The Province of Ontario has introduced changes to the Ontario Building Code, effective on January 1, 2012. These new guidelines are helping our industry to build more energy efficient homes across the board, and keeping Ontario current with the latest technologies and products. The question is: how do the changes affect you, as a home owner and consumer?

The new code's focus is on energy efficiency, and encompasses the following areas:

• Increased insulation values for walls, ceilings, and slabs

• Increased window efficiency values

• Improved heating, hot water heater, and HRV equipment efficiencies

At Slotegraaf we have always built our homes and renovations to surpass building code standards, and we continue to do so. For example, all of our wall insulation exceeds the highest value in the new building code; we apply an insulated wall board outside of our stud framing in addition to the wall cavity insulation; we urethane our ring joists which eliminates one of the worst sources of air infiltration; our foundation walls have an insulated wall board as well as cavity insulation, from floor to ceiling.

Our suppliers are also committed to exceeding energy efficiency standards. All of the furnaces we install are 95% efficient, which is the highest efficiency available. The windows and doors we install are EnergyStar certified. All of our new homes not only have an extended HRV system, but the HRV unit itself is the most efficient available.

These new building code changes are a great stepping stone toward the new Ontario Building Code Publication. While there is no release date for the new code yet, we can be sure that it will continue to work toward a greener province – something we can all be proud of!

By Emily Larochelle