SAB Homes is Here
According to research conducted by the Toronto-based design consultancy ‘Work Worth Doing’ , 16% of Canada’s total GHG emissions come from residential buildings, with the percentage in large urban areas being significantly higher.
There have been many programs over the years that have focused on improving energy conservation – R 2000, Power Smart, Energy Star – each of which has helped to keep the baseline of performance ahead of the minimum requirements of the building code.
While CMHC’s EQuilibrium Initiative, with its emphasis on net-zero energy performance, might appear to have the same singular focus, the various teams involved in the housing projects have taken an integrated approach that embraces resource use, indoor environmental quality, and water conservation among others.
Experimental though these houses may be, they will contribute to the creation of a new knowledge base, and establish new and higher standards of performance to which homeowners and the housing industry will soon aspire.
The CaGBC’s launch of LEED for Homes in March will soon add a standardized national rating system [to regional ones currently in place] against which the performance of housing projects can be measured and compared. The hope of both CMHC and CaGBC is that these initiatives will increase awareness and catalyze change in the housing industry similar to what has occurred in other sectors over the past five years or so.
It is in this context that the publisher of SABMag is launching sister publication SAB Homes, the first issue appearing in June. Aimed at builders and those design professionals specializing in small- and medium-scale residential design, SAB Homes will offer project profiles, technical articles and other features that will address the challenges and opportunities of sustainable design that are most closely related to small Canadian residential projects.
Informative, inspirational and interactive, SAB Homes will be a worthwhile resource. See the notice in the SAB News section that follows on how to get your copy.
Jim Taggart, MRAIC
Editor