Better Builder Magazine, Issue 25 / Spring 2018

ISSUE 25 | SPRING 2018PUBLICATIONNUMBER42408014
River City’s Mid-rise Possibilities
Do We Have to Over-regulate?
The Good Builder Score
LEED v4 – The Next Evolution
Going for Silver
Lessons from San Lorenzo
INSIDE
Sustainability
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BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 25 | SPRING 2018
16
1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
2
Rethinking the Experience
of Sustainability
by John Godden
THE BADA TEST
3
Sustainable Homes
Do We Have to Over-regulate
to Get This Right?
by Lou Bada
INDUSTRY NEWS
7
Proposing a New Approach
to Rating Home Builders
by Paul De Berardis
BUILDER NEWS
10
LEED v4
The Next Evolution for Sustainable
Residential Projects in Canada
by Thomas Green
BUILDER NEWS
13
Going for Silver
by Alex Newman
INDUSTRY EXPERT
14
The Green Side of the Cottage
by Gord Cooke
INDUSTRY EXPERT
24
A Green Rater
by Better Builder Staff
SITE SPECIFIC
26
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…
and Renovate
by Alex Newman
FROM THE GROUND UP
30
Climate Change and More
Durable Housing
Lessons from San Lorenzo, Part 1
by Doug Tarry
FEATURE STORY
16
On the Waterfront
River City is a prime example of what’s possible in a mid-rise
by Rob Blackstien
20
Rookie of the Year
by Rob Blackstien
30
ISSUE 25 | SPRING 2018
On our cover: River City Phase 1 & 2
by Jose Uribe
Images internally supplied unless otherwise credited.
20

T
his is the 25th issue of Better Builder. In the spring of 2012, this
magazine was called Sustainable Builder. To us, sustainability
is really a common-sense approach to managing resources in
any process. But the word “sustainable” became a buzzword over time
and lost its original punch. Sustainability is more than the process –
it is about relationships between people and things. It is about how
we value our connection with resources to achieve less waste and
better outcomes for the future. It is dynamic, flexible and based on the
experience of what works and what does not. We eventually renamed
the magazine to reflect the fact that better builders build sustainability.
Our Building Code is among the most energy efficient in the
world. However, the last issue demonstrated we are at the point
of diminishing returns through simply adding more insulation or
employing more efficient HVAC systems. Looking ahead, our attention
should be directed towards durability, water efficiency and reducing
occupant loads and behaviour.
This issue showcases three LEED projects recognized in the recent
Canada Green Building Council Greater Toronto Chapter Awards. Each
project represents an important housing form: a mid-rise multi-unit
(page 16), a near zero retirement cottage (page 14) and a LEED Platinum
renovation in Toronto (page 20). The latter may be the most crucial,
because it demonstrates how to improve the existing housing stock.
The LEED rating system will play an important role going forward,
as Thomas Green explains on page 10. LEED currently exists as v4 for
both low- and mid-rise projects. LEED v4.1, under construction, will
be streamlined for wider appeal and ease of use.
We also need to recognize when builders do things right. Lou Bada
from Starlane Homes (winner of the 2017 RESNET Cross Border Home
Builder Challenge President’s Award) argues why over-regulation
hinders sustainability on page 3. Paul De Berardis from RESCON
proposes a Good Builder Score that rewards sustainable practices
(page 7). We also feature renovator Sam Lapidus, who has been taking
aim at minimizing waste in the building industry (page 26).
Finally, we are proud to share Doug Tarry’s “Lessons from San
Lorenzo” on page 30. Doug is not only an innovator, but a humanitarian
too. His current work in Puerto Rico is inspiring, and his common-
sense approach to building with resiliency is anything but common.
I’m very proud of this 25th issue and am grateful to everyone who
has contributed to its success. Better Builder strives to promote the
triple bottom line: outcomes that are good for people, good for the
environment and good for business. We hope to continue pushing all
of us to rethink our experience of sustainability. BB
Rethinking
the Experience
of Sustainability
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PUBLISHING EDITOR
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or join our distribution list, please
contact editorial@betterbuilder.ca
FEATURE WRITERS
Rob Blackstien, Alex Newman
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premium product manufacturers
and leading builders to create
better, differentiated homes and
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impact on the environment.
PUBLICATION NUMBER
42408014
Copyright by Better Builder
Magazine. Contents may not be
reprinted or reproduced without
written permission. The opinions
expressed herein are exclusively
those of the authors and assumed
to be original work. Better Builder
Magazine cannot be held liable
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TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER
All company and/or product
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publisher’snote / JOHN GODDEN
John Godden
Alex Newman
Gord Cooke
Rob Blackstien
Lou Bada
Doug Tarry
CONTRIBUTORS

Sustainable Homes
Do We Have to
Over-regulate to Get This Right?
3
H
istorically, “sustainability”
was often seen as being tied
to energy efficiency, and to a
large degree it still is. Quantifiable
and relatively easy to ascribe a cost
to, energy efficiency and energy
conservation were the low-hanging
fruit for sustainability. Instead of
(blindly) marching towards net zero
carbon nirvana, we should at some
point re-examine our goals and our
progress. If our goal is to walk on this
planet leaving the smallest footprint
possible, we should review our
assumptions as well.
I believe we have nearly exhausted
the energy efficiency component of
sustainability in new construction in
any reasonable way. Lowering air
changes and thickening walls is
yielding fewer and fewer environ
mental returns. Other pillars of
sustainable housing are: indoor air
quality, resource management, water
efficiency and building resiliency
(durability). I’d like to explore some
of these a little more.
I’ve come to believe that over-
regulation does not usually inspire
much. “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt
not” can only inspire compliance
or, in some cases, avoidance and
non-compliance (cheating) with
unintended consequences and
questionable results. I admit that,
to some degree, regulation has been
effective – for instance, it has forced
mechanical equipment to become
more energy efficient. This could be
considered innovation or continuous
improvement. Nevertheless, greater
regulation does not always bring
thebadatest / LOU BADA
greater innovation, nor does it
bring forth something entirely new
(invention) or something better suited
for use in its environment (adaptation).
When builders are forced into
compliance with something they don’t
believe is of value, they are less likely to
voluntarily take on things they believe
may be of environmental benefit. As
an example, water conservation could
be greatly improved by installing
a greywater recycling system, or
a rough-in for future use. Once a
home is built, the cost of installing a
greywater system without a rough-in
is prohibitive. Now just imagine a
municipality forcing a builder to
install a hot water recirculation system
(a system that runs on a pump and
delivers hot water to a tap promptly):
how likely is it that the builder will
voluntarily install a greywater
rough-in? Not likely. For the sake of
argument, let’s believe (as I do) that the
potential for energy savings is greater
with greywater recycling than with a
hot water recirculation pump. What
have we accomplished?
What happens when builders
are given little choice because of
misguided regulation to lower air
changes per hour from 2.5 to 2.0, or
mandated into building a high-pitched
roof and Disneyland-type architectural
details? Builders must comply with an
ever-increasing number of rules if they
want to obtain a permit and to build,
but will they go above and beyond the
Ontario Building Code when it comes
to choosing materials or methods that
will improve the durability of a home?
There are numerous things that we
could do to improve the durability of
a home to adapt to a changing climate
and extend its life span.
Here’s my opinion: in a regulatory
environment where builders have less
and less discretion, they are less likely
to voluntarily do much.
Another example may be that
Other pillars of sustainable housing are:
indoor air quality, resource management,
water efficiency and building resiliency.

