The Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) has taken full ownership of energy efficiency certification company EnerQuality Corporation, a move aimed at expanding the association's increasing focus on training for its 4,000 member companies.

Founded as a for-profit company by the OHBA and the Canadian Energy Efficient Association in 1999 to promote building energy-efficient homes, Toronto-based EnerQuality certified homes under the ENERGY STAR, EnerGuide and Net Zero builder programs.

OHBA was previously the majority shareholder in EnerQuality.

With a mandate to “modernize and expand the scope of OHBA in terms of representing the industry,” OHBA CEO Scott Andison told RENX Homes taking full ownership helps fulfill the need for more training as a “natural expansion.”

“The design I put in place in terms of how we operationalize expansion was to deliver training outside of OHBA as an organization, because training can sometimes be a bit of a distraction within an industry association . . . It was either build a new one from scratch or to capitalize on OHBA’s current investment into EnerQuality,” he said.

OHBA is an industry organization of Ontario’s homebuilders, developers and renovators made up of 28 local associations.

Supercharging the OHBA's training

Andison, who was appointed as CEO in April, said the decision was also based on direction from OHBA’s board.

Investing in training has been a priority for the OHBA, with its members seeking more advice on preparing for the expected uptick in housing market activity, and seeking more events either in-person or virtually. Andison said many of the organization’s members are building to achieve green standards and higher energy efficiency, which aligns with EnerQuality’s purpose.

The move is also a response to changes in the market, he explained, such as Ontario’s building code being updated to higher energy efficiency standards and ongoing changes in development and construction processes.

EnerQuality organizes training courses, seminars and workshops on achieving ENERGY STAR standards, how to meet net-zero labelling standards, and solving airtightness issues, among other industry-related topics.

Training hub to be created

An external training hub for the construction and renovation sectors will be created as a new division. Areas of focus could include helping renovators and small- and medium-sized operators in creating businesses in the sector, more jobs-specific training, and meeting regulatory compliance for municipal green building standards, Andison said.

EnerQuality’s energy efficiency labelling program will continue, and it will maintain operations at arms length to OHBA, Andison said. A separate board and leadership will oversee the operations, with the OHBA providing guidance.

Growing the number of EnerQuality staff will also be a goal for the acquisition: “Business as usual on the certification side, nothing but growth on the training side,” Andison summarized.

For the OHBA itself, Andison said he's also focused on boosting membership among the industry in Ontario, as well as lobbying governments to create a regulatory environment more conducive to building new housing to support the growing population.

"When we have everyone as part of this collaboration, as part of feeding into the ideas and strategies for the industry, it makes what we're trying to do that much stronger, it makes (us) stronger in terms of influencing where things are going, the types of lobbying activities we'll be involved," Andison said.

"The main areas of growth right now are advocacy and training and events, and there's just going to be more of that work going forward."