The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) held its Renovator and Custom Builder Town Hall at Euro Tile and Stone in Toronto on June 18. About 30 contractors attended to hear messages from Dwayne Butler (Master Edge Homes), chair of the BILD Renovator Executive Council, and Gord Cooke, CEO of Building Knowledge. A pizza lunch started the event.

Butler noted that the Council is looking to increase opportunities for renovation and custom building contractors to come together, planning 14 events in 2026. He said these events are helpful not just for the education content on offer, but also to share information, make contacts and build the sense that you are not facing market challenges alone. Butler also emphasized the association’s ongoing drive to promote builder licensing in Ontario, saying it provides a critical distinction between professional contractors and those who might erode the industry’s credibility. He noted that contractors who stay connected, informed and engaged tend to weather poor market conditions better.

Giancarlo Colasanti, COO of Euro Tile and Stone, welcomed the group to Euro Tile’s expansive and beautiful showroom and gave a brief presentation on the 40-year-old company’s impressive offerings.

Cooke delivered an energetic and information-packed presentation on energy-efficient home building, laser-focused on the knowledge needs of the renovator and custom builder. Cooke’s knowledge of building science is impressive, and his presentation is engaging, drawing a great response from the audience. Cooke started with a quick overview of the history of energy-efficient building research, which started in earnest in Canada with the 1970’s oil crisis that spurred Ottawa to spend $75 million understanding how heat passes in and out of houses. That research led to development in the ’80s of very highly efficient home designs, including the R2000 model. Germany picked up that model and, over the next decades, created the Passive House standard based on it. But, as Cooke pointed out, contrary to popular belief, heat doesn’t rise – warm air does. So, without proper ventilation, warm air is trapped in insulated attics creating a warm zone on the upper floors and cooler temperatures lower down. If the resulting gradient intersects the dew point in the home, condensation can result. If the walls are insulated and air tight, moisture can build up and persist without drying out. This created condensation and air quality problems in the original R2000 designs that prevented them becoming popular in Canada. Comfort and a healthy indoor environment, Cooke concluded, is at least as important as saving energy costs when it comes to promoting high-performance, climate-saving designs.

Cooke noted the amazing progress that has nevertheless been made on improving Canadian home performance. New homes in the ’90s used half as much energy as homes in the ’70s, and new homes today use half as much again. Cooke introduced the group to the Energuide metric that measures a home’s energy use in gigajoules, saying the average home today uses 80 to 100 GJ while the Net Zero standard requires 40 to 50 GJ. Cooke then offered three very straightforward and concrete pieces of advice for renovators and builders looking to improve the performance of their projects.

Foam the basement

Two-and-a-half times more heat is lost from a house through the basement slab than is lost through the attic. That’s why basements are always described as cold, dark, damp and musty, Cooke said. He recommends continuous exterior sheathing around foundations and spray foam rather than batt in the basement walls. The foam insulates better and acts as a natural vapour and moisture barrier, eliminating the need for poly wrap. Just doing this saves four to five GJ of home energy use, taking the average home 10 percent closer to Net Zero performance.

Install triple-glaze

Everyone wants more and larger windows but windows are the weak point for heat transfer in any building envelope. Cooke says the answer is modern designs using three panes of glass rather than two, combined with coatings that further improve the window’s insulating value. But he noted that contractors should also be aware of the solar heat gain (SHG) rating for the window, which is a measure of how much heat from the sun gets through. SHG was ignored for a long time in Canadian energy standards because all the concern was around saving winter heating costs. Free heat coming in from the sun was assumed to always be better. But today, all homes are air conditioned and overheating in summer drives as much or more energy use as heat loss in winter. Additionally, direct sunlight pouring in through today’s large windows and patio doors creates uncomfortable hot zones and glare in the room. Cooke said many window manufacturers will initially offer high SHG products as they are slightly less expensive, but contractors should ask the question and consider what level of SHG is best for the area where the window will be installed. Upgraded windows can save another four to six GJ of home energy use, taking the home another 10 percent closer to Net Zero.

Tighten up

Thirty to 50 percent of the heat transfer in a home comes from air leaking in or out. Also, as warm air rises, it draws from the lower levels of the home, which means air entering the home is coming from the basement and under the floorboards – typically the dirtiest and smelliest areas of the house. Cooke recommends using a simple blower test to measure the air exchanges in a home and take measures to seal gaps if it exceeds three or four exchanges per hour. He also mentioned an intriguing new technology from Aeroseal that creates an airborne mist inside the home. When the home is pressurized with a door blower, the mist is drawn into the gaps where air is leaking and solidifies, sealing the gap. Not for use in finished spaces, of course. Cooke figures improving airtightness can save another eight to 10 GJ, accounting for 20 percent of the needed improvement for Net Zero.

These three envelope upgrades can get the average home almost half way to Net Zero, which means the house doesn’t use any more energy than it would be able to produce with solar panels or other zero-emission power sources. And it would certainly meet all current code requirements for energy efficiency (Net Zero is not anticipated to be mandated until 2050).

Cooke concluded by pointing out that, at present mortgage interest rates, energy efficiency upgrades to a home that are financed through a mortgage or re-mortgage pay for themselves.

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