a builder wants to opt for a more
expensive energy recovery ventilator
(in lieu of a heat recovery ventilator)
to make a home more comfortable
and better control indoor humidity.
How do we encourage this? How do
we set the industry up for success?
You may say “more regulation”; I
would propose less. We seem to
continuously add regulation to
correct previous poorly thought out
regulation.
As you may have guessed by
reading my previous articles, I
haven’t strayed much from my
deeply held convictions that over-
regulation – or poorly thought out
regulation – is detrimental to the
industry and, ultimately, to new-
home buyers and an important part
of the economy that sustains our
ability to have a fair and just society.
Sustainable building is multi-faceted
and, at times, complex. Builders need
flexibility to reach their targets. The
targets must be reasonable, and they
must be based on a value proposition
and professionalism, not on ideology
or a political agenda. Our industry
has become a convenient target for
regulation. We need rational and
achievable targets, not programs and
prescriptions that don’t make sense
and are not sustainable. 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).
The targets must be reasonable, and they must be
based on a value proposition and professionalism,
not on ideology or a political agenda.

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BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 25 | SPRING 2018 7
industrynews / PAUL DE BERARDIS
Tarion’s role is anticipated to shift
by 2020, due to the province deciding
to enforce some recommendations
from the Honourable J. Douglas
Cunningham’s report. There is a
possible window of opportunity to
change the rating system from hereon.
Rather than just a negative rating
based on cosmetic deficiencies, there
should be a positive one based on
things done right – especially major
systems and structural elements.
Here’s why: people care about
esthetics – the most obvious defects
and deficiencies. That makes sense, as
these are right in front of home owners
and top of mind. While Tarion deals
with home owner-driven complaints,
those problems usually are about
minor cosmetic issues rather than
the construction practices that may
affect the durability and performance
of your home. So instead of buyers
complaining that their tiles are off by a
few millimetres, why not consider all of
the important things that you can’t see?
Home owners, generally, are not
concerned with what’s behind the
walls, in the ceilings or below the
floors, simply because either they don’t
understand, they can’t see or they don’t
care what’s there (or all three).
Let’s look at Tarion’s list of top five
claims:
1. Paint: streaks and brush marks,
drips and splatters, poor coverage,
poor quality paint.
2. Doors: finishing, surface damage,
sticking or warping doors, poor
installation.
3. Floors: gaps between boards,
scratches, cupping, uneven
finishing.
4. Drywall: cracking, visible seams,
blemishes, rough patches, corners
that aren’t square.
5. Stairs and steps: squeaking,
mismatched finishes, scratched
surface finish.
Are all five of these important? Of
course they are. What’s in front of the
buyer’s eyes and ears will always get
first priority in a new home. But these
7
Proposing a New Approach to Rating Home Builders
P
erhaps the biggest myth in new-home construction is that a home builder’s
reputation rests with the Tarion warranty program.
Any builder can run into a string of chargeable conciliations against
them by a few buyers (sometimes unreasonable customers), putting a stain on
their record that can stick for a long time. And that’s a problem.

are not the critical components of a
home that come to mind for a builder
when it comes to the durability and
performance of a new home.
Ideally, home owners should be
aware and ask questions regarding
certain critical systems in their home
and be less concerned with cosmetic
upgrades and finishes. But that’s
difficult to achieve. Not everyone is
that interested in how their home
really functions.
Most home owners should know
their home is constructed according to
code. The responsibility of regulating
and enforcing building construction
standards falls onto designers and
municipal building inspectors.
Here’s a crazy idea for the war
ranty program (whether it is Tarion
or another agency): why not create a
checklist or point system for builders
that rewards them for including
quality construction improvements or
components that ensure the quality of
your new home for decades?
Is this a pie in the sky? We don’t
think so. We strongly believe that
a point system should consider the
positive qualities of the individual
home builder. Instead of weighing
all of the less important, esthetic
niggles of a new home against the
reputation of a builder, why not use a
system of positivity to build up those
reputations?
The point system – let’s call it
“The Good Builder Score” – would
lead to more healthy competition
between builders, encourage them
to use the most modern techniques
of construction, create a higher level
of understanding between builders
and buyers through education, and
improve the overall home buying
process.
But the focus not only needs to
shift from a negative rating system to
a positive one. It is also critical that
we change the focus from the purely
cosmetic changes (which is what most
claims are about) to giving credit to
builders where credit is due – that is, for
including modern features that improve
the overall durability of the home.
Here’s the kicker: these important
components of durability are the parts
of the house that you don’t see. Here
are five potential checklist examples
that would give a builder points
towards their Good Builder Score:
1. Effective installation of an air-
barrier system to ensure airtight
ness for energy efficiency and
to prevent condensation in wall
assemblies.
2. Proper installation, commissioning
and balancing of the heating
and cooling system, including
components such as the furnace, air
conditioner, ERV/HRV, humidifier
and distribution ducting to provide
desired indoor air quality.
3. Precision wood-framed structures
comprised of panelized wall
and floor sections built off-site
in a controlled manufacturing
environment, providing quality
control of a home’s structure.
4. Proper flashing of windows, doors
and mechanical penetrations in
the exterior building envelope to
protect against possible water entry
and air leakage.
5. Use of new and advanced building
materials, such as engineered floor
joists, which can offer increased
spatial design flexibility as well as
provide greater building material
uniformity.
The Good Builder Score is just a
starting point for a system that would
encourage builder participation. It could
lead to offering rebates and incentives
for the builders who build a cut above
the bare minimum requirements.
Meanwhile, we also strongly
believe that Tarion should be more
open with regards to their claims
database, so home owners can be more
knowledgeable about things to look
for, and builders can increase their
education outreach to consumers.
Tarion is in the business of warranty
and home construction, yet they are
not applying the lessons learned from
their warranty claim database to
address any shortfalls in construction
practices. So, let’s do this.
A Good Builder Score would involve
a steep learning curve. There’s an oppor
tunity to improve the industry for the
benefit of all home buyers and home
builders, and we should take it. BB
Paul De Berardis is
RESCON’s director of
building science and
innovation. Email him at
deberardis@rescon.com.
8
Why not create a checklist or point system that
rewards builders for including quality construction
improvements or components that ensure the
quality of your new home for decades?

