Better Builder Magazine is the builder's choice for information on better design and energy saving materials.

1. ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016PUBLICATIONNUMBER42408014
IN THIS ISSUE
Heathwood Homes Doing It Right
The Best Way to Build in 2017
TEETH – Best Research Project
Code and Performance Path
Climate Change Action Plan
Sticking to the Basics
BestPractices

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3. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
16
1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
2
Best Way Forward
by John Godden
THE BADA TEST
3
The Best Way to Build in 2017
by Lou Bada
INDUSTRY NEWS
6
Water, Water, Every Where,
Nor Any Drop to Drink
by Alex Newman
12
TEETH Homes –
The Best Research Project
by Steffanie Adams
INDUSTRY EXPERT
10
Code and Performance Path
by Gord Cooke
INDUSTRY EXPERT
22
Ontario’s Climate Change
Action Plan and What It Means
for the Housing Industry
by Michael Lio
BUILDER NEWS
14
SB-12 2017 for Dummies
29
What’s Driving Your
Personal Rating System
by Wendy Shami
SITE SPECIFIC
25
Norm Alfonso –
Building the Best Means
Sticking to the Basics
by Alex Newman
FROM THE GROUND UP
31
Radon –
What You Should Know
by Doug Tarry
FEATURE STORY
16
Doing It Right
Heathwood Homes has created the best builder brand through a
simple formula of innovation, fairness and doing things the right way.
by Rob Blackstien
6
12
ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
On our cover: John Godden and
Wendy Shami of Better Builder
Magazine by The Art of Weddings
(theartofweddings.com)
Images internally supplied unless otherwise credited.

4. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 20162
I
t’s hard to believe that Better Builder is at the end of its fifth year
of publication. The industry has seen a lot of disruptive change in
that short time, starting with the introduction of SB-12 in January
2012, followed by updates to that Code in 2015, and changes in
EnergySTAR requirements for windows and combination heating
systems. Finally, a Minister’s ruling this past July has defined SB-12
for 2017 to be 15% more efficient than 2012.
Many changes are also happening globally. In response to the
Paris Summit, the Province of Ontario has released its Climate
Change Action Plan, though it has yet to release the details of the
new platform. The devil is in the details.
How then should home builders consider the changes that
need to be made with climate change policies, new Building Code
requirements and the general uncertainty around mandatory
municipal regulations that could exceed Building Codes, such as
EnergySTAR and Net Zero?
We might do well to remember the lessons of BREXIT where
voters decided to leave the European Union without considering the
consequences, focusing only on the negative aspects of the current
arrangement; or American voters who seem to believe that Donald
Trump has their best interests in mind. The best way forward needs
to weigh all options and outcomes, incorporate flexibility and make
choices that foster self-determination – create a strategy informed
by outcomes to chart your own course.
In this issue of Better Builder, our regular contributors have
provided lots of ideas to inform your decisions moving forward.
Lou Bada discusses which prescriptive package he is choosing for
building permit applications in 2017 and why: package A1 comes at
a lower cost because insulated sheathing carries higher labour costs
and premiums. Gord Cooke navigates a discussion on performance
modelling allowed under SB-12, and demonstrates how builders can
chart their own courses and build their brands with a better-than-
Code approach. With the mandate of the Ontario Climate Change
Action Plan, Michael Lio talks about the challenge of Net Zero
housing adoption on a large scale. The feature article on Heathwood
Homes showcases one of Ontario’s most progressive builders
who has used sustainability to build their brand and become an
industry leader. Lastly, Doug Tarry provides industry leadership yet
again, this time by addressing radon in residential construction by
meeting the challenge head on. He shows us the best way to deal
with a problem that is too often ignored.
My intention with Better Builder magazine is to continue,
with the help of our contributors and advertisers, to empower our
readers with information and ideas, enabling us all to consider
other points of views and find the best way forward. Bon voyage. BB
Best Way Forward
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42408014
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publisher’snote / JOHN GODDEN
John Godden
Alex Newman
Gord Cooke
Michael Lio
Lou Bada
Doug Tarry
CONTRIBUTORS

5. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016 3
Builders need to consider many
things when choosing a method
of Code compliance. It’s not only a
matter of building science. These are
some of the things I consider:
• Our ultimate goals
• The size and scope of a project
• Our past experiences
• The availability of products
and their track record
• The availability, expertise
and capability of the workforce
performing the work
• Our internal processes and
ability to implement changes
• The market’s perception
• The regulatory framework
• Last but not least, value
(cost vs. benefit)
Currently, we are exploring the
use of SB-12’s prescriptive package
A1 (the only package without the use
of insulated sheathing). Typically,
better mechanical equipment is
simply plug and play (and pay). On
the other hand, we’ve done a few
projects with insulated sheathing
and it is workable, although,
somewhat more complicated to use
than installing better mechanical
equipment. It requires more attention
to construction details.
Tall walls (11 feet or higher)
typically would require both a
structural sheathing and the insulated
sheathing on top. At Starlane Home
Corporation, our homes almost
always have tall walls – often 20 feet
high or more – that are quite long
and sometimes octagonal or round.
Depending on your chosen details,
foundation walls may need to be
thickened to 9 or 10 inches. To take
advantage of the sheathing as an air
barrier requires a lot of sheathing
tape. Window frames also have to be
thickened.
Cost Versus Benefit
Cost versus benefit is another
matter. The possibility of thicker
foundation walls, structural sheathing
requirements, installation costs and
window depths, as well as the actual
increased cost of the sheathing need to
be considered.
Builders in the Greater Toronto Area
should note that the new collective
agreement for Local 183 piecework
carpenters adds $0.11 per square foot
of wall area (plus 20 percent benefits
and contractor markup) to the cost of
insulated wall sheathing. This does not
include taping and sealing detail work.
The quality of installations in
production housing are inconsistent at
best. Installing an insulated sheathing
alone does not mean a home will be
more airtight. If a builder wants to make
use of the new trade-offs to reduce some
measures within a given package
by increasing air tightness, more
sealing work needs to be done on the
sheathing as an outboard air barrier.
More training and supervision are
definitely required, as are repair costs.
Training can be challenging in the
current environment while super­
vision and repair costs are quite high.
In our industry, simplicity is
often as important as cost. Some of
the prescribed packages are neither
simple nor inexpensive. Integral to this
discussion is the way these packages
are considered and efficiencies
calculated. We’ve hit the wall when it
comes to value for exterior envelopes,
and mechanical system efficiencies
are quickly maxing out. We are quickly
running out of tools in our tool box.
Until builders are able to calculate
rationally the energy performance
based on true occupant loads and
consumption, we will have no way of
reaching the greater efficiency goals
recently announced in the Climate
The Best Way
to Build in 2017
thebadatest / LOU BADA
A
sk five different builders about the best way to build and you’ll
very likely get five different opinions. Opinions are like earlobes:
everyone has them. What really matters is what informs your
opinions and your terms of reference.
That’s why it’s important to consider Ontario’s Building Code changes in SB-12
for 2017. It will have six prescribed methods for compliance for energy efficiency
in low-rise housing.
Envelope losses are a relatively small
part of typical home energy consumption
that have diminishing returns or savings.
(Package J 2012 @ 3.0 ACH)
32%
a/c, lighting,
appliances
31%
envelope
heat losses
18%
domestic
hot water
19%
ventilation
losses

6. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 20164
Change Action Plan (CCAP). The
assumptions or defaults of occupant
loads and consumption only show half
of the equation when assessing the
best way to build prescriptively in 2017.
Essentially, it boils down to
choosing insulated sheathing for
above-grade walls versus better
mechanical equipment for heating,
ventilation and water heating.
This kind of choice is not optimal,
but necessary when considering
the prescriptive path. Getting a
building permit for the performance
path method is daunting in some
jurisdictions.
Should the next Code cycle in
five years make insulated sheathing
mandatory, my hope is that insulated
sheathing will be installed off site as
pre-fabricated panels. Hopefully, the
issues outlined here can be ironed out.
Meanwhile, with the current shortage
of trained labour and skyrocketing
costs, to be practical and effective, we
need some flexibility and rationality
to achieve our energy efficiency goals.
Let’s face it, thickening the exterior
walls with insulation also has its
practical limits.
Builders may have to use
compliance package A1 where possible.
Forcing builders – and, by default,
homebuyers – to assume costs that
make little sense either economically
or environmentally is irresponsible,
in my opinion. Changes in SB-12 will
result in significant construction cost
increases, and cost increases of the
CCAP when implemented are likely
to be tens of thousands of dollars
for new homes. Given our current
circumstances, this is how I will be
approaching SB-12 for 2017.
Let me know your approach: email
me at loub@starlanehomes.com. 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).
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8. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 20166
industrynews / ALEX NEWMAN
There is a solution, however. About
65% of the water we use every day – on
average about 100 gallons –goes down
the drain from our showers, baths and
toilets. Considering water rates are
expected to increase 10% annually,
there’s ample motivation for recycling
water. But Lally says conserving water
is about more than cost – increased
water use, especially in urban settings,
means very expensive maintenance
and the addition of water impacts
infrastructure as well as the energy
used to transport the water.
GWS specializes in water recycling
– rainwater, greywater and storm
water. From a plumbing perspective,
rainwater is relatively simple to
recycle because it’s collected from
the roof, is relatively clean and often
the only requirement is to transport
it to the point of use. Storm water
often contains more impurities, but
in many cities, including the GTA, it’s
often already stored in a central tank
and the only requirement is to filter and
chlorinate the water to supply toilets.
Greywater can be the most challenging
of the three because of the need to
plumb the building on the collection
and supply sides, Lally explains.
The company’s greywater systems
have been installed in high rises, com­
mercial buildings, hotels, fire halls and
even residential multi-unit buildings.
Many Ontario municipalities,
particularly very urban ones like the
City of Toronto, require mid- and high-
rise buildings to have storm retention
tanks. These tanks hold anywhere
from 40,000 to 100,000 gallons of water
that have been collected to prevent
excess flow of the city’s storm sewers
during a heavy rainfall. These tanks
have been designed to prevent peak
water flow from entering the storm
sewage system, and are big enough to
handle even torrential rains.
Due to limited infrastructure and
potential water shortages, though,
municipalities – like Markham, and
Toronto – are now looking at ways to
encourage commercial and multi-
residential properties to re-use water.
The logical thing is to recycle some of
the water from the retention tank for
use in toilets. Irrigation and cooling
towers are other options, Lally adds.
At a new LEED-designated high-rise
office building in Markham – Aviva’s
head office – the goal was to try it
out. Greyter Water installed a smaller
second tank of 400-gallon capacity,
which draws off rain water from the
storm retention tank, chlorinates it
to eliminate bacteria and reuses the
water in the toilets. As Lally explains,
its wasteful to treat the large storm
retention tank to chlorinate so the
smaller tank allows for water to be
drawn off, treated, and re-used.
The smaller tank can come with
a pump, or in the case of Aviva, be
connected to a third-party pump. In
municipalities that do not already have
a storm water collection requirement,
commercial or high rise residential
buildings would need to install a storm
retention tank in addition to the re-use
system. One advantage of greywater in
this situation is that the constant supply
of water from showers means that the
storage needs for reuse in toilets can be
small, enough for a daily supply.
Once the building is plumbed in,
it’s relatively inexpensive to install
the equipment – about $50,000 in a
mid-size 100-unit building, and with
installation another $15,000. The
biggest cost is often the plumbing,
Lally adds.
Water, Water, Every Where,
Nor Any Drop to Drink
P
araic Lally’s aim isn’t to be a harbinger of doom, but he can see the
impending challenges when it comes to the issue of global water shortages.
“The world’s water supply remains the same, but the population has
tripled, and the demand for water has increased by six,” says the VP of business
development for Greyter Water Systems (GWS) in Toronto. “By 2050 at least 60
countries will be feeling the water shortage, and in five years, 36 US states will
experience water shortages.”
Typical commercial greywater system.

9. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
These systems are easier to
incorporate into new buildings than
trying to retrofit old buildings. All too
often, though, high rises are built the
same they always have been because
of the cost of the additional plumbing.
It you’re roughing-in a building to
allow for water re-use down the
road, you’d need to incorporate two
separate lines, one to feed non-
potable fixtures – toilets, irrigation,
e.g. – and one for drinking water.
Currently, condos are typically
built with eight units per floor with
bathrooms located back to back –
there would be four plumbing runs
top to bottom and the layout would
handle both drain and supply. In
order to retrofit an existing high rise,
or to build new, there needs to be
double the pipes so regular drain
water (greywater) is separate from
toilets (black water). And that is often
cost prohibitive, Lally points out.
“Down the road, there’s potential
to treat both the greywater and
black water because the technology
is already there to take either water
and recycle it without changing the
plumbing,” Lally says. “But this is
unlikely unless we face extreme
shortages. The problem is the ‘ick’
factor – people recoil at the thought
of drinking water that’s been through
the toilet.”
Even now, people can have a
concern about greywater in their
toilet, Lally says. That’s why you
often see water in toilets dyed blue in
commercial buildings – it’s recycled
water that appears clean.
How receptive to water
recycling is the industry?
Chris Thompson, Co-founder and
CTO for GWS, says receptivity
depends a lot on early adopters.
“Every day we work with architects,
designers and contractors who are
drawn to the affordability of our
solutions but they are also very
motivated by the environmental
savings relating to managing water
more efficiently,” says Thompson.
“They want to be leaders.”
While most people’s decisions are
still driven largely by money, “there’s
a group of people out there motivated
by sustainability and it’s a group that’s
growing,” he adds, “especially in areas
where water supply is seriously low.
People begin to understand that water
doesn’t flow endlessly from the tap.”
Municipalities with low water
resources are so committed to finding
ways to use water better – reduced
consumption as well as recycling
– they’re coming up with both
regulations and incentives to ensure
better decision-making.
In areas where the supply is
not immediately threatened – like
Toronto – there’s less incentive to find
solutions. Especially when there’s no
immediate financial benefit, like for
condo developers who turn over the
building to a condo board, after it’s
developed and built.
However, limited water infrastruc­
ture is becoming a major challenge
in Toronto and with the prohibitive
cost of adding new infrastructure, the
city has mandated that new buildings
won’t get approved unless they have
the capacity to at least deal with the
storm water issue, and in particular
the flooding of the city’s storm sewers.
What percentage of efficiency
can be realized by switching
to a greywater system?
Currently, in the US, a water efficiency
scale is being developed that roughly
corresponds to the HERS energy scale,
and Thompson thinks we’ll start
seeing combinations of both HERS and
WERS (Water Efficiency Rating Scale)
in new construction.
“Water is a bit more challenging
[than energy] because there are
more variables,” he says. Since most
interior household water is used in
the bathroom, installing low flow
toilets and efficient showerheads can
lead to big reduction in consumption
levels. Reusing shower and bath
water for toilet flushing can reduce a
household’s water consumption by a
further 20-25%. GWS will soon launch
a single family residential greywater
system to meet this need.
What’s the biggest challenge
we face in the fight to lower
water consumption?
“Looking short term,” Thompson
says. “If you want two-year payback,
7
“There’s a group of
people out there
motivated by sustain­
ability and it’s a
group that’s growing.”
Aviva’s head office in Markham uses storm
and greywater for toilet flushing.
RENDERINGBYQUADRANGLEARCHITECTS

10. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 20168
greywater won’t do it. But if you’re
okay with something that will
increase over time, and last the life of
the building, then greywater recycling
makes sound financial sense.”
Less than 1% of buildings
currently have some kind of water
re-use system. Thompson says this
mirrors the energy situation of 20
years ago – nobody was interested
in putting money into it. And now
virtually everyone is aware of the
need to reduce. “I think that’s the way
water efficiency will go, especially
now that some locales are in a
desperate situation,” he says.
Multi-use residential buildings
represent the highest potential for
water saving because so many people
are flushing so many toilets. But there’s
a disconnect between the builder and
the end user, who has more interest
in keeping utility bills down. That
changes when a developer builds rental
and intends to remain as landlord.
It’s going to be up to municipalities
to take the lead on creating incentives
for water efficiency, Thompson says. In
San Francisco, for example, buildings
over 40,000 square feet are required
to be greywater ready. “But that’s
California and there’s a desperation
there because they have no water.
In a situation like that, it’s extremely
easy to make the case for plugging in a
system.”
In Toronto, retention tanks or 50%
flow reduction are mandatory, and if
a developer re-uses water they qualify
for development charge reductions.
“Developers tend to go for the cheapest
reuse options, commonly irrigation
first. If that doesn’t work, maybe a
cooling tower, and then greywater.
Commercial and institutional clients
often want to make a ‘sustainability
statement’ and go for toilets,” Lally says.
The bottom line is it doesn’t make
any sense to flush good potable water
down the drain. BB
Alex Newman is a writer, editor and
researcher at www.alexnewmanwriter.com.
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11. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016

12. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201610
industryexpert / GORD COOKE
First, the number of prescriptive
packages is down, reflecting the
fact that it is getting tougher to
find significant, cost-effective
incremental energy improvements
through simple changes to insulation
levels or mechanical equipment
specifications. Second, there is a not-
so-subtle mention of air tightness,
with the supporting documents of
SB-12 hinting that in future Code
iterations, air tightness testing will
be mandatory. In this iteration, there
is at least a series of helpful trade-
offs for builders who do a good job of
air leakage control. These first two
trends support what I consider to be
the most important change to SB-12:
the clarifications and emphasis on
the “Performance Path” and “Other
Acceptable Compliance Methods”
sections of SB-12.
In the same way that the
International Energy Conservation
Code 2015 in the US and the
National Building Code of Canada
2010 (section 9.36) have moved to a
more objective, performance path
based on energy modeling, the new
SB-12 demonstrates a compelling
opportunity for builders to work with
their Energy Advisor to find the most
cost-effective way of meeting the new
Code requirements. In this new SB-12,
not only is there a stronger reference
to EnergySTAR for New Homes
and R-2000 as being Alternative
Methods, there is also a more clearly
defined Performance Path that gives
builders flexibility to show compliance
using any one of six different energy
simulation software programs against
a “reference” home.
In my opinion, any builder who
is truly looking for the most cost-
effective way to build a home that
adheres to basic building science
principles for a safe, healthy, durable,
comfortable and efficient home will
use the Performance Path.
The table below (Figure 1) may help
demonstrate why I think the
Performance Path will be the most
cost-effective approach. Let’s compare
incremental costs versus incremental
energy savings of changes needed
within the Prescriptive Path to get
from the most commonly used Package
J in the 2012 version to what many
project to be the most popular package
in the 2017 version, Package A1.
Notice in the table, that the least
effective upgrade is the attic insulation
at over $500 per GJ saved. We are
clearly seeing the diminishing returns
of adding insulation to ceilings. Note,
too, that controlling air leakage rates to
current EnergySTAR levels is more cost
effective than adding attic insulation
Code and Performance Path
I
n the last issue, my article mentioned that the draft of the Ontario
Building Code Supplementary Standard SB-12 Energy Efficiency
requirements for January 2017 had come out. Indeed, in the ensuing
weeks, the final version of SB-12 for 2017 has been made public and there are some
compelling trends to discuss.
FIGURE 1
OBC 2012
Package J
OBC 2017
Package A1
Estimated
Incremental Cost
GJ /yr
Savings
ATTIC R50 R60 $400 0.795
WALLS R22 Nominal
R22 Nominal
R17.83 Effective
— —
BASEMENTS R12 Nominal
R20 c.i. Nominal
R21.12 Effective
$450 2.2
WINDOWS U – 1.8 U -1.6 or ER 25 $1000 5.36
FURNACE
94%
(Sensible %)
96%
(Sensible %)
$250 0.915
HRV 65%
75%
$150 1.64
DHW 0.67 EF 0.8 EF Rental 2.89
AIR
TIGHTNESS
Although not a requirement, under
Performance Path, the reference
house is assumed to be 3.0 ACH50.
The impact of 2.5 ACH is:
Cost of
air test
$250
3.3
The costs are my estimates, from my experience. Readers of this article will have a much
better idea of your actual costs and I encourage you to do a full analysis and then I am
confident you will work closely with your supply partners to ensure a fair and equitable price.

13. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
and increasing basement insulation combined.
I think air tightness is a critical aspect. Section
9.25.3 Air Barriers of the Code identifies 16 separate air
sealing measures with words such as “shall be sealed,”
“continuous barrier to air leakage” and “maintain
integrity of the air barrier over the entire surface.”
These words, in my opinion are both a risk and an
opportunity. If you do them well, you will achieve air
tightness levels well below the 3.0 ACH50 hinted at in
the Code at very low cost. If you don’t do them well
and you don’t test for air tightness, you are at risk from
any homeowner who feels even the slightest draft
around an electrical outlet or under a baseboard. In
other words, smart builders across North America are
doing air tightness testing anyway, as both a quality
assurance measure and a risk mitigation measure.
Now, under the new SB-12, you can get very cost-
effective energy credits for doing it if you use the
Performance Path.
Air leakage control is just one aspect of making
sound decisions in light of the Code change. Using
the Performance Path encourages builders to better
evaluate windows to optimize both summer and
winter comfort performance while, at the same
time, being able to “right-size” your furnace and air
conditioner sizing to optimize costs. The Performance
Path can also help you find better ways to insulate
basements to avoid moisture issues. It is my sincere
opinion that the new Code tips the scales in favour of
using an integrated design and performance-testing
approach to ensure healthier, safer, more comfortable,
more efficient and more durable homes, all in a more
cost-effective way. BB
Gord Cooke is president of Building Knowledge Canada.
11
Roof truss and wood
sill connection.
Simpson Strong Tie
MGT system shown
Drywall
screwed
into amvic
polypropylene
webs as per
building code
Electrical
outlet
Wood sub-floor
installed as per
local building
Simpson strong tie
ICFLC and wood floor
joists connection
Amvic insulating
concrete forms
Amdeck floor
roof system
Exterior wood
siding installed
as per local
building code
Amvic high
impact
polypropylene
webs
Acrylic,
standard
ptucco or eifs
applied to
exterior face
of Amvic ICF
Brick veneer
Parge face of
exposed
brick ledge
Grade
Peel-and-stick
waterproofing
membrane (or
equivalent)
as per local
building code
Perforated
weeping tile
INSULATED
CONCRETEFORMS
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:
AMVIC.COM
Smart builders across
North America are doing air
tightness testing anyway, as
both quality assurance and
risk mitigation measures.

14. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201612
industrynews / STEFFANIE ADAMS
The question of how to get to the
next generation EnergySTAR in a
production environment is key to
Empire Communities’ brand and this
pilot project. GBC will monitor wall
assemblies in two of Empire’s homes
located in Breslau, Ontario to help
evaluate their capacity to manage the
movement of heat and moisture
effectively. GBC’s Building Science
Research team includes Dr. P.
Christopher Timusk, Steffanie Adams,
Dahai Zhang and students Evan May,
James Henderson and Taras Yavorskyi.
The team previously monitored Doug
Tarry’s Optimum Basement Wall in the
Discovery Home in the same capacity:
to verify the field performance and
effectiveness of their basement wall
system. The team is uniquely posi­
tioned to continue their research in
monitoring better basement systems.
Current Ontario Building Code
regulations allow for the installation
of roll-down blanket insulation in
unfinished basements, comprised of
a 6 mil polyethylene vapour barrier
with fibreglass batt attached. It is
typically mechanically fastened at the
top of the basement wall using staples
and a metal strap at mid height of the
basement wall. Nominal R-values are
met but effective R-values have yet to
be determined. Empire Communities
would like to demonstrate that their
system would not only meet current
OBC regulations but also provide a
more durable, sustainable and cost
effective solution to the industry.
Each home in this pilot project will
be constructed with wall assemblies
(both above and below grade) that
meet different standard levels and
OBC regulations. The individual
wall assemblies in each home will
be compared in terms of material
thickness and material properties.
The GBC research team will
E
mpire Communities, the 2015 Ontario Home Builder of the Year and 2013
Green Builder of the year, has been a pioneer for the EnergySTAR Initiative
for Ontario Communities for over 12 years. In partnership with Clearsphere,
Roxul®
, Dow and George Brown College (GBC), Empire has set out to improve the
quality of homes constructed in Ontario with a pilot project focused on building
better basement systems.
The hybrid house research team, left to right:
Evan May, James Henderson, Steffanie Adams,
Steve Doty (Empire) and Dahai Zhang.
Empire Communities
Best Research and Development Project
Three Energy Efficient Test Houses
Near-Zero
Hybrid
EnergySTAR
(Current)
EnergySTAR
Plus

15. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
monitor the below grade wall
assembly of Empire’s Hybrid House
and their EnergySTAR + Home.
The two homes will be constructed
using different systems of insulating
below-grade wall assemblies and
will be compared to a control wall
made of roll-down blanket insulation.
The Hybrid House will be insulated
to R-20 using 2 Dow Styrofoam
Cladmate™
CM20 that is mechanically
fastened to the concrete foundation
wall followed by 2.5 of ROXUL®
’s
COMFORTBOARD™
fastened with
plasgood washers. The EnergySTAR +
Home will be insulated to R-15.5
using 1.5 Dow Styrofoam Cladmate™
CM20 that is mechanically fastened
to the concrete foundation wall.
Inboard of the Dow Cladmate™
,
2 of ROXUL COMFORTBOARD™
will
be fastened with plasgood washers.
GBC’s research team will install
temperature, moisture content,
and relative humidity sensors at
critical locations throughout the wall
assembly and in the soil for analysis.
The team is interested in
collecting data on the performance
of the control wall. Specifically,
roll-down blanket insulation has
been observed to collect moisture
within the fiberglass batt and on
the 6 mil polyethylene. The vapour-
impermeable 6 mil polyethylene
makes it difficult for moisture from
the soil or concrete foundation to dry
inward. Comparing the data obtained
from the control wall to Empire’s
Dow and ROXUL®
’s below-grade wall
assembly system will help establish
that insulating using Empire’s wall
assembly prototype is more effective
in controlling moisture and heat flow.
The research team will also
monitor above-grade wall assemblies
in Empire’s Hybrid House and their
EnergySTAR + Home. The two homes
will be constructed using the same
insulating material. Both homes will
be insulated using Dow Styrofoam™
Cladmate XL™
insulated exterior
sheathing with taped joints and
ROXUL COMFORTBATT®
in the 2x6
stud cavity. These two homes will
be compared in terms of thermal
resistance. The Hybrid Home will be
insulated to a nominal value of R-31.5
and the EnergyPLUS + Home will be
insulated to a nominal value of R-29.
Both above-grade wall assemblies
will be monitored and data collected
and analyzed on heat flow and moist­
ure control to determine the effective­
ness of insulating to R-31.5 over R-29.
This two-year project begins in the
summer of 2016 and the team will
collect and transmit the data remotely
for analysis for the duration of at least a
full heating and cooling cycle, enabling
assessment of the durability and
performance of the Empire basement
wall system. BB
Steffanie Adams,
Principal, ARKI
Design Group
13
RELATIVE
HUMIDITY AND
TEMPERATURE
PIN MOISTURE
CONTENT AND
TEMPERATURE
DUFF MOISTURE
CONTENT AND
TEMPERATURE
2 DOW STYROFOAM™ CLADMATE™
CM20 INSULATION WITH
2.5 ROXUL COMFORTBOARD™
INSULATION ATTACHED WITH
PLASGOOD WASHERS AS PER
MANUFACTURERS’ SPECIFICATIONS
1 DOW FROTHPAK INSULATION
WITH 5.5 ROXUL COMFORTBATT™
INSULATION AT RIM JOIST
STANDARD EXTERIOR WALL
CONSTRUCTION PER UNIT
WORKING DRAWING
WEEP HOLES @ 2'-8 (800mm)
O/C HORIZONTAL AND
CONTINUOUS FLASHING
EXTERIOR INTERIOR
FIN GRADE
FIN FIRST FLOOR
TOP OF SLAB
HYBRID HOUSE WALL TYPE 1 – Below Grade Wall Sensor Location
Hybrid house composite basement wall system with moisture and temperature probes.

16. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201614
buildernews
Notes
1 6 Packages
2 A1 is the only choice without
continuous insulated sheathing
3 A4 Combo Heating Package
Furnace @ 96% AFUE + DHWH @
EF=0.67 is equivalent to condensing
combination unit @ 90%
4 Mandatory DWHR on two drains
5 Mandatory HRVs above minimum
65% @ 30 L/s
6 Trade offs for air tightness @ 2.5
ACH; NLR or NLA can be used
7 Effective R-values for insulation
SB-12 2017 for Dummies
ZONE 1 COMPLIANCE PACKAGE FOR SPACE HEATING EQUIPMENT WITH AFUE ≥ 92%
COMPONENT
COMPLIANCE PACKAGE
2012
PACKAGE J
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6
CEILING WITH ATTIC SPACE R50 R60 R60 R50 R60 R50 R60
CEILING WITHOUT ATTIC SPACE R31 R31 R31 R31 R31 R31 R31
EXPOSED FLOOR R31 R31 R31 R35 R31 R35 R31
WALLS ABOVE GRADE R22 R22 R19 + 5 R14 + 7.5ci R22 + 5ci R19 + 5ci R22 + 5ci
BASEMENT WALLS R12 R20ci R12 + 10ci R20ci R20ci R12 + 5ci R20ci
BELOW GRADE SLAB 600 MM — — — — — — —
HEATED SLAB OR SLAB ≤ 600 MM 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
EDGE OF SLAB ≤ 600 MM 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
WINDOWS AND SLIDING GLASS DOORS 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.6
SKYLIGHTS 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8
SPACE HEATING
94%
AFUE
96%
AFUE
96%
AFUE
94%
AFUE
96%
AFUE
94%
AFUE
92%
AFUE
HRV/ERV (SENSIBLE EFFICIENCY) 60% 75% 75% 81% 75% 70% 65%
DHW 0.67 0.8 0.7 0.67 0.67 0.8 0.8
DWHR (ON ALL OR
MINIMUM TWO SHOWERS)
— 42% 42% 42% 42% 42% 42%
ACH DEFAULT (DETACHED) 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

18. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201616
Doing
featurestory / ROB BLACKSTIEN
Doing

19. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016 17
This attitude manifests in Heath­
wood’s approach with its customers, its
trades, its suppliers and beyond.
First launched in 1977 as Heron
Homes (named after one of its
partners, Hugh Heron, who has
become a building industry icon), the
company also created the Heathwood
brand 25 years ago. Alspector says
the parent company is currently
undergoing another rebranding, from
Heron Group to Herity; Heathwood
Homes is a division of that group.
“There’s a lot of history” in this
brand, he says.
Sustainability and building energy
efficient homes have long been staples
for Heathwood, dating back to the
Heathwood subdivision in 1981, a
high-end site that included heat pumps
as standard fare.
“That was some pioneering,”
Alspector says of this venture, a move
that gas provider Enbridge – concerned
that it wasn’t going to make enough
money from these homes – took issue
It Right
Heathwood Homes has created the best builder
brand through a simple formula of innovation,
fairness and doing things the right way.
W
hen it comes to developing a brand that’s built on putting
customers first, there are countless companies that talk the
talk. But finding those that actually walk the walk is only
slightly rarer than Halley’s Comet sightings.
That’s what sets Heathwood Homes – our choice for Best Brand – apart from
the pack. This Toronto-area builder has fostered its reputation over nearly four
decades, not only creating the highest quality homes and being a pioneer in energy
efficiency, but also maintaining a simple philosophy of “fairness above everything
else,” says Sheldon Alspector, a long-time company principal.
It R

20. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201618
with. When it came time to put the
lines in, Enbridge wanted the builder
to pay for the infrastructure, normally
a free service for developers.
“The loss in revenue from
decreased gas consumption means
the utility’s capital costs could not be
covered,” Alspector explains.
Going the Extra Mile
Going the extra mile for its customers
has always been the Heathwood way,
and a huge part of how its brand has
become so revered.
“We work hard to make people
happy,” he says.
That philosophy is demonstrated
best when issues crop up, regardless
of who, ultimately, may be at fault.
When something bad happens, “we
try to go above and beyond to satisfy
them, even though we may strongly
feel that we’re right and they’re
wrong,” Alspector explains.
For instance, the final 10 houses
in Heathwood Homes’ Brampton
site recently got caught up in some
trade strikes, specifically drywallers.
He says the company was not legally
obligated to do anything for those
people, but opted to help compensate
for the delay.
Why would Heathwood do that?
It’s pretty simple, Alspector says. “It
was the right thing to do.”
Similarly, a few years ago, the
window company Heathwood was
using in its Milton project went
bankrupt and if service was needed,
there was no warranty for those
homeowners.
“We took it upon ourselves to
extend the existing coverage as if they
were still in business,” he says.
Don’t Say No
Alspector, who started with the
company in 1981 after stints with
Sanbury Homes and Menkes, and now
heads up Herity Group’s construction
needs, says he empowers his
employees by allowing them to bend
as much as possible for homebuyers.
In fact, they are not allowed to say no;
if they believe a “no” is warranted in
any given situation, they have to come
to him.
By saying yes more times than not,
the company builds relationships and
long-time customers, Alspector says.
When developing your brand,
builders looking to follow in
Heathwood’s footsteps should heed
their advice, because – as Alspector
says – people’s expectations today are
generally very, very high and you have
to be prepared to deliver.
Builders must be “honourable and
honest and up front,” he says. Further,
you better have a great product and
stand behind it.
“People are not going to take
garbage. You have to deliver quality
and you have to give them great, not
good, after-sales service,” Alspector
advises.
To Heathwood, a brand is more
than a marketing slogan. It’s not
just words – a brand needs to have
legitimate substance and a palpable
philosophy behind it to the point that
people realize: ‘I’m being treated
differently.’
Because of the company’s
unwavering belief in fairness, “we
sleep at night.”
Alspector
says Amvic’s
Silverboard
sheeting “is
a superior
product” that
they prefer
over aspenite.
Heathwood green demo home in 2010 included monitoring and greywater recycling.

21. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016 19
Lifelong Partners
This approach extends to its suppliers and subcontractors,
many of whom have been working with the company from
its inception.
Two of Heathwood’s newer partners are Amvic and
Panasonic. Alspector says Amvic’s Silverboard sheeting
“is a superior product” that they prefer over aspenite.
Panasonic, meanwhile, provides bathroom fans that “are
much better than the competition.”
In an effort to measure energy conservation features
and create homes that go vastly beyond Building Code
specifications, Heathwood has taken the Better Than Code
program (betterthancode.ca) and used it as a basis for its
own green initiative, Heathwood Energy Program.
The benefit to homeowners of this approach is clear,
Alspector says. “Our home – depending on the features we
include – could be 20 percent better or more efficient than
the other. In other words, if you’re going to pay $3,000 in
your utility bills every year, it would be $600 a year cheaper
in our home.”
With a deep rooted tradition in energy efficiency and
Energy Star homes, Heathwood Homes continues to seek
out emerging technologies and opportunities to better its
processes.
Constantly Improving
“We look to improve every day,” Alspector says. “We
like working with experts; we don’t pretend to know
everything.”
He says the company tries to pick experts’ brains and
look at various suppliers to see what new products and
materials they have available to help improve processes.
“As new technologies come to fruition, we like to look
at those closely and when they’re proven commodities, we
like to take the jump and get involved,” Alspector says.
That spirit of innovation led Heathwood Homes to built
a demonstration green home in Richmond Hill about seven
years ago. The company enlisted Ryerson University, which
did a comparison of that home with all its energy efficient
features (such as greywater and several other cutting-edge
concepts) and a similar home without them.
“We try to take advantage of the things we learned
then,” Alspector says. As a result, many of the trials
employed in that home are now standard fare in
Heathwood Homes, and that means a Heathwood-built
house is future proof to an extent by having items such as
solar rough-in.”

22. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201620
Back in the day, he explains,
building extras like that into homes
was a challenge because there were
price ceilings you had to stay below,
so even an additional $5,000 stuck
out. But today, Heathwood puts those
extra dollars in the home, not only in
the form of energy features but also
quality products and finishes.
For instance, Forest Hill on the
Green, Heathwood’s sold-out site in
Richmond Hill, includes 113 single
family homes on 43- and 50-foot lots
that feature nine-foot basements,
10-foot main floors and nine-foot
second floors. Other premium items
include Roxul thermal insulated
sheathing board, insulation under
basement concrete floors and solar
and greywater rough-ins.
Word of Mouth
So successful was this development
that the homes sold out without
the need of a grand opening. Then
again, perhaps that’s not surprising
considering how much referral
business Heathwood enjoys given its
sterling record.
“You get a lot of word of mouth
people who have lived in our homes
over the years,” Alspector explains.
Another big part of Heathwood’s
philosophy involves giving back
to the community, nowhere more
clearly evidenced than by its main
philanthropic initiative, The Mikey
Network. Named after one of
Heathwood’s late partners, the charity
places public access defibrillators in
high-risk locations, an endeavour that
has already saved at least 32 lives,
Alspector says.
Heathwood’s tagline is “Home at
Last,” a phrase that represents “the big
sigh (of contentment)... ‘this is home.’”
It’s a feeling that Heathwood
customers have now become well
acquainted with for nearly two-fifths
of a century. BB
Rob Blackstien is
a Toronto-based
freelance writer.
Pen-Ultimate.ca
“You get a lot of word
of mouth people
who have lived in our
homes over the years,”
Alspector explains.
Silvio Longo (above left) and Rocco Longo below and above grade. Left: All basements at Forest Hill have Roxul
to reduce moisture problems. Right: Heathwood uses Amvic Silverboard insulated sheathing instead of OSB.

24. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201622
industryexpert / MICHAEL LIO
R
ecently, the Ontario govern­
ment released its Climate
Change Action Plan (CCAP)
that included signals that changes
are coming for Ontario’s housing
industry. The CCAP states:
• Electric-vehicle-ready homes:
Ontario will require all new homes
and townhomes with garages to
be constructed with a 50-amp,
240-volt receptacle (plug) in the
garage for the purpose of charging
an electric vehicle.
• Near Net Zero Carbon Home
Incentive: Rebates will go to
individuals who purchase or
build their own near net zero
carbon emission homes, with
energy efficiency performance
that sufficiently exceeds the
requirements of the Building Code.
• Update the Building Code: The
government will update the
Building Code with long-term
energy efficiency targets for new
net zero carbon emission small
buildings that will come into effect
by 2030 at the latest, and consult
on initial changes that will be
effective by 2020.
Let’s consider each of these
proposals separately. Let’s also
consider the challenges that may lay
ahead for the industry.
The CCAP suggests an action start
date of January 2018 for new homes
to be equipped with electric vehicle
chargers in the garage and a 50 amp
breaker box. Level 2 electric charging
stations will be required on a 240
volt outlet which can fully charge
a vehicle in four to six hours. The
home building industry should have
little trouble running a heavier gauge
electrical conduit to the garage from a
50 amp service. The vehicle plug and
breaker box will certainly add cost for
the builder that will be passed on to
the homebuyer.
All of these vehicles charging at
the same time may cause issues for
the grid. As homeowners plug in their
electric cars, probably just before
dinner time, the local distribution
company will likely need to think about
what this new load might mean for its
grid. Smart grids that can manage the
loads will become vitally important.
The CCAP’s “near net zero
carbon emission homes” (NNZCEH)
proposal raises a number of questions.
Recognize that the CCAP doesn’t refer
to homes that are “net zero energy.”
While the intended meaning of
NNZCEH has not been fully explained,
the way the CCAP reads suggests that
ordering the home’s power from a
“green electricity” supplier may mean
that your home could qualify. In fact,
houses in Quebec would, for the most
part, qualify under this definition.
The Climate Change Action Plan
will eventually need to define what it
considers to be “near net zero carbon
emissions.” It will need to decide on
how “near” is “near.” Can builders
decide for themselves how close to
zero they get? Many details are clearly
missing from the CCAP that can have
a tremendous impact on builders. The
government will need to establish a
NNZCEH standard to protect buyers
and to guide builders. At buildABILITY,
our work with production builders
across Canada suggests that without a
near net zero industry standard, what
buyers get as “near net zero” could vary
considerably.
In our net zero energy work, we
used NRCan’s definition for “net zero
energy homes”: a net zero energy home
(NZEH) means a home that produces
as much energy as it consumes over
the course of a year. We used the
EnerGuide Rating System to model
and rate the homes. We used NRCan’s
baseloads and HOT2000 to model
the photovoltaics on the roof tops.
Of course, we could have used other
approaches that could do a better
job in modelling reality. What was
important was that home buyers got an
“as-modelled NZEH” product that was
treated in the same manner regardless
of region or home builder.
There are many technical
challenges that builders will need
to overcome in order to successfully
build an NZEH. A typical NZEH spec
is shown in Figure 1. Some of the
challenges relate to the availability
of components while others relate
to how components are integrated.
For instance, attaching siding to
exterior insulated sheathings that
are two or three inches thick will
Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan
and What it Means for the Housing Industry
The Climate Change
Action Plan will
eventually need to
define what it considers
to be “near net zero
carbon emissions.”

25. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
present challenges, as will achieving
envelope air tightness levels that are
less than 1.0 air changes. Sourcing
the advanced heat pump space and
water heaters today could also prove
difficult, and rooftop PV, as a new
system with a new set of trades, will
need to be integrated into the home
building process and schedule.
Undoubtedly, builders will be able to
overcome each of these challenges,
but, it will take incentives, training
and time.
Some municipalities are talking
about requiring NZEHs as part of
their community energy plans. This,
of course, would vary from the CCAP
call for NNZCEH. Any municipal
requirement would be forced on
developers through various land
approval instruments. Municipalities
and developers should realize that not
every home will easily qualify as net
zero energy, if the roof and sun are
misaligned. Developers should also
know that a net zero energy require­
ment could add $60,000 to $80,000 to
the cost of a Code-built house.
Before forcing developers to build
NZEHs, municipalities will need
to ensure that the local electricity
distribution companies (LDCs) will
allow builders to connect to the grid.
Grids that have traditionally been
one-way highways will need to be
realigned to accommodate two-way
traffic. A site with a few hundred
NZEHs would act like a small power
plant when the sun shines. For local
distribution companies, this will be a
significant challenge if the municipal
plans, and the CCAP, is to be realized.
Here’s what I think we need:
1. Governments (federal, provincial,
and municipal) need to define
precisely the target they wish to
reach – net zero energy, emissions,
near zero. One target, please. A time
frame would also be useful. 2030 is
a huge challenge, but achievable if
governments and utilities align and
work together. Make the target date
explicit. A construction standard is
necessary so there is consistency in
what buyers receive from builders.
2. Aligned, well-funded, voluntary
programs are fundamental to the
needed market transformation.
Utilities need to align well-funded
demonstration programs over
the next five years as precursors
to mass market programs.
Demonstration programs should
morph into aligned mass market
incentive programs over the
subsequent five years. See Figure 1
for clues on what to incent.
3. Government and utilities should
invest heavily in builder and,
more importantly, trades training.
Builder sales and marketing
training would also be useful.
4. Local distribution companies need
to transform themselves from
passive wire watchers to smart
grid operators. They can facilitate
the transformation by aggressively
investing in distributed generation
at the community and individual
homeowner level.
5. Municipalities can help
homeowners finance the purchase
of rooftop PVs and on-counter
energy displays. For existing
housing, this may be a better
economic choice than supporting
costly and technically difficult
energy retrofits.
Net zero energy housing is
technically feasible for production
builders in this country. We spent four
years working through the details to
be able to demonstrate just that. We
also learned NZEH is hard. It is fraught
with challenges and, of course, with
rewards. When I describe our NZEH
work to lay people, their faces instantly
light up. The concept is so easy to
understand. Cool, they say, a house
that on an annual basis uses no energy.
Cool, indeed! BB
Michael Lio is president of buildABILITY
Corporation. michael@buildability.ca
23
FIGURE 1
CEILING R60
MAIN WALLS R24 + R10 XPS
BASEMENT WALLS R12 + R15 XPS
EXPOSED FLOOR R40 + R5 XPS
UNDERSLAB R10 XPS
WINDOWS U0.9
HRV 75%
SPACE HEATING
AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP
9.57 HSPF WITH ELECTRIC FURNACE BACKUP
WATER HEATING
HYBRID HEAT PUMP WATER HEATER
@ 2.45 EF + DRAIN WATER HEAT RECOVERY
AIR TIGHTNESS 1.0 ACH @ 50 Pa

27. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
It was the late 1970s and Bramalea
Construction was about the biggest
thing going – Afonso applied for and
was hired as assistant site foreman,
but moved into labour because it
paid better and would help to finance
his return to school. He ended up
staying several years before moving
on to Daniels Corporation, as site
supervisor for almost a decade.
From there, he went to Berkshire
Homes, first as site supervisor, then
construction manager. Afonso then
struck out on his own to do custom
renovations for a short time – it didn’t
last because he found homeowners
were fast becoming “experts” who
challenged every decision, thanks to
Google. It was wearing, he says.
He knew about Empire Commu­
nities, having met CEO Paul Golini
through the Green Building Council.
He submitted his resume on a Wednes­
day and was called on the Thursday.
He started with Empire as site super­
visor but within a few months was
promoted to construction manager.
“They’re a good company,” Afonso
says. “I already knew it, but now have
experienced it firsthand. They’re very
serious about what they are doing,
and want to do things well. So far, I’ve
seen them deliver on everything they
say they’ll do.”
Golini, he’s found, is very
concerned about sustainability – all
homes are EnergySTAR compliant
– and he recognizes the value of
training and holding on to young
people. Afonso has three assistants,
all recent graduates from college
programs for the industry. “They’re
very knowledgeable and eager,
just not experienced yet. It’s a
very youthful culture at Empire.”
The site he is currently managing
– Mt. Pleasant Lakeside in north
Brampton – is large at 750 units.
About half have been completed and
turned over to the customer, and the
remaining 380 are under construction.
“It’s a big site,” Afonso admits.
“Maintaining order and managing
the logistics of a lot of people coming
and going is definitely a challenge.
Like keeping the site clean – imagine
300 tradespeople having breakfast
and lunch – that’s a lot of garbage to
control. And I’m not counting the
garbage generated by the general
public – they come by after hours and
dump stuff on site.”
Afonso has a fairly basic code of
conduct for his tradespeople on-site:
don’t throw garbage around, wear
construction shoes and hat, be decent
to each other.
Organization is important when
managing a construction site this
size, he says. But more important is
“understanding how a site functions,
so that you can anticipate what’s ahead
and keep the trades on schedule.”
Every housing site starts with
surveyors, followed by excavation, and
only then can trades be scheduled in.
Most large sites do phases of 80 or 90
houses at a time, and the homes that
close first get built first. Much depends
on a well-organized head office, since
there’s a lot of information and paper­
work involved in building a house.
A typical work day starts around
7:00 am, when he holds a daily
production meeting to review with
staff and trades what needs to be
accomplished that day. This includes
tasks not completed the day before.
After that, Afonso conducts walk-
throughs on site to see who is there, at
what stage each house is, and whether
the site is meeting health and safety
requirements. All this takes two or three
hours, then he heads back to the office
to calculate what needs to be done the
following day, and calls the relevant
trades and foremen to fill them in.
Staying on schedule is probably the
most important role of a construction
manager. “Once the project is up and
running,” Afonso says, “especially one
this size, there are a lot of trades to keep
track of – 42 crews of carpenters, 15
crews of bricklayers. So you’re always
trying to be two or three days ahead.”
Building the Best by
Sticking to the Basics
sitespecific / ALEX NEWMAN
A
s a student, Norm Afonso thought he’d go all the way, earn a PhD
and pursue a life in academia. After completing his Bachelor of Arts
in literature, however, he decided to take a break from school and
“make some money.” As it turned out, working with his electrician father for the
summer made him feel “useful” and he never returned to university.
25
“Maintaining order and
managing the logistics
of a lot of people
coming and going is
definitely a challenge.”

28. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201626
It’s why he often calls Friday nights
to make sure trades will be there on
Monday because while most trades
are reliable, “when they don’t show
up, a site can go very wrong.”
But a manager also needs to be
creative and flexible. “If you get too
rigid about timing, and not factor
in screw-ups, weather, accidents,
or someone not showing up, you
won’t accomplish much except drive
yourself crazy.”
What sorts of better building practices
have you picked up along the way?
“I don’t like wasting anything,”
Afonso says. “So I try to use less
lumber and re-use lumber where
possible. There’s always a way to do a
job that generates less waste.”
The first priority, though, is to
achieve the most comfortable home
possible, one with a tight envelope
complemented by proper ventilation.
Since all Mt. Pleasant Lakeside homes
are EnergySTAR, they’re prepped before
rough-in with beefed-up insulation,
keeping an eye on trouble areas, such as
behind the tub. They use a high quality
foam insulation which penetrates the
exterior envelope very well. “Down the
road, this makes a home’s interior air
quality very comfortable and it saves
on utility bills,” he says.
Every Empire home is tested
before purchasers take possession.
Clearsphere conducts blower door tests
for air leakage and inspections are
performed by Holmes on Homes Group.
What energy efficiency building
practices would you like to see
consistently promoted in the industry?
“Improved insulation, to increase
the R-value of walls and attic space. A
tight envelope is more important than
the HVAC system you install,” Afonso
says. “If the home is tight, you can get
away with a smaller furnace, one that’s
more appropriately sized for the home.”
The corollary to a tight envelope,
Afonso says, is ventilation. Empire
uses Energy Recovery Ventilators
(ERVs) “which mitigate the effect of
a tight home. The old R2000 homes
were very tight and did a great job of
reducing energy consumption, but
they didn’t provide enough ventilation.
An ERV will dramatically improve air
circulation, ventilation and air quality.”
Most builders use some form of
ventilation system, Afonso says, and
most EnergySTAR programs require it.
The problem is that the regular buying
public still doesn’t quite understand
what an ERV can do for them. “They
think they’re wasting energy by turning
it on, but to achieve maximum benefit,
the ERV needs to run all the time.”
To this end, Empire Communities
educates homeowners about how
their EnergySTAR homes operate, and
homeowner awareness is another way
the company gets back to basics. BB
Empire educates
homeowners about
how their homes
operate … another
way the company
gets back to basics.

30. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016

31. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
Men
Women
H
ave you ever wondered
why you were purchasing
something that you didn’t
really need?
I was pondering a similar question
on the last trip I made to Canadian
Tire with my boyfriend. Let’s get this
straight: I was lured there on the
pretense that we were replacing the
mop head. Next thing I knew, my
boyfriend was in the power tool aisle
looking longingly at the merchandise.
I could tell that he was zeroing in on
the cordless drills.
“Cordless drills? You gotta be
kidding!” my interior critic was
screaming. “Wasn’t it just this
morning that I put toast in the
toaster oven and patiently awaited
the perfectly browned twelve-grain
bread?” It didn’t toast, and it didn’t
take me too long to figure out why.
There was a power pack plugged into
the toaster oven’s socket, and sitting
there on the kitchen counter charging
was a cordless drill. One of many, I
may add, that I have noticed in odd
places around the house and shed.
It seems that my boyfriend is
not alone; ninety-five percent of
our purchase decisions are made
deep below the level of waking
consciousness. In fact, a multitude of
different and oftentimes conflicting
emotions are triggered within us
when contemplating a purchase.
Research data gathered from the
relatively new field of Neuro­
economics provides information that
helps us to better understand the
biological basis for human behaviour,
including purchasing behaviour.
When you are engaging in a
pleasurable activity – for my boyfriend
that’s buying a cordless drill –
dopamine is released in the brain.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter
that fuels desire and pleasure. It is the
reason my boyfriend looks so happy
after he buys another drill he doesn’t
need. In the moments after a purchase,
dopamine is fired up and any inklings
of anxiety or guilt are squelched.
Paul Zak, the Director of the
Center for Neuroeconomic Studies at
Claremont University has studied stock
traders on Wall Street in an attempt
to determine if there are genetic
variants that make a trader successful.
Dopamine plays an important role as
it modulates both reward seeking and
risk taking behaviors.
The study analyzed saliva samples
and other information from profes­
sional stock traders and then compared
those to Claremont MBA students who
were not trading stocks professionally.
Zak found that there are indeed genetic
differences in these two groups and
that there are particular genetic
variants that make a trader successful
on Wall Street. It turns out that the most
successful traders have genes that give
them moderate levels of dopamine.
With moderate levels, these traders can
take a risk when they predict a good
payoff and avoid a risk when it seems
likely to blow up in their face.
I’m guessing that my boyfriend
doesn’t have the genes that give him
moderate levels of dopamine given his
inability to avoid the risk of me blowing
up over the cordless drill purchase.
But I didn’t blow up (not outwardly
anyway). Why? I suspect my brain was
under the effect of oxytocin. Oxytocin
was once believed to be released in
humans only during sex and childbirth.
Rodents, on the other hand, have
oxytocin on hand (or paw) and it allows
them to tolerate their burrow mates.
Zak has dubbed oxytocin “the
moral molecule” and states that we
have a biology for reciprocation. I feel
it’s my duty to inform you that when
you trust someone, his or her brain
releases oxytocin. When you give a hug
to someone, his or her brain releases
oxytocin. We are that powerful. The
reciprocal effect of oxytocin motivates
us to care about and engage with
others. Lucky for my burrow mate.
I think it’s time to apologize in print
to my boyfriend for picking on him and
his affinity for power tools. Dopamine
29
What’s Driving Your Personal Rating System?
buildernews / WENDY SHAMI
relationship
sports
sex
sex
pets
food
food regrets
urination
aging
m
en
thrashing
balding
relationship
aging
odd hair growth
career
Thought Frequency as Pie Charts

32. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201630
does not discriminate between the
sexes. I admit, I too am subject to the
feel-good effects of dopamine. Just
follow me into IKEA and watch the
process. Our kitchen is full of gadgets
and dish-towels in lovely prints. With
all the stuff around, it’s no wonder it
took me awhile to notice the cordless
drill on the kitchen counter.
There is a difference between men
and women. Oh… excuse me, I know
there are many differences between
men and women, but there is one that
is relevant to this article: testosterone.
Women do have a bit of it but men
have a lot of it. The release of oxytocin
is inhibited by higher levels of testo­
sterone. Zak’s study found that men
that were given testosterone in exper­
iments become more selfish. Addi­
tionally, these same men were more
likely to punish someone who was
selfish towards them. Now there’s a
case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Neuroeconomics is providing
data that allows one to question the
stereotypical view that economists
hold of the world. This view describes
humans as operating from a place of
self-interest and as highly rational.
It appears, testosterone aside, that
we are, in fact, wired for cooperation
and trust. Think about it. We get
on airplanes with pilots whom we
have never met and trust we will end
up at our destination and not in a
Lost episode. We trust strangers in
restaurants not to poison us. And,
my boyfriend and I trust that we will
continue to love and respect each other
even when annoyed by power tools and
kitchen towels.
What does all this mean? It gives us
a lens to help better under­stand our
world and how we organize that world.
Paul Zak says that Neuro­economics
lets him “embrace words like morality
or love or compassion in a non-squishy
way. It says, these are real things, this
is really part of our human nature and
we should embrace that.” BB
Wendy Shami is a
sometime writer
and the managing
editor of Better
Builder magazine.

33. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 2016
This next point is very important:
there is no need to panic should a
home have a high level of radon.
Health Canada identifies the biggest
risk with radon as long-term exposure
to the gas over a lifetime. However,
if radon is an issue in a home, action
should be taken to mitigate this.
The Canadian guideline for radon in
indoor air is 200 bq/m3. The Health
Canada guidelines require that homes
with levels over 600 bq/m3 are to be
remediated within 12 months, while
homes with levels between 200-600
need to be remediated within 24
months.
Radon levels are also very random.
One homeowner might have a high
level and their next door neighbour
may have hardly any at all. Although
soil testing can be done prior to
construction, it cannot rule out the
possibility that radon could be a
problem after a home is built. The
same way a bowl will hold more water
than a sieve, radon needs an enclosed
space either in, or on, the soil in order
to collect. It migrates to the lowest
level of air pressure by natural air
movement.
Because of this, in-home levels
tend to be higher in the winter when
the surrounding soil has snow and
frost effects and the gas migrates
more naturally to the basement, being
the lowest air pressure area within
the surrounding soil.
The Radon Logic Trap
I believe that there is a “Logic Trap”
within the Ontario Building Code that
is causing industry stakeholders, both
builders and building officials, to reach
the wrong conclusion regarding the
need for soil gas control.
The OBC states that there are three
areas where you must install radon
mitigation/soil gas measures. It also
states that, where radon is known
to be a problem and, unless you can
demonstrate that it is not required, you
have to install radon mitigation/soil
gas measures. However, although there
are three obvious problem areas, the
Code has remained silent on how to
test for radon. The “logical” conclusion
that nearly everyone is reaching is
“Radon is not an issue in my area
therefore I don’t require soil gas
control.” That’s the logic trap. I believe
it leads builders to the wrong answer
and exposes them to potential liability.
Solving the Logic Trap
Let’s look at it another way. Radon is a
noble gas and, by definition, a soil gas
and is present everywhere including
in every home at some level, whether
acceptable or problematic. The only
way you can test for high levels vs.
safe levels within a home is by using a
long-term 90-day test after the home
has been closed in. (The trouble is that
this is not in the OBC, but rather in the
Health Canada Guidelines). Therefore,
you cannot demonstrate that radon
is not a problem during construction
or even before permit, which means
soil gas controls are actually required
under s. 9.13.4.2(2).
I believe that the best solution is
for builders to install soil gas control
measures as noted in SB-9 and, as an
industry, address the radon logic trap
within the Ontario Building Code.
The way it currently exists is unclear
and unfair to builders, renovators and
building inspectors.
31
Radon –
What You Should Know
fromthegroundup / DOUG TARRY
R
adon is an odourless, colourless and tasteless gas that can accumulate in
buildings, such as schools, offices and homes. More importantly, radon is
everywhere. It is the naturally occurring gas emitted from the breakdown
of uranium and is found in soil throughout all of Canada. According to Health
Canada, radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in Canada.
A clearly labelled radon rough-in (above).
Sub-slab radon mitigation system rough-in.

34. BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 19 | AUTUMN 201632
What are we doing about
radon at Doug Tarry Homes?
At Doug Tarry Homes, we have
decided that we will be taking a
proactive approach to controlling
radon in new homes.
At the time of writing this
article, the Ontario Home Builders’
Association is in the process of
completing a survey of radon levels in
new homes across Ontario to better
understand how new residential
construction performs in the face of
radon gas. The knowledge gained by
this survey will inform best practices
to radon-resistant techniques in new
residential construction.
Doug Tarry Homes has been
participating in the OHBA radon
study since its inception and we
are sharing information with other
participating builders. During
this time, we have learned a lot
about dealing with radon. Once we
understood what was involved and
how to properly mitigate a new home
under construction, we decided to act.
In order to better serve our
customers and to ensure their safety
and peace of mind, I have been
certified by the Canadian/National
Radon Proficiency Program (C-NRPP)
for measurements and new home
instillations. Effective January 1, 2016,
Doug Tarry Homes is now installing a
radon mitigation system in every home
we build in all markets that we serve.
Under the basement slab will be a
soil gas collection pipe rough-in. Above
that, and directly below the basement
slab, will be a soil gas protection layer
to limit the entry of radon into the home.
Should radon be found to be
present, the soil gas collection pipe can
easily be made active in a cost-effective
manner using an in-line fan to exhaust
the sub soil gas from under the
basement floor. This fan operates with
very minimal ongoing costs. We have
worked to educate our local building
officials in all the markets that we
serve to ensure they understand
our details and can properly and
effectively inspect our installations
to provide third-party verification of
proper installation.
Additionally, we will also provide
a long-term test for our customers,
should they ask us to do so. This test
will follow nationally-recognized
guidelines, and we will provide our
customers with a copy of the lab
report. While we do not anticipate
finding high levels of radon within
our homes based upon the steps we
are taking, if radon is found, we will
remediate our customers’ homes by
installing an active in-line fan system,
or other approved measure, so that we
can ensure their home is made safe.
Our goal at Doug Tarry Homes is to
continue our industry leadership by
building the healthiest, safest, most
energy-efficient and affordable new
homes possible. We encourage other
builders and building officials to learn
more about radon mitigation as a
positive, healthy choice in new home
construction. BB
Doug Tarry Jr is director of marketing at
Doug Tarry Homes in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Should radon be found to be present, the soil
gas collection pipe can easily be made active
in a cost-effective manner using an in-line fan.

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