The Journey Official Launch IDC Ground Breaking
Construction Demonstration Monitoring
The rising costs of energy, the need to preserve the environment and the desire to promote a healthy lifestyle all led to the creation of AlternaHome Solutions Inc. Similar values and concerns led to the creation of Vision Land Development Ltd. These two companies embraced CMHC`s EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative and when Phase 2 was launched in 2008, AlternaHome Solutions and Vision Land Development decided to partner together in this worthy initiative.
The result of this partnership is the design of the Moncton VISION Home, which will be a new, two-storey detached home located in the new Vision Land community in the center of Moncton, NB. The master plan for this new community features "earth friendly" best practices including preservation of natural features (e.g. environmental corridors, urban forests), on-site storm water management and a series of villages based around a high density centre offering amenities, traffic calming strategies, and walking and bicycling trails. Set within this community, the Moncton VISION Home is designed as a 217 m2 (2,366 sq.ft) residence with an attached garage, which takes advantage of a passive solar design and makes use of renewable energy technologies such as PV solar panels, Solar Hot Water and Geothermal heating.
February 13, 2009 - The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada an Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced that a Moncton builder and developer team led by AlternaHome Solutions Inc. has been chosen to build one of the three new EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative homes.
The official launch to the Moncton Vision Home Project was held in the lobby of Moncton City Hall on February 13th, 2009. "The Government of Canada is proud to work with Moncton's builder and developer team to extend the EQuilibrium™ initiative to Atlantic Canada," said M.P. Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, on behalf of Minister Finely. "As a champion of sustainable housing, the Moncton VISION Home team, and the other builder teams participating in the EQuilibrium™ initiative, are putting their expertise to work for the benefit of Canadians and providing a blueprint for the next generation of sustainable housing in Canada."
Integrated Design Charrette (IDC)
March 11-12, 2009 - An Integrated Design Charrette was held in Moncton to present, discuss and finalize the design of the Moncton VISION Home. In addition to the project team, the IDC brought together representatives from CMHC, the City of Moncton, the Université de Moncton, the Moncton Campus of the New Brunswick Community College, Efficiency NB, NBPower as well as architectural designers, environmental specialists and developers.
The session consisted of presentations, breakout group sessions as well as general discussions.
The two-day session was a resounding success. The participants were really excited to have the opportunity to learn about the Moncton VISION Home and to participate and provide feedback. The charrette also helped the project team to validate their original assumptions, to get feedback on what is acceptable to home owners, and provided valuable ideas, suggestions and potential opportunities to help design, promote and educate about sustainable and net zero energy homes. Topics covered included foundation, wall structure and windows, renewable energy technologies, marketing strategies and approaches as well as educational tools.
Some of the key elements that were identified are occupant comfort and the need to manage the home. The ability of the home owner to understand the technology (heating/cooling, air quality, power consumption, humidity and lighting aspects) in the home is also crucial. There seems to be a willingness and desire on the part of homeowners to decrease energy usage and adapt alternate methods.
Results from the charrette point to 5 key areas of concentration, which are: building envelop, innovation and technologies, environmental impacts, policy changes and education. The project team will focus on these 5 themes during the next year as the construction of the Moncton VISION home moves forward.
June 25, 2009 - Member of Parliament Rob Moore, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister Responsible for CMHC, was joined today by Paul Arsenault of AlternaHome Solutions Inc., Ken McPhee of VISION Land Development Ltd. and councilor Paul Pellerin from the City of Moncton, along with sponsors and supporters, in the groundbreaking of the Moncton VISION Home, which is the first home in Atlantic Canada to be built as part of CMHC’s EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative.
“We are very pleased to work with CMHC and each and every member of the Moncton VISION Home team has been working tirelessly to ensure its success! This project has the potential to help people discover new ways of doing things, which in the long run, will help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and consequently reduce our negative impact on the environment. The Moncton VISION Home hopes to lead, teach and inspire people to take charge of their own energy!” stated Paul Arsenault on behalf of the Moncton VISION Home team.
The construction is scheduled to begin in April. Regular updates will be posted as the construction progresses.
One the construction is complete; the Moncton VISION Home will be open for tours and visits for a period of 6 months.
The home will be monitored during occupancy to see how it performs compared to predictions.