Minto Pushes The Envelope With Their EcoHome (Pun Intended)

No, you haven't stumbled across Treehugger.com accidentally (though if you haven't been there before, you should check it out.)  And no, this blog isn't strictly about green building, but it is about tracking trends in the construction sector, and as I pointed in my first post here, no conversation looms larger in our industry right now than this one.

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending a tour of the Minto Eco-Home in Manotick  (about a 15 minute drive south of Ottawa), a joint presentation by Minto's project director Serge Desjardins, Minto's manager of innovation and green solutions Robert Smith (that that title exists at all is a testament to the power of the green building phenomenon), and Douglas Rowland from CMHC, whose EQuilibrium program  provided the grants that made this development possible (or at least viable.)

The home is called Inspiration and it is a project that Minto is using to test innovative construction and envelope techniques and materials to achieve a net zero energy building. The EQuilibrium program bills itself as "a national housing initiative ... that brings the private and public sectors together to develop healthy homes that produce as much energy as they consume on an annual basis." 

In other words, the CMHC uses this vehicle to promote and fund net zero builds across Canada. They will also coordinate and fund a metering initiative for one year after the home is sold to track how it performs under actual usage scenarios. (In other words, the first owner of this home will be a bit of a guinea pig - but that's a worthy tradeoff for living in a home that actually produces excess energy and sells it back to the hydro company at a profit!)

I won't go into too much detail about the home itself, because we will be doing a longer piece on this project for the June issues of both the GOHBA Impact! and the Ottawa Construction News, and I will post the article here when it goes to print. Basically, though, the build achieves net zero by employing a highly insulated building envelope (double wall construction with an R-Value of 40 and ceilings at R 60), triple-pane low-e argon filled windows, a solar HRV ventilation system, and a gaggle of roof-installed photovoltaic panels.

 

Another neat feature of the home is its sophisticated green-plug-enabled electrical system, which will allow the homeowner to use special green outlets in any room for any items that do not need continuous power when no one is home. Then, with the flick of a switch, they will be able to turn off computers, cable boxes and that TV the kids left on downstairs before heading out, and thus avoid unnecessary energy consumption.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the tour (aside from seeing the home itself) was the interesting discussion it promoted from the 10 or so guests who were present. As we were waiting for stragglers to arrive before heading into the house, a stimulating conversation about the strengths (and weaknesses) of LEED broke out. 

I mentioned the difficulties that many developers have expressed to me around trying to meet the certification in rural areas, a statement to which both Minto reps nodded in agreement: the Eco-home is in the middle of a giant field on the south end of the south end of Ottawa, so there were no LEED points to be had here for, say, convenient access to transit! 

(By the way, if you are wondering just how and what LEED awards points for, I have uploaded their checklist and published it here  for your viewing pleasure.)

Another attendee expressed some degree of pessimism around what he viewed as the trend of people in the industry jumping on the 'green bandwagon', to paraphrase, and he wondered if there was any real meat behind all the green potatoes being promoted. The discussion quickly turned to the whole issue of Greenwashing, which I wrote about in yesterday's posting.  

But Robert Smith from Minto (who is a certified LEED AP) made a great point here that I agree with 100 percent when he said that despite its problems and shortcomings, he believes LEED is still good for the industry because it allows builders to quantify their green initiatives in a meaningful way (there's that Seth Godin principle  again), and encourages them to consider new ways of doing business (and there's that paradigm shift I spoke about yesterday, too.)

I think what Minto is doing here is a really great sign and I hope they continue with the program. While I think it is admirable when smaller developers like Dharma Developments here in Ottawa and Doug Tarry Homes  in St. Thomas go out on a limb and innovate in the green building space despite the additional up-front costs associated with doing so, the reality is that the industry as a whole can't truly change until the big dogs like Minto (and Tamarack and Richcraft...) start using their relatively massive RND budgets to really drive innovation and progress in sustainable homebuilding.

