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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-01-09, Page 5d T'S Y()i IR R 1 JSThIF Times -Advocate, January 9, 1991 Page 5 The R2000 home has now come of age By Adrian Harte DASHWOOD - Tom and Elm Hayter are looking for- ward to moving into their new home in March. Unlike ' most of the oth- er homes in Dash- wood, theisi's will have a slight difference - it is built to one of the highest building stan- dards in the world - an R2000 home. It wasn't that long ago, about 11 years, when the R2000 designa- tion was something one only read about or saw brochures on at home shows. Houses built to nearly air- tight standards with special venti- lation systems seemed a little fu- turistic then. Today they are showing up everywhere, even in Dashwood. "We feel down the road it will pay off," said Elaine Hayter, ex- plaining the decision to upgrade their Oke-Woodsmith built home to the lofty standard. The Hayter house is in an area where natural gas isn't available, allowing it to qualify for an Onta- rio Hydro rebate program. By in- stalling a ground -source heat • pump and building to meet the R2000 standard, the Hayters will receive the full $3,000 rebate from Hydro. Elaine says it will help cover the cost of the heat pump. She predicts within four or five years, the upgrades will have saved enough money to pay for themselves, leaving Tom and Elaine to enjoy the benefits of re- duced energy costs and the com- fort of a controlled home environ- ment an R2000 home affords. Karen Muxlow, Ontario Hydro's residential energy advisor in Lon- don, said public awareness of the R2000 program is improving. "We're really seeing a big changeover," said Muxlow. "Peo- ple are beginning to understand what an R2000 home is." Muxlow noted that a common misconception was that an R2000 home had to be a specific design, whereas virtually any house can be upgraded to .�, _ , specifica- tions. • - - Muxlow said it is worthwhile for Hydro to offer the incentive plans for those who will be using elec- tric heat. The rebate program will hopefully save Hydro the need to increase generation capacity in the R2000 checklist future., "We just wanLlp_encourage [homeowners) to go as efficient as possible," she said. The $2,000 in- centive for those who build R2000 homes will just about cover the cost of a heat recovery ventilator, or HRV, which is the hallmark of the most efficient R2000 designs. The newest building codes require me- chanical ventilation of new Ontario homes anyway, but the HRV ex- tracts up to 80 percent of the outgo- ing air to warm incoming fresh air, keeping heat loss to a minimum. Danny Relich at the Ontario Home Builders Association office in Toronto confirmed that R2000 homes consumed an average of 40- 50 percent less energy than conven- tionally built counterparts of sever- al years ago. But as the building code has become more stringent over the years, the gap has nar- rowed to less than a 40 percent dif- ference. Relich said the R2000 building methods, originally researched by\ the Canadian Home Builders Asso- ciation and Energy and Mines Can- ada, has since been licensed to the United States and Japan. Relich said the OHBA has trainedust over 6,000 people to build R2000 homes, meaning that nearly half of Ontario's builders have the capability to meet the R2000 standard. Eventually, all homes will be built this way, he predicts. "The understanding was that the industry would be building homes to this standard by the year 2000," said Relich - hence the R2000 des- ignation. Dick Packham at Oke- Woodsmith Building Systems in Hensall said the company fully in- tends to make all its homes meet the standard, especially when eligi- ble for the Ontario Hydro rebates. Peckham explained a seminar held last Wednesday at Oakwood Inn for the company employees helped highlight the techniques necessary for making the R2000 home some six times more airtight than a conventional dwelling. Spe- cial care has to be taken not to pierce the continuous vapour barri- er and to patch up all holes in the exterior walls used for wiring and plumbing. The fireplace air intake and chimney are sealed behind the hearth's glass doors. After the exterior walls are com- plete, the home must be tested by an independent agency before it gets official R2000 certification. A fan sealed in a doorway generates a negative air pressure in the house and measurements of leakage are taken. To meet the R2000 criteria, the house cannot leak more than one and a half complete exchanges of air per hour. Peckham says his team were delighted when the Hayter home testa¢ at a mere 0.8 exchanges. "The guys were quite pleased that it met the R2000 program - there's quite a bit of pride in it," he said. Such a tightly sealed home has to be ventilated, noted Peckham. If left to itself, humidity would climb quickly and make the home stuffy and prone to condenstation and mil- dew. The heat recovery ventilators keep careful control of the humidi- ty of incoming fresh air - and