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Harmony House – Net Zero Home

Harmony House – Net Zero Home

Posted by Ryan Coleman•February 02, 2012

Last month, Ecolighten had the pleasure to tour an innovative, energy efficient, net zero home that was recently completed in Burnaby.  The home is named “Harmony House” and it was designed and built as part of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) EQuilibrium™ project.  In short, EQuilibrium™ is a nationwide initiative to design, build and demonstrate sustainable homes across Canada.  The objectives of the project is to showcase homes that feature healthy indoor environments, energy efficiency, renewable energy systems and significant resource conservation.

In brief, Harmony House combined a wide range of technologies, strategies, products and techniques in order to deliver a finished home that is predicted to produce more energy from on-site renewable energy systems than it will consume in a year thus making this project ‘Net Zero’.  Key features include:

  • Renewable – Passive solar heating, grid connected photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar domestic hot water system
  • Well Insulated & Air-Tight Building Envelope – High insulated airtight building envelope featuring vacuum insulated panels and triple glazed windows predicted to reduce space heating requirements by 80%
  • Heat Pump – High-efficiency air source heat pump provides space and water heating
  • Smart Home -Features highly efficient electrical appliances and lighting and the use of smart metering and controls to minimize electrical energy consumption

For those familiar with Natural Resources Canada’s EnerGuide for Housing (EGH) rating system which measures a home’s energy performance from 0 to 100, the Harmony House rates 101.5 as a result of the energy-efficient technologies, practices, and renewable energy systems.  Over the course of the next year, the building’s performance against energy generation, energy and water consumption and indoor air quality will be monitored closely to assess against the modeling and to review in the context of an occupied home.  For more information, you can visit Harmony House’s website.