As Serge explained to me, at the end of the day, market demand is simply impossible to ignore. Customers are asking for ecologically friendly dwellings and are willing to pay a higher up-front cost to purchase them, knowing that they will recoup the difference in energy savings relatively quickly, and Minto is not going to leave that money sitting on the table for smaller custom home builders and niche developers to take. 

There used to be a terribly vicious cycle that held true when it came to green construction: Builders didn't want to shell out extra cash to offer ecologically-friendly homes because they were afraid that competitors would just continue business-as-usual and steal away all the customers with their lower prices. 

At the same time, consumers claimed to be environmentally conscious, but still made price their top concern when push came to shove. The end result was, for the longest time, a huge disincentive for builders to bother catering to the "green niche" at all. 

It's nice to finally see that cycle breaking and that "green niche" becoming the general home-buying population.

 

It's Not Easy Being Green (But It Sure Is Easy to Pretend!)

Editor's note: 

Every month in the Ottawa Construction News, I write a column called The Publisher's Viewpoint about current issues that are pertinent to the industry. What follows is this month's column mostly as it will appear when it comes off the presses this week, with a few more points and links added in here and there.  A PDF of the May issue is also embedded at the end of this post for your reference. 

This month's column was on the phenomenon of "Greenwashing." Our company President Mark Buckshon has also recently written about this issue on his blog - you can read his thoughts here...but be sure to come back! ]

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Readers of the Ottawa Construction News have heard a lot of talk in our pages recently about Green building, LEED building and sustainable design. In fact, in the soon-to-be-delivered May issue, they will see a feature profile of the new EcoCite LEED condo development on the canal by Taplen Construction and Christopher Simmonds Architect. (You can view a PDF of the Special Feature here.) At the OCN, we like to bring attention to these types of projects, and to green issues in general because we believe they are important to consider for the future of our industry. 

But anytime there is a paradigm shift within an industry, like the one we are seeing now toward Green building practices, there are likely to be two camps: Those who truly believe in the new paradigm and whose body of work clearly shows it (like Taplen, Simmonds and others), and the hangers-on who merely try to 'hop on the bandwagon' without really changing the way they do business. (Here we won't name names.) 

The latter camp is so common, unfortunately, that there has already been a term coined to describe those who try to make business-as-usual look 'trendy' and environmentally friendly: Greenwashers. It's a portmanteau of "green" and "whitewashing", and it means exactly what you would expect. 

So what is Greenwashing and how can you avoid it in your own business, and in your own marketing? Well, I heard an excellent example of this phenomenon on the radio the other day and although it is from outside our industry, it does illustrate the point  really well.

I won't name the company here, but a retail store was running a spot recently to promote their new environmentally friendly line of beauty and personal care products. "Come on in and buy from our new lineup of EnviroCare products," the ad beckoned, "and you will be entered to win in our grand prize draw with each purchase." (I've changed the name of the product line for the sake of anonymity.) 

'So, what is the problem with this promo?,' you might ask. And in truth, nothing is really wrong with it on the surface - selling environmentally friendly products is a great idea. 

But then the radio announcer goes on to explain that the "Grand Prize Draw" would be for... return airfare for a trip for two across Canada! 

Now, let's just do a quick number crunch on that carbon tradeoff, shall we? 

According to CarbonFootprint.com's online calculator, that grand prize flight to Whistler from anywhere in Canada could emit up to 2 tonnes of CO2 equivalents for two passengers, the equivalent of cutting down and burning two rain forest trees that are 40 feet tall and a foot in diametre! 

I would like to hear the non-Greenwashed version of  that radio spot. "With every purchase of our environmentally friendly shampoo, you will be entered into a draw to win our grand prize - the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you and a friend to chop down two giant rainforest trees!"

At the end of the day, this just seems to me like a case of really poorly thought-out marketing, because to an environmentally-conscious consumer (like myself), the obvious carbon footprint of that 'grand prize' sticks out like a sore thumb and just doesn't jive with the Green image they are trying to portray. Whether it was intentional or not, this company ended up sounding like they didn't really care about their effect on the environment, they just wanted to sound like they did. 

