Three Ottawa firms are among the 2020 EnerQuality finalists. The 20 annual awards, which will be presented virtually Nov. 30, honour Ontario builders and renovators who show an outstanding commitment to energy efficiency and green building.
RND Construction, The Conscious Builder and Minto Communities Canada are this year’s locally-based contenders.
RND up for four awards
RND, winner of numerous EnerQuality and other green building awards, is “always pleased to be a finalist,” says president Roy Nandram.
The company is a finalist for Green Renovation Project of the Year, Net Zero Builder (various projects) and Green Builder of the Year – Low-Rise. RND is also a finalist for this year’s EnerQuality People’s Choice Award, which is presented for a company’s overall green efforts rather than for a specific project.
RND’s entry in the green renovation project is a 1970s Rockcliffe home with an Art Deco theme. Designed by Simmonds Architecture, the home was a finalist in last year’s Ontario Home Builders’ Association awards and won two trophies at the 2020 Housing Design Awards in Ottawa.
Nandram is seeing an uptick in Net Zero projects (a Net Zero home produces as much electricity as it consumes), including the recent unveiling of RND’s Farmside Green as Ottawa’s first Net Zero development. However, he’d like to see more green residential building and says the key is “education, education, education… we need to educate the public. We want the public to come and ask us to build them green homes. We don’t need builders to learn more about green building; they’ll figure out they have to do that after they get customers looking for it.”
The Conscious Builder out to lead by example
For Casey Grey, founder of The Conscious Builder and a competitor for the Builder Achievement award, this year marks the first time as an EnerQuality finalist. His company specializes in custom homes and renovations, and its work can be seen on this year’s virtual Reno Tour organized by the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association.
Grey committed himself to energy efficiency with the birth of his son, Sullivan. “I realized I have to lead by example and leave this place better than when I showed up if there’s going to be a place for my son.”
Looking at the climate crisis, he says we have to be fully Net Zero by 2050, “and that’s across everything we do in life… We have to act now. If we don’t start making drastic changes in how we live, we’re not going to have a place to live.”
Minto among 2020 EnerQuality finalists
Minto Communities Canada, headquartered in Ottawa but building in other cities as well, is a finalist for EnergyStar for Homes – Large Volume Builder and, like RND Construction, Green Builder of the Year – Low-Rise. Minto’s finalist projects are in the Greater Toronto Area. The company is also a finalist for this year’s EnerQuality People’s Choice Award.
Minto, with a long history of sustainable building, has won multiple EnerQuality and other awards in past years. In Ottawa, it builds homes across the city.
