Great Gulf has unveiled its first house built under Active House principles in the town of Bradford, Ont., with plans to offer the design at other communities across the province.

The 3,185-square-foot Summerlyn Active House at 8 Downy Emerald Dr. adheres to a standard from the Brussels-based Active House Alliance, which recognizes homes built according to the pillars of comfort, energy and environment.

Great Gulf had originally explored Active House design in 2016, when it moved a family of five into a test home in Etobicoke for six months to seek their feedback and observations.

Active House is a “vision of building that creates (a) healthier and more comfortable life for the occupants without negatively impacting the climate,” Tad Putyra, the president and COO of Great Gulf’s low-rise division and H+ME Technology Plus, said in an interview with RENX Homes.

Great Gulf is a Toronto-based developer of low- and high-rise housing. It develops a range of housing types across Ontario including stacked condos, townhouses, single-family homes, resort communities and estate homes. The firm also has a significant high-rise development business.

The focuses of Active House

Active House considers how a home impacts the environment during construction, design and operation; and its influence on the health and comfort of its occupants.

Putyra highlighted Active House’s emphasis on energy efficiency, indoor climate control and allowing for the entry of abundant natural light.

The homes meet the Energy Star standard for energy efficiency and are net-zero ready with installed solar panels that charge a central battery. They also have high-performance insulation, LED lighting, energy-efficient appliances and triple-glazed windows.

To allow natural light to stream into the home, Great Gulf conducts a study to find critical areas for daylight and adjusts the architecture accordingly. In addition to wide windows, operable skylights will be installed, with automated rain sensors and blinds to control how much light filters through windows.

The preference for natural light over artificial light helps residents with their sleep quality, concentration and productivity, Great Gulf says.

Active House breaks down the home into three ‘climate zones’ which allow separate temperature adjustments to increase the comfort of occupants and maximize energy efficiency. Air quality and humidity are also considered.

Flexibility for work-from-home and the elderly

Active House design is flexible and each home can be tailor-made for the residents’ needs, Putyra said.

“The homeowner can address elements that interest them more than others and go for a fully-blown model or they can just address some issues,” he said.

These custom designs include home offices and accommodations for elderly residents.

Spaces for home offices will have sound absorption to reduce any auditory distractions and feature sightlines to other rooms so parents can keep a watch on their children.

Elevators for the elderly can be installed and washrooms are future-proofed for easy conversion for wheelchair accessibility.

Promoting Active House homes

The Summerlyn Active House has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and two home offices.

Putyra expects pricing for this Active House design to range from $1.4 million to $1.5 million, with prices escalating based on additions chosen by the homeowner.

Great Gulf would like to offer the Active House option in its future communities based on demand, including developments in Milton, Brampton, Oakville, Barrie and Whitby.

Active House homes will be built using prefabricated wood panels from Great Gulf’s H+ME Technology system at its 200,000-square foot facility in Etobicoke. Most of the components are pre-assembled at the factory, with final assembly on site, speeding up the homebuilding process.

Prefabricating wood panels cuts waste from homebuilding by approximately half and maintains a higher standard of quality compared to on-site construction, Putyra said.

The facility can produce wood structures for single-family units, townhouses and mid-rise buildings up to six storeys in an automated, closed environment.

Putyra said Great Gulf, took an interest in prefabrication because of its commitment to improvement and addressing a lack of skilled labour, which it hopes to address via a partnership with Georgian College.

Skills partnership with Georgian College

As part of the Active House launch this week, Great Gulf also announced a multi-year, $50,000 partnership with the Barrie-based college called the Great Gulf Innovation Award Suite, which will provide scholarships for 24 students in the sustainable skilled trades.

“We are in this community, we’re working here, we want to become a member of the community. We want to be an employer, we want to be an educator, for the mutual benefit,” Putyra said.