Construction and Demolition Case Study

CANMET Advanced Houses Program

Table of Contents

1. Purpose and Background
2. British Columbia Advanced House
3. EnviroHome
4. Kitchener-Waterloo Home
5. Innova House
6. Manitoba Advanced House
7. Hamilton Neat Advanced House
8. Saskatchewan Advanced House
9. Conclusion

Purpose

The Canada Center for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET) Advanced Houses Program shows how to reduce waste by using recycled-content building materials and by practicing resource-efficient construction and demolition methods. This study can inform the California building industry about ways to reduce waste generation in building and construction practices.

Background

In 1992, CANMET, the main governmental research and technology development arm of Energy, Mines and Resources Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Home Builders Association, challenged the building industry to design and build houses that promoted energy efficiency and environmental responsibility. This challenge took shape as the National Advanced Houses Competition.

Under the Advanced Houses Program, 10 prototype homes, all winners of a national design competition, were constructed across Canada. Thanks to an impressive array of new ideas, concepts and product prototypes, each home pushed the limits of building technology to meet the program’s rigorous technical requirements.

Program Goals
To capture the imagination and enthusiastic support of the entire building industry, CANMET Advanced Houses Program asked for team participation by builders, architects, designers, engineers, manufacturers, researchers, utility specialists, local home builders associations, and local government agencies.

Technical Requirements
Each "advanced house" presented a unique response to the challenges facing the housing industry as outlined in these technical requirements:

• Total purchased energy consumption was only 25 percent of a conventional house.
• Environmental management requirements consisted of 50 percent water reduction; environmentally friendly products; recycling facilities indoors; recycled materials; no chlorofluorocarbons (CFC); and a construction waste management plan that reduced approximately 2.6 tons of waste that conventional houses sent to landfills.
• Each house had to meet requirements regarding indoor air quality, healthy materials, noise limits, humidity control, and room-by-room ventilation.

Conclusion

CANMET’s Advanced Homes Program and the homes built under this program have successfully demonstrated both innovative methods for reducing energy consumption and reducing the impact of housing construction on the environment.

This success of this effort is due to the involvement and commitment of a broad range of members of the construction industry, including builders, architects, designers, engineers, manufacturers, researchers, utilities, and local home builders associations as well as local and provincial governments.

All of the demonstration homes were sold to the public and are now occupied by homeowners. After a year of monitoring for performance, there were no problems found in the homes. These demonstration homes serve to develop new products and educate developers, builders, and the public on how homes can be built to conserve resources and with minimal environmental impacts.

More Information:

CANMET Building Group
580 Booth Street, 13th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0E4
Fax: (613) 996-9416

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Last updated: June 22, 2009