So you may be asking, how does this relate to the construction industry, and what can you learn from this example? I think the lesson to be learned here is that if you choose to go about making your business greener, you need to be genuine in those efforts, and truthful in whatever marketing you do.  

And it's important to mention here that you do have a choice. While I firmly believe that to remain relevant, construction companies are going to have to be environmentally conscious, you may disagree with me and that's your right. But if you do choose to dismiss Green building as a 'fad', and go about business as usual, don't pretend otherwise because your efforts to do so will be in vain.

At the Greater Ottawa Home Builder's Association's Hello Goodbye breakfast earlier this year, Bernard Hudon presented research showing that today's homebuyers are highly educated individuals who research purchases extensively and care about environmental factors. These buyers will see through a Greenwash-smokescreen. 

And in the commercial building sector, the situation is no different. The biggest commissioners of buildings care more now than ever for the environmental impact of their projects, both for the effect they will have on their public image, and for the long-term cashflow savings that ecologically sound builds can provide. 

A perfect example is the City of Ottawa, which recently mandated that all its new buildings 5,400 square feet or larger must be LEED certified at minimum, even expansion projects like the Goulbourn Rec centre one we profiled in the OCN in February. (The PDF is here.) These owners will not be fooled either by slick marketing that is less than truthful.

Applying for LEED and following that spec is a great idea for larger builds - nothing will convey credibility as well as an endorsement of your ecological efforts by the Canada Green Building Council.  Marketing guru Seth Godin (whose blog I love) wrote an interesting entry recently where he argued that to truly market themselves as 'green' with any credibility, businesses will soon need some way to truly quantify their green-ness. As builders, LEED's points system can certainly do the trick. 

Having said that, I know LEED can be expensive if your capital budget is thin, and I know its standards are simply unworkable in some circumstances (ie: rural applications.) 

However, even if you can't build to LEED spec, and get that certification, you can still take steps to make your builds greener and let your clients know about your efforts in your marketing, without being guilty of Greenwashing.

Buy materials from vendors who are committed to sustainable development, like local firm The Healthiest Home and Building Supplies, or others around the city. For the record, using leftover drywall from a previous project is not "Using recycled materials"! 

If it's a home you're building, make it easy for the eventual owner to make it as energy efficient as possible by participating in programs and building philosophies like EnergyStar, SolarReady and High Performance Homes. Check out St. Thomas, Ontario-based home builder Doug Tarry Homes for a great example of how leveraging those two programs can lead to great success. (We also featured Tarry in the most recent issue of the GTA Construction Report, the PDF is here.) 

If yours is a larger development, why not replant some of the trees you tore down to build elsewhere? As a publishing company, we proudly put our money where our mouth by partnering with Tree Canada, which plants a tree for each one of our advertisers in every issue, so that the net effect of printing all our papers is a surplus of trees!  

There are many other online resources that can guide you in the right direction: 

• This site by the American organization NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), outlines "Building Green from Principle to Practice," and aims show how building green can boost your bottom line.
• This blog is interesting - it is the personal account of a newlywed couple in Calgary who sought to build a truly eco-friendly custom home. You can follow the process from early 2006 to present and pick up some ideas along the way. 
• Whatsworking.com includes a long list of resources on green building and sustainable development.
• The CaGBC's own site includes some information on how you can build more environmentally friendly projects, even if you can't afford LEED. If you live near Toronto, you could also plan to attend Shifting the Mainstream - the CaGBC Summit on June 11-12, featuring keynote speaker David Suzuki. We are an official media sponsor for the event, and it looks like there are many useful seminars and talks planned for the two-day conference. 

There are many, many things you can do to respect the environment when you build, and my recommendation is to do as many of them as possible, and to be honest about it in your advertising.  

Because you're either making a difference, or you're faking it. And when people think you're faking it, that's worse than if they think you just don't care.

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Here is the PDF of the May issue (click to see larger): 

 

Ottawa Construction News May 2008 Section A