Edelweiss Project by Ecohome

Why LEED v4

Owned by a LEED Canada for Homes Provider (Emmanuel Cosgrove) and supervised by a Green Rater (Mike Reynolds), this project has an industry-leading team. LEED v4 was pursued in order to learn about the new rating system and help other home builders looking to do LEED v4 in the future.

About the project

As the first LEED v4 certified project in all of Canada, earning LEED Platinum, this super-efficient home aims to demonstrate to homeowners that efficiency and environmentalism don’t have to come at a high cost.

At just over $300,000 to build, this 1,552 sq. ft. home located roughly 40 minutes from downtown Ottawa is the size of an average Canadian townhome – but that’s the only thing that’s average about it. Expertly designed to house up to five people, the home costs just $1.39 a day to run. Approximately half the heat required comes through passive heating (windows). There are two other heat sources – a hydronic radiant floor and an air source heat pump.

Built without toxic products, the home is made of FSC-certified framing lumber, including ceilings made from wood logs that were reclaimed from the nearby Ottawa River. It incorporates a kitchen counter-top made of 75% post-consumer material, including: 400 broken plates and cups, and 60 bottles and broken mirrors. The home is also extremely water-efficient, with an overall savings of 60% – the equivalent of 13,000 litres (or 13 tonnes) of water saved each month for a family of five.

To top it all off the house charges an electric car, which can make the 66.6km round trip between Wakefield and Ottawa at almost no additional electricity cost. The total energy cost for the house, including charging the car, is just $2.19 a day.

For additional project information and a Demo House overview, visit Ecohome’s webpage.