October 10, 2023
The first Net Zero Home in the Township of Langley
On September 8th, Foxridge Homes celebrated the unveiling of the First Net Zero Home in the Township of Langley. Our staff toured the home, all of who have had a unique part in bringing this vision to life over the past few years.
Net Zero homes are extremely well-built, with every detail designed for optimal performance, health, and comfort.
We asked Nicholas Bell, Foxridge Homes’ Director of Operations, and leader of this Net Zero project, to share more about this unique experience.
How did you find the Net Zero building process? What hurdles or surprises did you and the team face?
We did run into some scheduling delays due to availability of trades and materials/products during this build. Some products were discontinued that had to be replaced with alternates. With some of the changes that were made for this home, we had to take our time and work through some of the new details and specs with everyone involved. But it was very exciting for us to build our first Net Zero home, and an interesting challenge and change of pace for our construction team. We couldn’t be happier with the results, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the great group of people we had working on this build.
What impact do you think this home will have for the Township of Langley?
I think this house will showcase some interesting aspects of high-performance building, and how it can be achievable outside the custom home market.
What makes you excited about the prospect of more Net Zero homes in the area?
Building more Net Zero homes is an exciting prospect. I don’t believe any other builder offer this type of high-performance home. We feel this type of home offers a lot of benefits above and beyond our typical builds that can appeal to a wide spectrum of potential buyers. It will be a lot of work, but having the experience of this build under our belt puts us in a great position to consider building more.
How long has this project been in the works for Foxridge Homes?
Design, planning and permit submission was done the summer of 2021. At that time, the permit review timelines were quite lengthy, and we didn’t receive our permit until August 2022. Construction started in September 2022 and we completed the home in August 2023. We paused the construction of the home a number of times for various training/education sessions and tours. Without the intentional pauses to the construction of the home, we estimate it would take around the same time as one of our standard homes to complete another Net Zero home.
What do you think will be the most noteworthy impacts of this specific home for its future owners?
One of the first things people notice about this build is the acoustics/sound dampening and consistent temperature within the home. The quality-of-life improvements this home offers from those two features alone is huge. From an environmental perspective, there is the peace of mind that your home consumes less energy then your neighbour, which lowers the environmental footprint of your home. Because the home produces as much energy as it consumes (averaged, annually, based on the energy performance model), the future owner also protects themselves from future utility rate hikes.
By completing this home, we’ve proven to ourselves that achieving these high-performance standards is possible with our conventional building techniques, which is a huge win for us as a company. The experience and knowledge gained from this build for everyone involved puts us in a great position to be able to consider building more Net Zero homes.
Thank you to Nicholas Bell, and the entire Foxridge Homes team, for this noteworthy journey and accomplishment.
