Housing

New Construction – Single

Read about Michael Hubicki of Cobourg, Ontario, and his award-winning project in the Housing - New Construction (Single) category of Canada's Energy Efficiency Awards 2005.

Off The Grid And Living Under The Birches

Unter den Birken, German for "under the birches" and the name the Hubicki family chose for their home, makes sense as you drive up their tree-lined lane. But it might take you longer to realize that Unter den Birken is one of the most energy-efficient and innovative homes in Canada.

This modern, 465-square-metre, two-storey home doesn't jive with the rustic view many Canadians have of living off the electricity grid. But a closer look reveals telltale signs – like solar panels and a wind turbine – which suggest the Hubicki home is all about sustainability.

"We looked at the environmental impact from beginning to end. We started by using local materials and labour to reduce the energy costs of shipping," said Michael Hubicki. "But the single most important decision we made was to heat with the sun and wood."

Hubicki and his wife, Tina, started planning their home in 2000. They and their daughter moved into the house in January 2003. The four-bedroom house sits on a 26-hectare lot near Cobourg, Ontario.

Both the basement and main floors are heated with in-floor radiant systems that circulate warm water beneath floor tiles. Water is drawn from a well on the property and heated by 60 vacuum solar-heating tubes on the garage roof. Sunlight heats the liquid in the tube, causing it to expand and travel upward to a heat exchanger at the top of each tube. Coils filled with glycol (an alcohol and glycerine mixture) heat water which is stored in a 620-gallon hot water storage tank. The system relies on extra energy from a Danish wood gasification-propane boiler in winter.

Twelve solar panels feed a bank of 24 batteries in the garage to cover the house's electrical needs. A wind turbine, that looks like a propeller attached to a weathervane reaching 10 metres above the tallest tree, also feeds the batteries. A back-up propane generator is available when it's cloudy and calm for extended periods.

Hubicki's training as a landscape architect also helped in producing a sensitive design that works with the landscape to encourage energy efficiency.

"As [architect] Frank Lloyd Wright once said, we built 'into the hill, not on the hill'," said Hubicki. This attention to their surroundings means that the house takes advantage of passive solar heat in winter and shade from a nearby forest in summer.

These measures, combined with the home's heating and power systems and its materials earned it an energy efficiency rating of 81 on a Natural Resource's Canada's EnerGuide for Houses report. Very few homes score 80 or more. A typical new home rates 68.

Hubicki estimates that their house is about $6,500 cheaper to run each year than a home of similar size and age in the same area. The net cost for the renewable energy system was $63,500, this includes saving an estimated $20,000 charge they would have faced to hook the house up the nearest utility pole 700 metres away. This translates into a payback period of just under 10 years. If electricity gets more expensive, then the payback period will drop.

The Hubickis are also using their experience to spread the word on sustainable living. They offer house tours and provide a range of seminars and consulting services through H2OMES. Plans are in the works to offer curriculum modules on sustainability through local school boards.

"We are helping people understand that everyone who uses energy has an opportunity to conserve energy no matter where they live," said Hubicki.