner’s investment being realized in as little as five years depending on the homeowner’s energy consumption habits (and that’s based on today’s power rates).

Knowing that an investment in an EcoPlusHome will pay for itself by allowing you to continue saving on energy costs while increasing the eventual resale value of your home – which home would you choose to build or buy?

We are very excited about this project.  Please plan to come out to see it for yourself on August 21st.

 

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July 25, 2011 - MartinDavis EcoHousing Inc. and Maple Leaf Homes are the latest winners of the City of Fredericton’s Mayor’s Environmental Award.

“We are pleased to be recognizing two more partners in the sustainable development project at The Meadows at Neill Farm”, said Mayor Brad Woodside. “Efficient, net zero housing is the future of home building and it is great to see two local companies step up to the plate.”

Jim Martin and Jim Davis of MartinDavis EcoHousing are the developers and sellers of the six-unit townhouse project in Devon. The units will be fitted with Bosch alternative energy technology, including photovoltaic, geothermal, and solar, installed and serviced by EcoPlusHome, previous winner of the Mayor’s Environmental Award. The development is poised to be the first of its kind in North America, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions over homes without the technology by up to 81 percent.

“We are very pleased to be a dealer of Eco Plus Home for the Fredericton area and excited to be completing the first six of these amazing homes by September”, says developer Jim Davis. “We will be inviting the public to an open house this Fall and will announce the exact time and date well in advance.”

Maple Leaf Homes of Fredericton is the fourth member of the townhouse project, and will build the homes to achieve a minimum of EnerGuide 94 rating. Operating in the City since 1985, Maple Leaf Homes employs 400 people at peak times, and is considered to be the leading manufacturer of energy efficient housing in Atlantic Canada. Portions of the townhouses will be built at their facility on Wilsey Road, and then transported to the site for installation. Then, working with EcoPlusHome, the house will be fitted with alternative energy sources, and completed on-site.

Sales Manager, Jacques Roy from Maple Leaf Homes, is enthusiastic about the project. “We are very proud to be working in partnership with MartinDavis EcoHousing on what will be one of the most exciting alternative energy housing projects in Canada.  EcoPlusHome in partnership with Maple Leaf Homes and Bosch have developed the most energy efficient and affordable alternative energy homes on the market with projects underway in Fredericton, Bathurst, Moncton and Halifax and many more to come.”

Some of the building’s key features are: innovative energy efficient designs; energy efficient Low E Argon windows; high EnerGuide ratings that translate into low monthly energy costs; central air exchange; highly efficient basement insulation; R-25 fiberglass Insulation in walls and R-50 in ceiling; and, all openings sealed with caulking and foam. These features, coupled with the alternative energy technologies of EcoPlusHome, make the project eligible for a $7500 incentive from Efficiency New Brunswick for the homebuyer