Parade of Homes

Parade of Homes FALL 2015 27 Manufacturers were invited to present in-depth information about shortlisted items and one — the drain water heat re- covery system — will become a building-code requirement for all new homes starting April 1, 2016. during the Fall Parade, Manitoba Hydro is promoting four show homes — three that incorporate a variety of lEEP technologies and one that features natural gas op- tions — with an Energy Innovation Tour. Manitoba Hydro marketing programs specialist Allison lund says information sheets and displays in the homes will highlight the benefits of investing in energy- saving measures. Manitoba's new homes are already among the most energy-efficient homes in Canada. The province was the first to make Heat recovery ven- tilation (Hrv) — which warms incoming air with heat from the outgoing air, increasing air quality and reducing condensation — mandatory in all new homes, and we'll be among the first to re- quire drain water heat recovery systems. lund says the systems will pay for themselves over time, since they can reduce a hot water heater's energy consumption by 25%. "If you've got an electric hot water heating system, which es- sentially every new home in Manitoba does these days, the payback is under seven years." The payback time on more complex systems is difficult to calculate. While the lEEP program helped to offset builder costs — Ow- ens Corning supplied exterior insulation and EcoInnovation Technologies supplied drain water units — it took a bit of ingenuity to incorporate Owens Corning CodeBord exterior insulation systems into an Arlt Homes show home in Bridg- water Trails and a Foxridge Homes model in Sage Creek. For example, attaching stucco required longer fasteners than the norm, and labour was more intensive, and more expensive. But Arlt Homes vice-president Ja- son Arlt and Qualico production manager dale verville say it was worth the effort to test-drive lEEP ideas. "Our projections are that this house should be super efficient," Arlt says. "We're very excited because it's go- ing to be a show home for a year to see how it performs, but it's defi- nitely unique and it's not that com- mon, especially in new construction. "It's hard to assess if people are going to see value in it. yes, it's energy efficient but there's definitely a cost to it so for the right client this could be a perfect fit, but I would not say that it's a mainstream thing just yet. We're hoping to make it a little more mainstream by showing it out there and by talk- ing to people about it." 'If you've got an electric hot water heating system, which essentially every new home in Manitoba does these days, the payback is under seven years' Cont'd on page 28 left: furnasman new homes plumbing manager Jeff sheldon PHOTO: dArCy FInlEy

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