Press Releases

Minto makes the cut!

The Ottawa Citizen
Sat 30 Sep 2006
Page: I12
Section: Style Weekly: Homes
Byline: Kathryn Young
Column: Green Report
Source: Citizen Special
Minto, Eco-Cite on short list to build energy smart homes

Sat 30 Sep 2006 - Minto Developments is the sole Ottawa company to make the short list in a national competition to design and build a home that dramatically saves energy and protects the environment. Eco-Cite, a Montreal-based builder with plans for energy-efficient condos on the Rideau Canal, also made the short list.

"We were pleased," says Minto architect Bill Ritcey after finding out Minto made the list of 20 finalists in the Net Zero Energy Healthy Housing competition. Sponsored by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., it aims to show builders and the public how a home can be self-sustaining.

Ritcey was especially pleased that Minto was included among an elite group of small custom builders who already have a wealth of experience with sustainable and green building techniques.

Minto is not new to building energy-efficient homes; it designed the Innova House, a two-storey home in the Kanata South community of Emerald Meadows, in the early '90s.

Technology and products have improved dramatically in the past decade, but Minto's aim remains constant, offering those items for the average buyer.

When you're building hundreds of homes each year, you have to appeal to a wide range of people and integrate the new technology with solid designs, Ritcey says.

Perhaps being a production builder was an advantage in winning a spot on the list, since the ultimate goal for CMHC is to improve the sustainability of all Canadian homes.

A net zero home combines renewable energy sources with energy conservation technologies. While a net zero home is still connected to the power grid, after one year of operation, the house will produce as much energy as it takes off the grid -- hence the "net zero energy" label.

If Minto makes it through the next round and is among the six to 10 finalists, they will build a single-family home in a new master-planned community southwest of Manotick, where 2,000 singles and townhomes are planned for 400 acres.

"The home will not look that different from other homes from the outside, but the technologies will be more advanced," says Ritcey, adding Minto will be assembling a design team within a month to develop the design and shortlist the technologies.

Sustainable elements would likely include solar panels, highly energy efficient insulation and sealing, a ground-source heat pump or other geothermal method for heating and cooling, and a flexible design that makes use of attic space and is easily adaptable over the years. The house would also be oriented to take advantage of passive solar gain.

Eventually, the plan is to incorporate many of these elements into average Minto homes. "As a production builder, we wanted to try and see how we could mainstream the technology into our homes," says Ritcey, who has overseen his company's proposal.

As a demonstration home, the house would be open to the public to tour for two years and then it would be sold. As another contender, Montreal-based Eco-Cite is building the Eco-Cite On the Canal green condo project near Lansdowne. In partnership with other Montreal firms in a project called Abondance Montreal, Eco-Cite is planning an affordable triplex.

"This project will strive to be something that most people who are on the market for urban housing could afford, because we believe that environmental sustainability is possible for the majority of us," says the Abondance officials.

Announced last May, the competition invited teams of builders from across Canada to submit proposals for a net zero house. Some 636 information packages were sent out to prospective entrants and 72 teams entered. CMHC whittled that number down to 20.

"This level of response was even beyond our wildest expectations," CMHC said on its website. In the next phase, the 20 teams will develop and submit detailed designs and drawings. By the new year, CMHC should have announced the six to 10 winners whose projects will be built, with construction starting next summer.

Minto plans to approach utilities and suppliers to form partnerships to make the project the best it can be, says Ritcey, who was involved in Minto's Innova Advanced House and worked with the National Research Council in designing and building the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology.

And what are Minto's chances of getting on that final list? "I think they're pretty good," Ritcey says.