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COMPARISON OF LEED CANADA VERSION 2009 TO THE NEW V4
WALLACE RESIDENCE
CATEGORIES LEED VERSION 2009 LEED V4
Innovation & Design Process (ID) 5.5 2
Location and Linkages (LL) 10 10
Sustainable Sites (SS) 5 2.5
Water Efficiency (WE) 3 3
Energy & Atmosphere (EA) 22.5 12
Materials & Resources (MR) 2.5 5
Indoor Environment Quality (EQ) 19 10.5
Awareness & Education (AE) 3 1
Points Accredited 70.5 46
Total Possible Points
Certified Silver Gold Platinum
54 69 84 99
Certified Silver Gold Platinum
40–49 50–59 60–79 80–110
10
buildernews / TOM GREEN
I
t is an exciting and important time
to be involved in green housing in
Canada. People are talking about
sustainable housing issues well
beyond energy efficiency – and it’s
not just individuals from academia
or the green building industry sector,
but also policy-makers, economists,
building code developers, and
governments at all levels. With LEED
v4 now in force and a LEED v4.1
update on the way, the LEED green
building rating system’s integrated
and holistic range of sustainability
criteria continues to evolve to push
the market with new and more
stringent sustainability parameters,
add emphasis on quality assurance
and encourage real-world performance
reporting.
In the 15 years since being
introduced to the market, LEED
has become well-established as
a voluntary, consensus-driven,
internationally recognized
certification system providing third-
party verification that a building or
community is designed and built as
planned to rigorous sustainability
standards. Delivered throughout the
country by the Canada Green Building
Council (CaGBC), LEED provides a
framework to develop leading-edge
green housing, from single-family
homes to high-rise projects, and drives
continual improvements to building
design, construction and operation. To
date, there are more than 7,500 LEED
homes registered in Canada, of which
over 3,500 are certified.
Raising the sustainability bar
with LEED v4
LEED v4 focuses on advancing an even
more sustainable paradigm and aims
to balance the necessary technical
rigour with a market focus to provide
a flexible and effective environmental
assessment methodology that will
facilitate widespread adoption.
Rather than aiming at “less bad”
design, the LEED v4 system asks a
critical question: “What should a LEED
project accomplish?” LEED v4 was
LEED v4 The Next Evolution
for Sustainable Residential Projects in Canada

developed with a set of seven impact categories that
focus on specific social, environmental and economic
goals, tailored to the built environment and targeting
positive outcomes involving:
1. Climate change – reverse contribution to climate
change
2. Human health – enhance human health and well-
being
3. Water resources – protect and restore water
resources
4. Biodiversity – protect biodiversity and ecosystem
services
5. Material resources – promote sustainable and
regenerative resource cycles
6. Green economy – build a greener economy
7. Community – enhance community, social equality,
environmental justice and quality of life
LEED v4 raises the bar for the environmental
performance of housing through adjustments to
the credits and prerequisites and a comprehensive
technical update. Fundamental LEED v4 revisions
include:
• Greater emphasis on a performance-based
approach, including increased stringency
thresholds for energy, water, waste and indoor
environmental air quality.
• A more holistic evaluation of materials using
multiple attributes and approaches such as Life
Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product
Declarations, promoting key next steps to address
the environmental impacts of materials.
• Increased focus on human health, integrative
design, envelope commissioning, biodiversity, the
green economy and community.
To support local delivery of the LEED v4 global
platform of tools and resources, CaGBC develops
Alternative Compliance Paths (ACPs) to provide
Canadian residential project teams with the
flexibility to use locally relevant, equivalent means
of demonstrating compliance to LEED credit
requirements. LEED v4 also provides increased
11

alignment between the rating system structures and
enables Canadian projects to access all 21 of the LEED
v4 rating systems.
Introducing LEED v4.1
LEED v4.1 is a recently announced improvement
focused on the implementation, applicability and
agility of LEED – a next evolution of the rating system
built on lessons learned in the four years since LEED
v4 was released. In the first quarter of 2018, USGBC
will release a draft for LEED v4.1 O+M for review,
followed by BD+C, ID+C, Residential and ND, with
plans to offer a test period for the proposed changes.
During this time, LEED v4 will remain open for use by
all projects.
The goals of the LEED v4.1 update are to:
• Address market barriers and lessons learned from
LEED v4 project teams
• Update performance thresholds and reference
standards
• Expand the marketplace for LEED
• Incorporate performance reporting to improve the
life cycle performance of buildings
With increasing attention on a cleaner
environment, health and well-being, the continually
evolving LEED v4 green building rating system offers
leading-edge value and confidence for clients wanting
the health benefits and cost savings a LEED-certified
home can bring, in a comprehensive sustainability
framework with third-party quality assurance.
Contact us
Learn more about how LEED v4 can strengthen the
business case for your project. CaGBC has developed
a number of education resources to support the
LEED v4 rating systems, as well as a CaGBC LEED v4
webpage. You can also email CaGBC at info@cagbc.
org or contact your local chapter at any time. BB
Thomas Green is Residential Programs Manager
at the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).
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“Just because I was interested
didn’t mean I had the skills to do it
myself,” Wallace says. “The Canada
Green Building Council requires
you to work with someone who is
registered to audit, and that led me to
Clearsphere, where I was connected
with a LEED specialist.”
At Clearsphere, the coordinator
walked him through the various
ways to garner LEED points, from
greywater recycling systems and
zeroscaping, to heavy duty insulation
and vapour barriers. Together, they
were able to sketch the project out as
LEED silver.
There were some items that
Wallace was interested in including,
but was ultimately unable to do.
For example, with a city lot, it’s not
possible to alter the orientation
of the house or to plant a row of
trees along the south edge. Even
installing an electric charging
station is challenging, since each
car manufacturer uses a different
receptacle. And though he initially
looked into greywater systems, it
was a struggle to find plumbers who
could install and maintain one.
Ultimately, he went with “real
izable” goals: upping the house
envelope and installing an ERV
system. One expectation he had
going in was the prospect of too much
humidity, since moisture can’t escape
due to airtight design. When Wallace
and his family moved in, things
started to crack and shrink, so he
called Clearsphere for advice on how to
manage the home’s relative humidity.
On the insulation, they went
“substantially above code” with high
values in the roof, walls, and windows.
“Insulation is a straightforward and
fairly easy add-in for LEED,” Wallace
says. “It’s a little more expensive than
code levels of insulation, but the
payback was pretty easy to calculate.”
Wallace used Roxul on Clear
sphere’s recommendation, as well
as an exterior sheathing product by
BP, called R4 Structural Insulated
Sheathing. “It made a lot of sense
rather than the usual tieback and
second vapour barrier which serves to
create a cavity that collects moisture,”
he says. “This sheathing has a high
vapour permeance which allows the
wall to dry to the outside and ended up
being a great product.”
The HVAC system was more
complicated, Wallace says. The hot
water boiler heats the house with
forced air and a radiant basement floor,
required a whole “wall of plumbing
with miniature pumps all around,”
he recalls. It confounded his very
experienced general contractor, who
had never worked with such a system.
“The upside was being able to get away
from bulkheads, thanks to smaller
ducts required by the system.”
Ultimately, Wallace is satisfied
with the silver certification. He feels
that anything higher, like gold or
platinum, would have been more
difficult because of its “much more
aggressive design standard. I think
silver is attainable – you tweak
and focus on certain things, like
increasing efficiency, without getting
into something far out or hard to
maintain.” BB
Alex Newman is a writer, editor and
researcher at alexnewmanwriter.com.
13
buildernews / ALEX NEWMAN
A
s a mechanical engineer involved in sustainable decommissioning (think
power plants), Kevin Wallace was no stranger to LEED certification. But
when he and his wife purchased her parents’ home in Toronto’s Leaside area
with an eye to razing and building new, he encountered a different side of green.
Going for Silver
46
THIS HOME IS 23% BETTER THAN CODE
61BessboroughDrive,Toronto
RatingDateOctober2,2017
Ultimately, Wallace
went with “realizable”
goals: installing an ERV
system and upping the
house envelope with
high insulation values.