this is where many of the R2000 comfort benefits start to become apparent. The humidity control system also functions in the summer when the heat pump is used for air condition- ing. Those improvement in the quality of life made possible by the R2000 system are often what sells it to customers. Energy savings are just a bonus. "It's something we want to build into all our houses, whether they want the R2000 program or not," said Peckham, noting that the care and attention to detail required by R2000 means that the enure home is "just a better built house". Nevertheless, with energy costs on the rise, especially with soaring hydro bills, those building new homes are paying more attention to the efficiency of their dream home. Peckham said an average R2000 home might cost as little as $350 to heat for a whole winter. "I think people will demand it, they're becoming more conscious of energy efficiency," observed Peckham. The once -futuristic R2000 home is now coming of age. A high-tech oddity at its birth 11 years ago, it is now well on its way to becoming standard practice. Oke-Woodsmith have six such homes in progress at the moment and Doug Geoffrey Construction are also building to R2000 specifications. No doubt as the building code moves closer and closer to the R2000 standard, more builders will be finding it makes sense to take the extra step to R2000 efficiency. Usborne & Hibbert Mutual Fire Insurance Company Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S1 (Established in 1876) Provides Full Insurance Coverage for Farm Properties New Applications are Welcomed DIRECTORS & ADJUSTERS Jack Harrigan RR 3 Lucan .227.4305 Larry Gardiner, RR2, Statfa 345-2878 Lloyd Morrison, RRt St. Marys 229-8277 Lome Feeney, Michell 348-8853 Jack Hodgert, RRt, Kirkton 229-6152 Joseph Chaffe, RR5 Mitchell 348-9705 AGENTS Ross Hodgen, Exeter 235-3250 John Moore, Dublin 345-2512 Joseph Uniac, Mitchell 348-9012 Head Office, Exeter 235-0350 Fire extinguishers for sale to our policy holders at be- low cost. Refills are free - check with your agent. 23uen©ao --r:Tc©@ CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS • ,Kime, Mills, Dunlop. Chartered Accountants Joseph F. Darling, C.G.A. Associate Daniel B. Daum, M.Acc., C.A. Manager 347 Main St., Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S7 (519) 235-0345 •The R2000 home usually has.bIghi lsulstion values In wall>t'iiRd Wang/. •A vapour barrier is instilifMt "cOntinpauslyn, mak ngau re ha drafts can leakihrough salmon places such as electrical outietaor plumbing rltsOtisy. Windaws. and doOV$ t special t atli>'l±efrt and caulking. John A.M. Norris CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 497 Main Street South, Exeter, Ontario NOM ISI Tel: (519) 235-3240 Fax: (519) 235-3246 *Mechanical ventilation . exchanges moist htild* sir for fresh outside air, uligaliy with a heat tstsdvery stem to save every NU possible. •Most R2000 homes have NO efficiency heating *Stems such a4 heWer gas de -Signs, pule% ti mace , or heat pumps that extract ground. Oen be lat.:1 i0Iliiiirle, however. •02090 hamare often situiti ted to tilfiit ;advantage of passive solar energy by eft jf0if1 kitaliregiWilidaws our th north side a a minimum • The; !WA !mu alsa:ittakoilfern more quiet than ordlA fy houses - a plus for highway locations. *Because of the tight control over humidity and R2000: ponies are far air *ening bilis to keep diet dust and pollen. •02000 horses each have to be tested before a certificate le issued stating It meets the stringent criteria. R2000 - The Hayters are looking forward to moving into their new energy-efficient home. From left are Elaine, Adam, Tom and Lind- say, Missing Is Justin. Peter's Point Continued from page 4 ice flow. I yearn for a bowl of hot soup, my moustache has turned into an icicle, and I think I've just lost the tip of my nose. "Duncan! Are you out here?" I shout. No one can hear me in this arctic gale. On my way back to the house, I run smack into fort num- ber throe. Under the old apple tree. No one should be outdoors in this weather. 1 look for the en- trance, but this is obviously an un- finished structure. Just a big pile of snow. Then I find Duncan's scarf, snow jacket and hat hanging from the low tree branches. 1 shudder. Has the boy been eaten by a polar bear? Then I hear singing. Jingle Bells, totally off key. Duncan is wielding his shovel, stripped down to his snow pants and sweat shirt. "Aren't you cold?" "I'm sweating!" "Let's go for supper. I've been looking alt over for you." He reluctantly gathers up his clothes and tools and trots behind me. "Will you come out with mer again after supper, Dad? i need you to help me dig a tunnel." "i'll look in the mirror when I'm inside," I said, "to see what colour my face is. If it's still red, 111 come out with you for exactly five minutes after supper. If it's black, i'll have to go to emerg." NOTIGE All advertising, subscriptions, print jobs and store sales are 'subject to the G.S.T. 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