Inspiration - The Minto Eco Home

Location

5676 Manotick Main Street

Manotick, Ontario

Canada

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Certifications & Awards
Project Team

Summary

Imagine a house that produces as much energy as it consumes – an intelligently designed home that is attractive, affordable, healthy and eco-friendly. Inspiration – the Minto ecohome – delivers on this vision. As one of 12 teams selected by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to build net-zero homes, Minto is proud to be a part of Canada’s sustainable housing revolution. We’ve found our inspiration.

Inspiration — The Minto ecohome is a new, two-story, 218.5 m2 (2,352 sq. ft.) detached home. It is situated in a mixed-use, master-planned suburban development bordering the community of Manotick within the city of Ottawa that will include small commercial establishments and parks. The goal of the builder / developer, Minto Developments Ltd., is to design and build a sustainable house that annually produces as much energy as it consumes.

The plan for Inspiration — The Minto ecohome began with an Integrated Design Charrette (or planning session) carried out by Minto Developments Ltd.. The session resulted in a shopping list of more than 300 improvements over conventional home design.

One of the most important features is the high level of insulation in the building envelope, including double wall construction with strategically located triple pane windows. A ventilation system uses solar pre-heated air to maintain humidity and temperature levels, and ensures that each room is well ventilated and comfortable at all times.

The ecohome is designed to draw on solar thermal and photovoltaic power sources to produce more energy than it consumes each year. In addition, the home features a host of cutting-edge innovations, including an “all-off” switch that home owners can use whenever they leave the house to turn off not only the lights, but all computers, cable boxes, amplifiers and other unnecessary phantom-load power consumption.

With its high tech features and advanced building envelope, the Minto ecohome confidently answers the call to action for sustainable housing in Canada.

Key Design Features:

  • Highly insulated building envelope
  • Triple pane low-e argon filled windows
  • Sophisticated solar heat recovery ventilation system
  • Site-specific layout and design
  • Solar thermal and photovoltaic systems designed to produce more energy than is consumed annually

Minto Inspiration Website

CMHC EQuilibrium Website