2009 closed on a strong note for housing starts in the Vancouver area.  The annual rate of housing starts reached 174,500 units in December, up almost 10,000 from November.

The improvement in housing starts was broad-based, with increases in both single and multiple starts coming in 9,700 higher than the previous month, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday (11 Jan 2010).

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased 6.6 per cent to 157,100 units in December. Urban multiple starts such as condominiums increased by 6.7 per cent to 77,700 units, while single urban starts increased 6.4 per cent to 79,400 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,400 units in December.

Regionally, the rate of urban starts for the month increased by 17.8 per cent in Quebec, by 15 per cent in Atlantic Canada, by 8.7 per cent in British Columbia and by 2.9 per cent in Ontario. The rate of urban starts decreased by 3.8 per cent in the Prairies, the CMHC said.

For more details CMHC’s Housing Market Information.

Technology experts from the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association (GVHBA), in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), are presenting the winter session of What’s New in Homebuilding, a workshop for people considering having a custom home built for them.

The workshop will highlight the latest innovations in construction technology, design, indoor air quality and green initiatives.  Workshop topics include:

• Principles of durable building envelope construction
• Healthy housing tips for superior indoor air quality
• Ventilation systems
• Energy-efficient and green construction practices
• How energy choices affect costs

To encourage productive interaction between presenters & participants, registration is limited to 25 people so hurry & pre-register by Monday, February 1, 2010.  Cost to attend is $75 per person or $130 per couple (GST not included), and includes lunch, coffee breaks, and a wealth of printed material on new products & services.  Call 778-565-4288 to register or visit GVHBA.org for more information.

BC Home Magazine (BCH) published an article on net-zero energy homes in their June 2009 issue.  It was an interview with architect Chris Mattock, who’s company (Habitat Design & Consulting) partnered with CMHC to bring net-zero energy homes to BC.  Klondike Contracting supports every effort to green the environment so we wanted to share bits of this article with you in case you missed it:

BCH: What does net-zero energy mean?
MATTOCK: Net-zero energy means that annually a home produces as much engergy as it consumes – all energy that’s required is generated within the home.  Net-zero carbon emissions means that you’re not burning fossil fuel or wood to live in an operate the home.

BCH: What is Harmony House?
MATTOCK: It will be a home in Burnaby, one of 12 zero-energy houses across Canada that CMHC has sponsored as part of its goal to have all houses build with this standar by year 2030.  I organized a team of solar, water and indoor air quality, and construction experts to qualify for CMHC’s extensive technical requirements.

BCH: Will the house feature modern conveniences?
MATTOCK: It will function like any other house, with all of the most energy-efficient appliances, except instead of using a clothes dryer, which consumes a lot of electricity, it will have a drying closet, which is heated by solar thermal system…We will use daylight as much as possible (for lighting), which affects placement and height of windows and skylights.  Indoor electric lighting will be laid out so that it complements natural daylight, with switches that automatically turn lights off when daylight is sufficient inside.  Occupancy sensors will turn lights off when someone leaves a room.

BCH: What about insulation & windows?
MATTOCK: The building will be so well insulated that it needs only 20% of the heating requirements of a conventional house.  It has a foot of insulation in walls using cellulose fibre made locally from post-consumer recycled newspapers, with 18″ of roof insulation.

There will be airtight wall, ceiling & floor barriers to reduce heat loss.  It will have better indoor air quality than a conventional house because a ventilation system in every room will continuously take out stale air and bring in fresh outdoor air, filtering particles of pollen and pollution.  Hot air escaping from laundry, bathrooms and kitchen will go through a hea recovery system, and 80% of this heat will go back into the homes’ heating. (Windows) will all be triple-glazed with two metal low-E coatings.  They will have an R-6 insulation value whereas typical windows are R-2.

BCH: How are you using solar energy?
MATTOCK: Solar thermal collectors use the sun to heat water in a tank all year round for all electrical heating and hot water.  Photovoltaic cells on the roof that convert sunlight into electricity will power appliances.

