R-2000 Home Program

The objective of the program is to improve the level of energy efficiency in the housing sector.

Eligibility Criteria

Home builders and home purchasers.

Summary

The R-2000 Home Program encourages the building of energy-efficient houses that are environmentally friendly and healthy to live in. House builders volunteer to build to the R-2000 standard, which exceeds the efficiency level required by building codes and other regulations.

The program has four basic elements:

• development of a voluntary technical standard which exceeds conventional building practices and codes for energy efficiency, environmental responsibility and indoor air quality;
• building of R-2000 homes by licensed R-2000 professionals;
• promotion of R-2000 homes to the public;
• support for the program by various public/private partners (such as energy utilities, provincial governments, provincial home builder associations, financial institutions and others).

The R-2000 standard is based on an energy consumption target for a house and a series of technical requirements for ventilation, airtightness, insulation, material selection, water use and other factors. Ongoing research ensures that the standard remains at the leading edge of energy-efficient construction technology.

Since R-2000 began, almost 10 000 R-2000 homes have been built and certified. Close to 900 builders have been licensed to build R-2000 homes. Although new housing quality has improved as a result of R-2000 and other builder training programs, R-2000 builders still lead the industry in the quality of their homes -- quality the Government of Canada stands behind with its R-2000 Home Certificate.

For further information on the R-2000 Home Program, please contact the R-2000 Regional Office (see Related reading - R-2000 Contact List).

New Brunswick Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
Mr. Sylvain Quilliam
Manager, New Housing Intitiatives
Office of Energy Efficiency
Housing, Buildings & Regulations Division
Natural Resources Canada
1st Floor
1 Observatory Crescent
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0Y3
Telephone: (613) 943-0740
Toll-free (information): 1-800-387-2000
TTY (hearing impaired): 613-996-4397
E-mail: squillia@nrcan.gc.ca