ÉcoTerra™,
a new 1,500 square-foot home in Eastman Quebec, not only produces as much energy
as it consumes in a year (a net-zero energy home), but also features a healthy
indoor environment, low environmental impact, significant resource conservation
and affordability. Factory pre-engineered modular sections were used to optimize
construction quality and reduce construction as well as environmental impact at
the site.
The R-2000 house, by builder-developer Les industries Ste-Anne de la Rochelle,
Inc. (Alouette Homes), was chosen as one of the winners in Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporations’ Equilibrium project. Formerly known as the Net-Zero Energy
Healthy Housing program, the initiative brings the private and public sectors
together to develop homes, and eventually communities, that address occupant
health and comfort, energy efficiency, renewable energy production, resource
conservation, reduced environmental impact and affordability. Houses built with
the assistance of the program are monitored to assess their performance, and are
open to the public for tours.
The total annual energy requirement for the home is predicted to be equal to the
on-site annual production from renewable energy sources: active and passive
solar space and water heat, a geothermal heat pump and photovoltaic electrical
panels. That energy requirement is predicted to be only 17 percent of that for
the average...
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