- Carol Crenna

(For more of this article please acquire a copy of BC Home June 2009)

• GVRD Incentives–A useful list of GVRD Financial Incentives on their BuildSmart site
• EcoEnergy Grants for Residential Property Owners–Government grants for improving the energy efficiency of your home.
  
• LiveSmartBC Energuide Incentive Program–The province of BC will be offering an incentive of $150 towards having an initial D evaluation completed on your home as part of their new LiveSmart program. The incentive will be tied into the current federal ecoENERGY program to encourage home owners to reduce their energy consumption.
• CMHC Mortgage Loan Insurance–A 10% CMHC mortgage loan insurance premium refund may be available when you use CMHC insured financing to purchase an energy-efficient home or make energy-saving renovations.
• BC Hydro Fridge Buy-Back Program–BC Hydro will pickup and recycle your old, inefficient second fridge and give you $30 for it
• Vancity Bright Ideas Loan–Grants range from $3,500-$20,000 at a reduced rate of interest. To qualify, you need to make renovations recommended by an EnerGuide for Houses evaluation of your home.
• Vancity/Real Estate Foundation Green Building Grant–Each year, the program provides one or more grants up to $50,000 each to qualified recipients. Total annual grants are a minimum of $100,000. Applications are accepted from charitable organizations, not-for-profit organizations or co-operatives
• VanCity Cashback–The VanCity credit union provides a cash reward of $170 for energy efficient home renovations recommended by an EnerGuide for Houses evaluation. The renovations must achieve at least a five-point improvement in the EnerGuide for Houses rating. The $170 value is intended to cover the cost of the EnerGuide for Houses evaluation; your renovation must cost $3,500 or above.
• RBC Homeline Plan®–RBC has a green home renovation program offering: a $300 rebate for all new RBC Homeline Plan® clients towards a home energy audit, a chance to win $25,000 towards a home retrofit project, and educational tools to help customers better understand the financial and environmental benefits of an energy retrofit (provided in partnership with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

If you are considering purchasing your first home and need help understanding what is involved, then you would greatly benefit from GVHBA’s Seminar for First-time Home Buyers, taking place Tuesday, March 24 from 7pm to 9pm at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel (ballroom).

To help you make informed decisions, the GVHBA, in partnership with CMHC, Genworth Financial, Homeowner Protection Office, National Home Warranty, and TD Canada Trust, will be presenting speakers to answer your questions and quell any concerns.

The seminar is free but all attendees are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food donation to support the Surrey Food Bank.

Pre-registration is required.  Please call 604-588-5036 for more information or to register.  You may also visit the GVHBA website for more information.

The GVHBA Renovation Council’s consumer renovation seminar – sponsored by BC Hydro, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation and Terasen Gas – was a huge success. Despite economic woes, more than 230 homeowners registered for the two-hour seminar so they could learn how to differentiate the renovation pros from the schmoes. About $7 billion will be spent on home renovation and improvement in B.C. in 2009 – another record! The event was full of information for homeowners with 39 display spaces booked by GVHBA members within hours of being offered. The speakers received an enthusiastic ovation from seminar attendees.

Klondike Contracting would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who attended. Without your continued support, we would not have the opportunity to speak with so many wonderful homeowners. We would also like to thank the GVHBA, BC Hydro, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation and Terasen Gas for organizing the event and allowing us to be a part of it.

To help homeowners make informed decisions, the GVHBA Renovation Council – in partnership with BC Hydro, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. and Terasen Gas – is presenting its fall home renovation seminar on Tuesday, November 25 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Dr., Vancouver. More than 350 homeowners attended GVHBA’s spring seminar. Admission and parking is free.

Seminar presenters will guide homeowners through the various stages of the renovation process, including design and planning, legal and contracts, selecting a renovator, municipal permits, and living through a renovation. Presenters include award-winning renovators, a construction lawyer and senior municipal building official. Attendees are encouraged to arrive at 6 p.m. to view the renovation displays, pick up printed material and discuss their renovation plans with the experts.

We will be launching our Laneway Homes program. Visit our booth to learn how you can turn your garage into a rental property!

For more information on the seminar please click here.