EQuilibrium Sustainable Housing Project – Harmony House – Building a Better Community!

EQuilibrium Sustainable Housing Project – Harmony House – Building a Better Community!

 

The Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) created the EQuilibrium project – a national sustainable housing demonstration initiative.  The West Coast Harmony House located in Burnaby, B.C. is an award winning entrant in the project – and joins the other eight EQuilibrium Project homes across Canada in educating the surrounding communities of opportunities to live greener and cleaner. 

 

As a net zero energy efficient home, the Harmony House in Burnaby generates as much energy each year as it produces. Although it is connected to the power “grid” the home draws no power, but rather sells its excess energy, generated predominantly from solar and wind means, back to the utility.  The Harmony House is also designed to be a zero carbon building so there are no greenhouse gas emissions from heating, cooling, hot water and the use of electrical appliances.  The energy features are shown in the picture – please click the links to see the day and night energy flows during the summer and winter.

 

I recently had the opportunity to tour the home and speak with the owner (who was excited to be moving in the following week!) and he indicated it was a very gratifying project.  As a massage therapist interested in natural healing, he had a profound appreciation for the low-to-no chemical emissions from materials used in the home, including paint (no VOC), flooring and furnishings.  The use of low-toxicity materials, water conservation (yes, there are rain barrels) and recycling of materials used in the building and design have created a home that not only is beautiful – but that truly adds to the betterment of the community. 

 

 

There were many folks in the home when I was on tour, so unfortunately my pictures do not do it justice.  I encourage you to check out BC Hydro’sarticle and photo’s of the property.

Key to meeting the net-zero energy use goal was the investment in the building envelope. 80% of the energy efficiencies were gained with this 20% investment – airtight construction with a great ventilation system. Passive solar design carries 20% of the heating load. Energy loads were also reduced in lighting, through the use of super-efficient heating and appliances.  Triple-glazed windows are a feature that many homes can implement to gain immediate energy savings.

 

The Harmony House was built for approximately $250/sq ft, which is approx 20% extra cost over a typical build in the area (~$200 sq ft). Although in B.C. we enjoy a generally low cost of energy ($.08/kWh) the costs of building the Harmony House are recoverable and demonstrate an attractive return on investment and improved quality of life.

 

For a complete list of all companies sponsoring and supplying to the Harmony House EQuilibrium project in Burnaby, B.C., or for further information regarding the project, please visit the CMHC Harmony House website.