industryexpert / GORD COOKE
A few years ago I, and two other
building science educators, helped
facilitate a series of builder design
charrettes. Each time, about 40
builders were given three days of
comprehensive building science
training that included on-site
investigations, testing, case studies,
building material presentations and
evaluations. The builders, working
in groups of five, were then asked
to apply what they had learned and
experienced to a single-family design
project. They were asked to “build a
house that you would feel good about
building for your favoured clientele.”
Upon completion, while we
evaluated the energy performance
improvements they had made using
HERS software, the builders were
asked to cost out the incremental
costs of their chosen advancements.
It was a surprise, even to us, that
in each group in each of the seven
sessions, the annual energy savings of
their chosen advancements provided
a positive return on investment
against the incremental estimated
construction costs applied to the
mortgage of the house. In other words,
the total annual cost of ownership
for the improved design was always
projected lower than the costs for the
standard, reference design.
Then came an intriguing exercise.
Each team was asked to evaluate or
score their project against a few of
the most common green building
programs, such as LEED for Homes
and the U.S. National Green Building
Standard. In each case, the eight
teams in each of the seven sessions
found that the design elements they
had chosen helped them achieve
at least the middle range, Silver or
Gold, in the program they chose. The
builders, initially skeptical about the
need for green, learned that most of
the common-sense decisions they
felt compelled to make to ensure
a high-performance home were
simultaneously recognized as being
green. Looking at this more closely,
most green programs, in addition to
boosting energy conservation, reward
decisions that improve indoor air
quality, water conservation, material
conservation and sustainability and
overall building durability.
The following are some examples of
elements I learned from these builder
charrettes. We were able to incorporate
many of them in the LEED Platinum
cottage we completed recently.
Start with an obvious win-win:
advanced framing. This means lower
construction costs, improved energy
performance and points within
green building programs. Certainly it
requires design considerations, process
changes and training of framers and
other contractors; however, with the
move in codes to “effective R-value”
recognition, advanced framing is
something that should be on all
builders’ agendas for 2018. In the
cottage construction, the framers
admitted we went a little overboard in
striving for minimized wood use. They
ended up adding back a few elements
around windows and doors for trim
and backing, but overall the walls
were lighter and quicker to build.
Next, the most important to me
as I travel and see the impacts of
improper water management details,
is the recognition in LEED and other
programs for durability measures –
specifically, fully drainable, dryable
building enclosures that include
shingled, lapped house wrap details,
window flashing, sill pan flashing,
head flashings and drip caps over
all windows and doors. In my case, I
am a big fan of a systems approach,
The Green Side of the Cottage
A
few years ago I, and two other building science educators, helped facilitate
a series of builder design charrettes. Each time, about 40 builders were
given three days of comprehensive building science training that included
on-site investigations, testing, case studies, building material presentations and
evaluations. The builders, working in groups of five, were then asked to apply
what they had learned and experienced to a single-family design project. They
were asked to “build a house that you would feel good about building for your
favoured clientele.”
We are on a great path to minimize energy resources
over the next 10 to 12 years. In that same time frame,
there will be increased pressure to optimize water use.

such as provided by the DuPont
Tyvek weatherization system. The
builders in the charrettes chose it
after having seen in the site walks the
potential risks associated with ever
more complicated building enclosure
details, combined with the lowered
drying potential of buildings due to
increased insulation levels. I like the
warranty protection offered by one of
the world’s leading building materials
manufacturers.
Another really simple, cost-
effective decision is to choose
materials that have lower off-gassing
potential to enhance air quality. One
great example is the availability of
high-quality sealants and adhesives,
such as the relatively new LePage
Quad Max window sealant, which
has less than 3% volatile organic
compound content and yet can be
applied down to -18°C in any moisture
condition and provides better
flexibility than any other currently
available. There are similar low-
cost opportunities in paints, sealers
and building materials. It’s time to
re-evaluate your material choices and
add indoor air quality parameters to
your decision matrix.
We are on a great path to minimize
precious energy resources over the
next 10 to 12 years. In that same
time frame, there will be increased
pressure to optimize water use. The
easiest way to start here is by using
reliable and effective ultra low flow
shower heads and dual flush toilets.
I really like the experience of the
Delta H2Okinetic shower heads at
water flow rates of under two gallons
per minute. Then, in the cottage,
we installed a 4,000 litre rain water
cistern to flush toilets and water the
grass. While the cistern itself was less
than $1,000, the pump and controls
needed to satisfy the municipal water
works needs for pressure control
and backflow potential cost us many
thousands more – a decision I wouldn’t
recommend for mainstream housing.
In my opinion, the newly available
packaged greywater systems will be
a much more cost-effective way to
minimize the single largest use of
water in most homes by using waste
water to flush the toilets.
These were but a few of the 30 or so
decisions we considered in designing
and building the cottage. In that effort,
we used the same philosophy that the
builders in the design charrettes used.
Rather than “chasing” green points,
stars, bars or colours, we used the
helpful, well-researched resources and
checklists available from programs
such as LEED for Homes to help make
informed, cost-effective decisions.
Those resources, combined with
now over 40 years of building science
research found in programs such
as R-2000 and ENERGY STAR, can
help you build healthier, safer, more
comfortable, more durable and indeed
more cost-effective homes for your
buyers. Then go ahead and score your
homes against the green building
program of your choice, and you will
find they will reward you with useful
recognition of your decisions. BB
Gord Cooke is president of
Building Knowledge Canada.
15
Left: Advanced framing with studs on a
24" centre yields a higher effective R-value.
Right: When flashing windows, house wrap
improves airtightness and durability.

