Designwire Daily: from the editors of Interior Design magazine

Prefab Sustainable Builder LivingHomes Lands in Canada

by Nicholas Tamarin | Wednesday, June 23, 2010 | 3 Comments

LEED Platinum pioneer LivingHomes is leading the way into Canada with a series of four prefab sustainable homes set to be built in Toronto by hometown developer Nexterra Green Homes.

The Santa Monica, California-based company, the first to build a LEED Platinum home in the U.S., is entering into a partnership with Manitoba-based fabricator Conquest Manufacturing to create the structures. LivingHomes also has 10 other LEED Platinum projects currently in production with architectural partners like KieranTimberlake and Ray Kappe, the SCI-Arc founder who designed the current crop of houses set for Toronto.

“We are quite honored to bring LivingHomes to the Canadian market, particularly with the partners we have, Conquest and Nexterra Green Homes,” says LivingHomes CEO Steve Glenn. “We have experienced significant interest in LivingHomes from Canadians over the past couple of years and it’s clear why: there has been more interest in Canada for sustainable design and for modern architecture than most any country in the world.”

The houses will be factory-built by Conquest and transported to the site in modules that will be set in to place and joined together in a process that typically takes one day. They will include open floor plans with exterior decks, solar-ready roofs, geothermal systems for heating and cooling, and triple-paned, argon-filled glass, and blown-in closed cell insulation, both of which aim to reduce heat loss during cold Canadian winters. Features designed to minimize water usage include low flow, high efficiency plumbing fixtures, a rainwater catchment system, and a grey-water system that will capture water from sinks and showers for irrigation, will all work to minimize water usage. Their aim is to achieve Energy Star and LEED Platinum certification, the highest possible designation awarded by the Canada Green Building Council.

Slated for tours beginning late this year, the quartet will be joined by three additional houses that will be available beginning in 2011. Purchase prices for the eco-enclave will include the land and home and are estimated to begin at approximately $1.5 million though potential buyers who own their own land or want to build elsewhere in Canada can either work directly with Conquest or Nexterra to create custom homes.

“LivingHomes offers a radically new concept in prefabricated, sustainable homes, one that we think will prove to be very popular here,” adds Donovan Fowke of Conquest. “We’re excited about the partnership and look forward to working with home buyers who are looking for high quality homes that features great architectural design and a low ecological footprint at a price and delivery schedule that is much less than a comparable site-built home.”