Canadian Teams Place in "Top 10" at Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C.
The Solar Decathlon is one of the highest-profile international events showcasing the best and brightest ideas in solar energy, energy-efficiency and home design. This year, two Canadian teams placed among the Top 10 at this prestigious event, with their innovative visions for homes that are liveable, energy-efficient and powered solely by solar energy.
The annual Decathlon invites college and university students to design, build and operate solar-powered homes that are both attractive and energy-efficient. The student teams compete in 10 contests ranging from Architecture and Engineering to Market Viability. The entries are then judged by an independent panel of academics and industry experts, and the homes are put on display for the general public at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
This year's Decathlon took place from October 8 to 21, 2009, and attracted close to 200,000 visitors as well as significant media attention. Canada's Team Ontario/BC (or "Team North") placed a remarkable fourth out of the 20 teams who competed at the event.
The team, which included students from the University of Waterloo, Ryerson University and Simon Fraser University, designed its "North House" to reflect the extreme climate variations that are part of life in Canada's north. Among other features, the home was built with floor-to-ceiling windows framed by photovoltaic panels on each of its south, east and west sides. This allows occupants to remain comfortable while conserving energy on both the hottest summer days and coldest winter nights.
Team Alberta - which included students from SAIT Polytechnic, Mount Royal College, the Alberta College of Art + Design and the University of Calgary - earned a sixth-place finish for their "SolAbode" home. SolAbode combines traditional, "post and beam" Western Canadian architecture with all the latest high-tech systems and features. The home also packs a lot of living space into a relatively small envelope, including a vaulted-ceiling living room and kitchen area, a home office, a rooftop deck and even a small yoga studio.
Thanks to the support of Canada Mortgage and Housing, Team North also recently won first place at the Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture. This $50,000 award will enable the team to travel the world, sharing their innovative design and Canadian building technologies with an international audience in such countries as Japan, Iceland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
Both the North House and SolAbode will be on display in Vancouver during the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in February. To find out more about the Solar Decathlon and the two winning Canadian entries, visit the event website at www.solardecathlon.org or read the teams' own stories at www.team-north.com and www.solabode.ca.
Aerial View of Solar Decathlon
North House at Night
SolAbode House
North House Interior
THE ‘IDEA’ BUILDERS
Case studies in innovative housing solutions
For its sheer ingenuity and resourcefulness despite a tough economy, you could say that today’s building market is standing on the threshold of a Renaissance. From foundations and frames to finishing touches, building systems are at last becoming environmentally sustainable, and there are more hyper-efficient, cost-saving DIY solutions than ever, giving builders the freedom and creativity to accomplish virtually any project they can dream up.
In addition to the challenges of extreme geography and weather (temperatures range from 95 F in hot, humid summers to - 40 in wind-driven, icy winters), the Canadian housing industry faces one of the strictest building codes in the world.
But with great challenges come great innovations, and through years of research and experience, the Canadian housing industry has developed housing systems and associated building products that are durable, cost-effective and adaptable to diverse environments and locations.
Canada is also a pioneer in Healthy Housing™ practices, which focus on building safe, comfortable homes that meet high standards for occupant health, energy efficiency, resource efficiency, environmental responsibility and affordability.
We spoke with the stakeholders of six of Canada’s most successful building product exporters to learn how they carved out their niches, the challenges they faced along the way and how their innovative ideas are changing the way we build.
Two of them are featured below. To see the others previously featured click here.
Identifying a need
Understanding that concrete homes were more energy efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly than wood-frame homes, the founder of our company sought to develop a high-performing, user-friendly ICF system. The problems at the time were that ICFs were time consuming to assemble, required extra attention when pouring concrete to avoid form failure or "blow-outs" and created extra construction waste. We designed our forms to eliminate these problems, making them stronger and easier to install with less than 1% construction waste.
Development/market challenges
New building systems require substantial education and training on the advantages of the product. While initial costs may seem to run higher than traditional building products, when one compares the entire system's 5-in-1 construction (wall structure, insulation, framing vapor and air barrier), the overall benefit is significant. So the company developed an AIA (American Institute of Architects) training unit to help educate architects, engineers and building contractors. We also developed in-house, on-site and online technical support for our products and services.
Product innovations
The patented interlock system (FormLock) provides a one-inch deep reversible interlock system that requires less time to stack and provides a tighter interlock, which makes the construction and concrete pour processes run smoother and with less chance of failure. The web design and spacing, which is made of 100% recycled post-industrial polypropylene, ensures the strongest, most environmentally friendly and easiest-to-assemble ICF block in the industry.
Target buyers
We market our products to custom home builders, commercial contractors and building owners who are looking for energy-efficient, sustainable building products. The product is sold worldwide, with emphasis on North America.
Market performance
While Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) started out as stay-in-place concrete forms for residential basements and foundations, they are commonly used today for the entire building wall system for both residential and commercial construction. With the movement to sustainable, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient building products, ICFs are gaining a greater share of the market in all areas of building construction projects. While 60% of ICFs go toward residential construction, there is a growing demand for use of ICFs in nursing homes, schools, hotels and commercial properties of all kinds.
Looking to the future
For us, it's important that we always have the correct distribution channels in place so that we can serve the growing market for ICFs. Amvic is committed to developing the strongest ICFs on the market and to advance the home-building process with structures that are both environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Identifying a need
Led by customer demand for sustainable lumber products, Tembec sought to implement the highest forest management standards which led to our association with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). This has proven to be a wise decision considering that the value of "Green Building" projects is slated to grow from $12 billion in 2008 to a projected $60 billion in 2010. This growth will be driven by an unprecedented level of government initiatives, a heightened consumer demand for green construction.
Development/market challenges
As demand increases, Tembec has been working hard to expand and improve the supply chain required to best serve the market. We are refining the distribution processes with the help of a growing list of Chain of Custody partners.
Product innovations
Dimensional softwood lumber, which has long been viewed as a raw commodity, has been undergoing several changes in the marketplace. One of the most important is the greater demand for quality. Tembec, with its high fiber quality and FSC certification creates what we think is a positive value proposition for our customers - we're an important part of a "good corporate citizen" strategy. Dealers and builders also like that we contribute points to LEED certification of green buildings.
Target buyer
Tembec lumber is currently sold throughout a broad base of retail and wholesale distributors. We are successful with the box-store type retailers as well as the more traditional "pro-oriented" lumber dealers.
Tembec's FSC-certified dimensional lumber is typically used for the construction and renovation of single-family homes and also framed mid-rise buildings. We offer a range of grades in all standard sizes. Also, our products have been specified and used in several high-profile sustainable building projects, for example the 2010 Olympic speed skating venue in Vancouver.
Market performance
The growing popularity of the green building initiative has been great. Because FSC-certified lumber is accepted in all LEED projects, our products are growing in demand. Simply put, FSC lumber is the most environmentally friendly lumber you can buy.
Looking to the future
We see the move to better quality and improved environmental performance continuing. As the housing markets begin to recover, there will be more opportunities for builders focusing on construction of sustainable buildings and housing communities - projects designed, built and operated with a lower environmental impact or "footprint". As awareness grows, Tembec feels well positioned to become a supplier of choice for builders and consumers.
The Sustainable Condo has been redesigned by Barbara Nyke of NIKKA DESIGN, a full-service interior decorating and eco interior design firm. The redesign is a full make-over.
NIKKA DESIGN has been quite busy sourcing local green manufacturers such as Antica Tile and Stone, which repurposes off-cuts from marble and then designs them into one-of-a-kind grande foyer mosaic entrance areas!
We will be following the renovation closely over the next few weeks and posting the latest design updates taking place!