featurestory / ROB BLACKSTIEN
On the Water
IMAGESBYJOSEURIBE

River City is a prime example of what’s possible in a mid-rise
rfront
R
iver City was a long time in the coming – but
based on the reaction, it was well worth the wait.
Part of the West Don Lands neighbourhood
in Toronto – an 80-acre site bordered by the Don River,
King Street, Parliament Street and the rail line beside
the Gardiner Expressway – River City was developed by
Urban Capital under some very unique circumstances.

The former industrial site was
originally slated for redevelopment in
1987, but the issues piled up and the
site was never developed. Revitalized
in 2006 by Waterfront Toronto, West
Don Lands was envisioned as a
family-friendly, sustainable and well-
designed community. Ultimately,
River City will be a four-phase project,
consisting of almost 1,100 loft-style
condominiums and townhouse
units, and will include street-level
boutiques, stores and restaurants.
Urban Capital development
director Taya Cook explains that
the RFP process through Waterfront
Toronto was quite involved, one
“which we won in 2008 after an
extensive competition involving
18 national and international
developers.”
“The project was subject to a devel
opment agreement with Waterfront
Toronto, and required extensive
co-ordination with Waterfront
Toronto and the adjacent properties
to maintain a seamless connection/
experience in the area,” explains
18
Anna Kazmierska of WSP, who acted as
the LEED consultant for River City.
All projects within West Don Lands
had to meet LEED Gold specs – a big
part of the development’s overall plan
for urban sustainability. Kazmierska
adds that River City was subject to
Waterfront Toronto mandatory green
building requirements, LEED Gold
requirements and Toronto Green
Standard Tier 1/Tier 2 requirements.
The fact that this is a mid-rise was
applauded, given that so many believe
that this housing form makes the most
sense for Toronto from a livability
perspective. “Mid-rise offers many
of the same benefits of a high-rise,
multi-unit residential building – mix
of uses, shared building amenities,
central plant equipment, high density
to support transit nodes – at a more
digestible and community-based
scale,” Kazmierska explains.
One of the unique challenges of this
project, Kazmierska says, is that they
couldn’t build any below-grade parking
because of a flood plain, so River City
“required creative parking solutions.”
For example, the development team
successfully argued to lower the
available parking by 50% from the
zoning by-law requirements, putting
all the parking within an above-grade
structure between the two buildings.
To compensate for the reduced
parking, all new residents of River City
were given a free one-year membership
in a low-emitting car sharing program
available on-site – a move that has
helped reduce greenhouse gas emis
sions. Cook mentions that another
fascinating element of this project
was its relationship to the Don Valley
Parkway on-ramp, one “which the
architecture embraced.”
Kazmierska says that River City
employed a range of energy-efficient
features, such as:
• airtight building and suite design to
reduce air movement between suites
and to reduce energy consumption;
• the reuse of waste heat to pre-heat
incoming ventilation air;
• an accessible green roof (populated
with native and adaptive flora
designed to mitigate the urban heat
Mid-rise housing becomes a role model for sustainable design and development.

island effect and the quantity of
stormwater runoff);
• exceptional indoor air quality from
in-suite ventilation systems;
• a rainwater harvesting system
that reuses rainwater for irrigation
purposes;
• low-flow plumbing fixtures that
will save over 17 million litres of
water per year;
• careful selection of materials and
paints to avoid contaminating
indoor air; and
• in-suite metering of electricity,
water, heating and cooling.
River City marks the first private
sector development in the area,
with the first two phases recently
being recognized as the LEED Gold
finalist in the residential awards by
the Canada Green Building Council
(CaGBC) Greater Toronto Chapter.
When assessing River City, the
CaGBC gave the project 44 of a
possible 70 LEED Gold points. The
points breakdown consisted of:
• 11 of 14 as a sustainable site;
• 3 of 5 for water efficiency;
• 10 of 17 for energy and atmosphere;
• 6 of 14 in materials and resources;
• 10 of 15 for indoor environmental
quality; and
• 4 of 5 for innovation and design
process.
Brian Tysoe, a principal at MCW
Consultants Ltd., and one of the
judges that assessed this project,
was impressed with what was
accomplished. “Urban Capital has
done a commendable job at River
City of integrating architecture and
sustainability into a highly livable,
highly energy-efficient development,”
he says. “With elements such as in-suite
master lighting kill switches, the design
team has placed a high emphasis on
sustainability for this project.”
Urban Capital got its start in 1996
by developing the 48-unit Camden
Lofts project in Toronto’s Fashion
District. The company’s philosophy is
that de-industrialized parts of cities
can come alive again as vibrant urban
centres.
Since that debut project, Urban
Capital has expanded into Ottawa,
Montreal, Winnipeg and Halifax, and
overall has built over 3,500 urban
condominiums, with another 1,000
under construction and several
thousand more in the pipeline. All
told, it accounts for over $2 billion in
development.
The company believes in pushing
the envelope and pioneering high-
end, yet functional, design or green
living. “We try to be on the forefront
of green building, being the first to
introduce residential tri-sorters in our
first project, to developing the three-
phased LEED Gold Central project in
Ottawa, and LEED Gold at River City,”
says Cook.
River City could very well be a
template for how Toronto deals with
sustainable living at a time when
density laws are becoming more
stringent. BB
Rob Blackstien is a Toronto-based
freelance writer. Pen-Ultimate.ca
River City’s medium-density, multi-unit residential design successfully maximizes human scale compared to the city’s high-density, high-rise core.

