PROMOTING THE PARADE — Cont’d from page 13
BUILDERS HAVE EMBRACED NEW TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND MATERIALS, AS WELL AS ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
This 2009 KDR Homes show home was the first Parade entry with a $1-million-plus price tag.
After the iPhone was introduced in 2007, “there’s an app for that” became part of the lexicon. Four years later, Quick Response codes became a feature of the Parade magazine and home automation grew faster than you can say, ‘Open the pod bay door, Alexa.’
Builders have embraced new technology to improve construction methods and materials, as well as energy efficiency.
In 1999, a Manitoba Hydro advertisement noted there were two R-2000 show homes, from Prego Builders and Milne Homes, in the Fall Parade of Homes. Nine years later, 30 show homes met gold or silver standards for Hydro’s Power Smart New Home program, and just last fall, about 20 MHBA members took part in a net-zero builder certification course. The Canadian Energy Alliance Association rated Manitoba No. 1 in energy efficiency in
Linden Woods
PHOTO COURTESY OF LADCO COMPANY INC.
2006-07, and the MHBA boasts that homes built in our province continue to be the most efficient in the country. Eco-conscious builders have invested in geothermal heat pump systems, LED lighting and solar panels to demonstrate new technologies in show homes, and they’ve adopted green construction practices. In 2009, Parade magazine stories spotlighted eco-friendly elements including bamboo flooring in a Warkentin Homes show home, and looked at how Qualico was recycling wood waste to use as temporary landscaping chips. Cont’d on page 22
14 Parade of Homes Spring 2018
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