Niagara’s New Home Builders Embrace Next Generation Technology

ST. CATHARINES — A select group of home builders (Homes By Hendriks; Mountainview Homes; Pinewood Homes; and Rinaldi Homes) are taking energy efficiency to the next level by building four new ‘Discovery Homes’ in the Niagara Region. The homes will incorporate a number of new innovative energy-efficient technologies as part of a new Technology Adoption Pilot (TAP) coordinated by EnerQuality Corporation.   The Ontario Power Authority (OPA), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Enbridge Gas Distribution and Union Gas are also contributing to this initiative.
The innovative selections are the culmination of NRCan’s Local Energy Efficiency Partnership (LEEP) next-generation technology identification and selection process. Through LEEP, local home builders have found, assessed and selected the energy conserving technologies that could work best for them in their construction processes. The aim is to find the technologies that can be more regularly incorporated into mainstream construction as builders move towards higher performance housing. Funding for the LEEP and TAP initiatives has been provided by Natural Resoruces Canada, the Ontario Power Authority, Enbridge Gas Distribution, and Union Gas.