buildernews / ROB BLACKSTIEN
A
ndrew James’ dream to make
an environmental difference
took many twists and turns
over the years, but it wasn’t until he
got a lecture from a grumpy old man
at a bar that he finally realized what
he needed to do.
A lawyer turned legal writer,
James’ interest in the environment
led him to run as a Green Party
candidate, and it was at a party pub
night that a stranger delivered him a
message that still rings true.
“You’re not doing anything, you’re
never going to get elected, you’re
wasting your time,” an old man that
had wandered into the pub scolded
James. “You want to go out and do
something for the environment? Then
do something! Just don’t talk about it
or get your name on an all-candidates
ballot; that’s not accomplishing a
damn thing.”
The words really hit home for
James. He felt it was hard for him to be
a credible voice for the environment
when he didn’t have hands-on exper
ience in doing something to help it.
The answer, he believed, was
to prove that an existing home
in Toronto could be renovated
affordably, yet still become a model of
energy efficiency.
His efforts in renovating a one-
and-a-half storey wood frame house
built in 1913 on Carlaw Avenue into a
LEED Platinum home – the first such
project in Toronto – earned James a
nod as a finalist for a 2017 Canada
Green Building Council (CaGBC)
Greater Toronto Chapter award in the
residential category.
Not bad for a guy whose previous
building experience came from being
a client of three renovations on his old
homes. Realizing the best way to keep
costs down was to simply act as the
general contractor himself, James did
exhaustive research. And to help guide
him through the process, he partnered
with some experts, including Paul
Caverly (MyHaven GreenVision
Homes) and Clearsphere, which
performs LEED certifications.
In assessing the nominations, the
CaGBC considered several items, most
importantly the following:
• Impact to performance: the sys-
tems used that led to performance
improvements;
• Impact to community: using
systems/approaches that enhance
the local community;
• Impact to occupants: using systems/
approaches that enhance the well-
being of the home owners; and
• Responsible products and
materials: green building
approaches that incorporate
methods and materials that factor
in the local climate conditions.
Rookie of the Year
Lawyer-turned-contractor’s debut project was the
The rear addition’s high performance windows, in concert with
shade from overhangs, reduce demand on air conditioning.

Brian Tysoe, a principal at MCW
Consultants Ltd. and an award judge,
explained what impressed him about
the project. “While the pace of new
construction in Toronto is extremely
high, at the root of it, Toronto is a
city of existing buildings,” he says.
“Achieving a HERS rating of 9 on an
existing building is a very impressive
accomplishment. Other home owners
in the neighbourhood, and in the city
at large, should be encouraged and
motivated by what has been done at
887 Carlaw.”
Given the ultimate results – a
HERS rating 85% better than Code
and an EnerGuide rating of 88 – an
argument could be made that this
project deserved to win. It was
certainly the most novel, given that
it broke new ground as the city’s first
residential LEED Platinum project.
James had a goal to create a
prototype, from an energy efficiency
perspective, of what we need to do
with the housing stock in Toronto, and
he successfully proved it is possible
to take an existing home and make it
highly energy efficient – in a relatively
affordable manner to boot.
This house could very well be a
blueprint for what we have to do to make
housing sustainable in the long term.
“Building a green house wasn’t going
to save the planet all by itself,” James
says. “The house had to be a model for
how other middle-class home owners
could renovate their own houses.”
Needless to say, achieving this
proved a challenge. For instance,
James says “air sealing tightness and
making cavities for standard size
insulation batts is complicated by
the fact that you’re constantly trying
to match old and new construction
material sizes. In 1913, 2x4s really
were 2x4s.” As a result, he says, much
more extensive laser light testing of
the stud alignment and batt cutting
was required to ensure the energy
performance objectives were met.
Another big challenge was trying
to maximize the amount of roof area
for solar panels while minimizing the
shade on them. James says they spent
hours planning around the many
plumbing and radon vents and two sun
tunnels.
He says that stacking all the “water
rooms” (bathrooms, kitchen and
second floor laundry) to minimize
hot water pipe run was also more
complicated in a renovation. The
solution was to shift all this piping to
the three-storey addition at the back of
the house.
While he had to fire a few people
along the way in his quest to ensure
things were done exactly up to snuff,
James is also quick to give credit to
some of his key partners that stayed
the course. “I wasn’t working in a
vacuum. Let me make that clear – I
could not have done it without Paul,”
he says. “He’s a legend. He’s one of the
original green builders in Toronto,
going back 10 to 20 years ago.”
For his part, Caverly is equally
complimentary of James. “We knew
it was going to be challenging, but
having the owner so invested in the
process made it easier.”
Caverly says the process of making
this home so energy efficient was
highly involved, including: furring
out the existing 2x4 walls to accept 5.5
inches of Roxul R-24 batt insulation;
installing plywood sheathing over
existing one-inch lumber so a liquid
air barrier could be installed before
doing the outsulation and stucco
(a system, he says, that enhanced
the effective insulation values by
providing a thermal break outside the
structure); installing Certainteed’s
breathable vapour/air barrier on the
interior; installing a Tyvec air barrier
over the new part of the roof insulation
before installing the vented purlins;
extending a liquid-applied air barrier
on the exterior to meet the Tyvek air
barrier at the roof and to meet the
21
first LEED Platinum residential renovation in Toronto
09
THIS HOME IS 85% BETTER THAN CODE
887CarlawAve.,Toronto,ON
RatingDateAugust10,2017
An impressive outcome — near net zero
on a renovation with a HERS rating of 9.

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22
two-pound spray foam they used in
the existing vaulted roof area; giving
special attention to air sealing of
outside walls before they installed
any bulkheads and chases; and using
R-10 insulation under slab on grade.
James says he’d like to build
another house in the future, but
it’s not a fait accompli that this will
happen. Nevertheless, he admits “that
would be really sad if I took all this
knowledge I gained and I never built
another house.”
If nothing else, he certainly
learned a lot about what is realistic
given the costs involved, and he
doesn’t mince his words when
describing the situation. “I believe
there’s a crisis of costs in renovations
in this city, and if we’re trying to green
the existing Toronto housing stock,
that’s a big [freaking] issue,” he says.
Other energy-efficient features of
the project include:
• To recover heat and moisture for all
the bathrooms, an exhaust-ducted
ERV with local timers and smart
controls was installed;
• To provide natural light during the
day, a skylight and two sun tunnels
were installed; and
• All appliances in the home are
ENERGY STAR certified.
Whether we should pay heed to
grumpy old men in bars remains in
doubt, but to his credit, James certainly
put his money where his mouth is. BB
Rob Blackstien is a Toronto-based
freelance writer. Pen-Ultimate.ca
The house’s renovation design maximized
the south roof area for PV solar arrays.

Barrie, GTA West, GTA North
Eric Byle | 416-937-8793
Toronto East
Al Crost | 416-676-0168
Available to water heater customers whose equipment is not operational (i.e. no hot water)

A Green Rater
A valuable resource in making a project successful
COMPARISON CHART FOR HOME LABELLING
ENERGY
PATHS
ENERGY
RATING
SOFTWARE
RENEW-
ABLES
WATER
THIRD
PARTY
TESTED
IDP
EASE
OF
USE
LABEL
AT
CLOSING
COSTS
Performance RemRate (HERS) Y
HERS
H2O
Y Y Y Y
No Reg
Rate =
400-500
Performance
Hot2000
(EnerGuide)
Y N Y N Y Y
Reg = 125
Rate = 300
Total = 425
Prescriptive
performance
Hot2000
(EnerGuide)
N N Y N Y Y
Reg = 125
Rate = 500
Total = 625
Prescriptive
performance
Hot2000
(EnerGuide)
RemRate (HERS)
Y Y Y Y N N
Version 4.1
reduces
fees
Performance
Hot2000
(EnerGuide)
Y
(not verified)
Y
(not verified)
N N N N
Reg = 250
Rate = 300
Total = 550
Performance
Hot2000
(EnerGuide)
N N Y Y N N
Reg = 225
Rate = 750
Total = 925
2017 OBC
Prescriptive
performance
Approved
software
(A.3.1.2.1)
— —
Required
for some
compliance
options
Y — —
Labeling
is NOT
required
• Helps projects navigate the LEED
process and requirements, offering
clarification and additional
information (for example, offering
advice on proper features for good
Radon sealing when protecting
foundations from sub-soil gasses)
• Completes visual inspections and
reviews support documentation
to ensure all credits are verified
(for example, completing required
inspections for insulation during
construction and final inspections
upon completion),
• Collects documentation and
required signatures from the
project team, often the builder or
architect, and compiles them into
a package for submission which is
submitted to CaGBC at time of final
Certification.
• Signs off on the LEED project as
compliant with the standard before
quality assurance and auditing
by the Provider and CaGBC (for
example, Green Raters must approve
a project as compliant and meeting
the certification levels before a
project is submitted for certification).
A good Green Rater will not act as
the “Green Police” on a LEED Canada
for Homes job site but as an educator
and resource for project teams to use
as they move through construction
and certification. Current Green Raters
come from a variety of backgrounds but
they will have experience in residential
construction and high-performance,
sustainable building practices. Some are
technologists or engineers, often with
a background in EnerGuide, HERS or
other rating systems. Often Green Raters
have additional credentials as Certified
Energy Advisors, certified HERS raters
with EnerGuide, ventilation training
through HRAI and additional building
science or building investigation
training. They have valuable experi
ence with LEED and energy-efficient
building techniques and they can be
of considerable help to project teams
working toward LEED certification. BB
industryexpert / BETTER BUILDER STAFF

After returning to Canada, Lapidus
started a renovating business, focused
on green construction, but also
“flipping” – buying, fixing and selling
a house – “until it didn’t make sense
financially to do so,” he says. Not
interested in quick cosmetic updating,
and preferring instead to thoroughly
renovate for full functioning and
energy efficiency, he found it hard to
make a profit in today’s hot market.
Lapidus turned his full attention
to green renovating of single-family
detached homes and semis, but also
condos. He’s found that home owners
of both old and new condos are looking
to incorporate upgrades that weren’t
available at the time from the builder,
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
… and Renovate
sitespecific / ALEX NEWMAN
Sam Lapidus
26
and to reconfigure the space to suit
their individual needs better.
There are increasingly more clients
interested in going the sustainable
route, even when they have to pay
more for it. And among these clients,
there are two distinct groups: the
first group is keen to reduce their
construction waste and the second is
willing to recycle as much as possible.
“They want to reduce their footprint,
so we discuss how to get less of this
disposal into the waste pile and more
into the recycling pile, and we look
at alternative ways to dissemble this
house – or interior of a condo – in order
to divert some waste to recycling.”
There’s Habitat for Humanity and
Restore, which takes kitchen cabinets
and building materials, but there’s
also furniture banks for those items
that won’t fit with the new look and
would otherwise go into the dumpster,
Lapidus says.
Next is making a concentrated
effort to reduce construction waste,
which Lapidus says is entirely possible
through planning – for example, tile
can be cut to waste little if it’s stepped
S
am Lapidus hadn’t meant to
get into construction. After
finishing his bachelor’s degree
in analytical marketing at Florida
International University (Miami), he
worked in pharmaceutical financial
model building, then returned to
school to do an MBA with a focus on
retail and commercial development.
One of the MBA requirements was
to take a class unrelated to his main
degree focus of Far East trade. From
that came a final research paper,
“Environmental Sustainability in
Canada’s Real Estate Development
Industry.”
“For the research, I had to take
real estate law as well, got hooked and
changed direction,” says the 39-year-
old Toronto renovator, who currently
chairs the renovator and custom
home builder council for the Building
Industry and Land Development
Association (BILD).
At the time he was doing his
master’s degree, in 2007 and 2008,
green was a “hot item,” he says. “I
learned [while writing the paper on
the Canadian construction industry]
what was coming down the pipe. On
the government side, there would
be controls such as carbon tax. I saw
this as an opportunity in terms of
employment, that returning home to
Canada I would have this research
paper to support my understanding.”
The paper, he says, used German
and Austrian building practices
as a co-operative model, and then
compared the Canadian Green
Building Council’s LEED programs
with that of the European ASHRAE
metrics program.
Lapidus has found that
home owners of both
old and new condos are
looking to incorporate
upgrades that weren’t
available at the time
from the builder.

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out in advance. When it comes to
building materials themselves, there
are more and more products available
thanks to technological advances in
producing them – some are recycled
materials and others, like forest
sustainable wood product, are a
given, he says. He also uses materials
like glues and caulking that are not
only lower in VOCs, but can also be
post-consumer recycled.
Most home owners are willing to
pay up to 1% more to reduce waste
and to upgrade to sustainable brands,
but if you’re doing the entire house in
a sustainable way, the cost is closer to
20%, Lapidus says.
“That’s hard no matter how
committed the home owner is to the
concept. This is when I pull out the
calculator to see the expense and the
payback period, and we weigh the pros
and cons. They may not be ready for
greywater, but can we put the pipes in
the wall for when you are? The same
for solar panels, electric car charging,
and anything else. It will always sell as
a feature down the road.”
Lapidus finds that many younger
clients, especially if they have kids or
are planning on having them, “want to
touch sustainability, and are willing to
add a few percentage points.”
For the 20% upsell commitment,
the demographic is a little older –
60-plus, environmentally aware, with
more money to support their convic
tions. He has one client, a couple who
want to share the home with their son
and his family, but “mom and dad are
driving the changes: a cistern in back,
greywater, automation to reduce elec-
trical load and gas usage.” Clients like
these are educated and well rounded,
and they’re “looking to give back and
be careful in a meaningful way.”
Lapidus doesn’t want to give the
impression that the sustainable way
forward is only up to home owners.
“It’s not just the responsibility of home
owners to reduce waste. Builders and
developers need to start thinking this
way too, because at the end of the day,
our industry has to deal with waste.
40% of what’s in the landfill comes
from construction waste.” BB
Alex Newman is a writer, editor and
researcher at alexnewmanwriter.com.
Services
Green Building Consultants
LEED Canada, ENERGY STAR® and R-2000 for Homes
GreenHouse™ Certiﬁed Construction
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John B Godden B.E.S.
Recipient of CaGBC Green Building Champion Award 2010
Clearsphere is a division
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& Construction
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info@clearsphere.ca www.clearsphere.ca416 481 4218

29BETTERBUILDER.CA | ISSUE 25 | SPRING 2018
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45
HOMEADDRESS
123 Stone Street, Toronto, ON M6K 2T0
RATINGDATE
July 23, 2015

fromthegroundup / DOUG TARRY
After our Project HOPE last June,
I was asked many times if we were
planning a follow-up build. To be
honest, I just wanted to catch my
breath after a long year of working on
HOPE. But after Maria hit, I was asked
by my friend Juan Pablo Hernandez
about coming to Puerto Rico to help
the victims. I felt compelled to go
and bring them HOPE! Our mission
was planned for late November to
assess the damage and get a better
understanding of what we needed to
know to plan a relief mission.
My buddy Scott Davis joined the
mission a week before we left. As a
restoration specialist, Scott brought a
great deal of experience in restoring
homes after disasters hit. Our team
was set and it was time to begin our
mission of HOPE AGUA VITA.
The first thing we noticed flying
into San Juan was the contrast between
the lush green of the nearby mountains
and the blue tarps on so many roofs.
As a builder that understands building
science, I had a very good idea of the
damage these tarps represented – both
to the crippled structure and to the
shattered lives of the people who called
these buildings home.
I was wrong – it was far worse than I
imagined. From driving through large
city intersections with no working
lights, to the darkness as we drove
along the highway, the island was eerily
dark, as if we had stepped back in time.
Arriving in Morovis, we explored
the centre of town. Again the contrast
between beauty and damage was
abundant. Finding a community
garden on an abandoned lot, we
Climate Change
and More Durable
F
or anyone out there in the climate change denial camp, let me offer you an
open invitation to join us on a rebuild mission in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico.
Three major hurricanes ripped through the Caribbean last September,
including Hurricane Maria, a Category Five monster which hit this area directly
and caused catastrophic damage.
Lessons from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico (Part 1)

came across monarch butterflies
and caterpillars – such a symbol of
renewal. In the background, there
was the sound of generators. At lunch
I realized what was wrong with the
scene: there was no music. None! The
sounds of the Caribbean had been
replaced by the sounds of generators.
As we studied the faces of the
residents, it became very clear that
Puerto Ricans are a proud people, but
they are sad, and they are worried
for their future. Our mission is one of
HOPE. To help people to stand proud
and regain a sense of security. To give
them HOPE for their future and their
children. To bring back the music.
And that meant it was time to head for
our ground zero: San Lorenzo.
Arriving at San Lorenzo was
literally a leap of faith. The bridge
across the river was gone, so the only
way in was to drive through the river.
The back way was a three-hour drive
through the mountains. As the people
of San Lorenzo had to do this daily,
there was nothing to do but put aside
our fear and cross the river. Once
you’ve done it, it’s not that bad.
During our time in San Lorenzo,
we constantly had one eye on the
mountains, watching for rain. We
had been very clearly briefed that if
it started to rain, we would have 15
minutes to get back across or stay until
the river was passable again.
Norma, a retired school teacher,
was our contact for the village. She had
arranged for many of the residents to
meet us at the school. It took a while
for us to explain our mission of HOPE.
Once I stepped to the white board and
drew for them what had happened to
their roofs, and how we could rebuild
their homes to make them stronger
and more durable, their guard came
down and they engaged passionately
in our conversation. We asked for a
31
Housing
Far left: Widespread damage from hurricane
Maria. Above: When a roof is compromised,
any interior surface grows mold — often toxic.

On the final day, we had a review
meeting with the community. We
taught them about mould and reme
diation, malaria and standing water,
cholera and the need to compost their
organics. Since there was no garbage
pickup, we explained why they needed
to split their garbage into wood, metal,
junk, organic and plastics. We asked
that they begin this immediately
before disease begins to kill people.
We must go back to help give them
HOPE: water, energy, health and safe
buildings that will withstand the next
hurricane. The list is very long and
time is so short. We need volunteers
and we need funding.
For more information, go to www.
hopeaguavita.com or facebook.com/
HOPEAGUAVITA.
Our fundraising efforts can
be supported at GoFundMe.com/
HOPEAGUAVITA. BB
Doug Tarry Jr is director of marketing at
Doug Tarry Homes in St. Thomas, Ontario.
32
few residents to volunteer to help us
assess the damage to the town.
The next morning, we met our
volunteers. We asked why there were
no street names. They said the streets
have no names, but they wished to
name them after Canada, as we had
come from Canada to help.
We began at the school. One build
ing had the roof completely destroyed.
It had contained the classrooms for
music, science, English and IT.
The school, like the village, did not
have electricity. The greenhouse was
damaged and there was no money
for a new mesh cover or even seeds.
We learned that the science class
had never even had a microscope or
chemistry set. The students were let go
early each day as there was no drinking
water for them. We adopted the school
and are going back to help save it.
After the school, we began a house-
by-house assessment. The very first
home was fully contaminated with
deadly toxic mould – some of the
worst I’ve ever seen! The home owner
was still living there. The second home
had lost its roof and was also fully
contaminated.
We showed our team how to flag
each home with a number in chalk
on the front of the home and take a
photo for reference. The symbolism
of chalking homes was deeply
disheartening, especially when we
would come across a home that could
not be saved. That was the saddest
of all. Only the more well off had
generators; the majority lived in total
darkness until sunrise. Mothers would
begin crying when the sun goes down,
fearful for their babies in the darkness.
I can’t even imagine. We came to
understand that they were suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Arriving at San Lorenzo
was literally a leap of
faith. The bridge across
the river was gone, so
the only way in was to
drive through the river.
A typical scene, damaged bridges
hampered aid and rebuilding
efforts in remote areas.

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Better Builder Magazine, Issue 25 / Spring 2018

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Better Builder Magazine, Issue 25 / Spring 2018