Minto is selected for Net-Zero Energy Housing project

May 15, 2013, TORONTO – As a result of the organization’s long history of building more sustainable homes and communities, Minto has been selected as one of five building partners in Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative (ecoEII), led by Owens Corning (OC).

With ecoEII financial support, Minto will work with leading residential experts in building science and energy efficiency to plan, design, and construct five zero energy homes. This initiative will further advance NRCan’s investigation of building net zero energy homes on a community scale.

The idea of a net zero energy home is that it employs enhanced energy efficiency design strategies to cost effectively reduce energy needs, while supplementing with renewable energy technologies – resulting in a building that consumes equal to or less energy than it produces on an annual basis.

This project builds on Minto’s previous experiences building zero energy homes – namely Minto’s Inspiration, Canada’s first LEED Platinum home built in 2008, and Minto Ampersand in Ottawa, which contains a block of condominiums designed with the goal of achieving zero energy performance. During every step of analysis in the ecoEII project, the homeowner will be kept front of mind. Minto’s research will focus on cost effectiveness, affordability and the feasibility of developing home energy efficiency packages that are attractive to purchasers.

“This is an exciting project that builds on our past experience and will inform our product development for the next few years, ensuring that we continue to deliver quality, thoughtfully designed, highly energy efficient homes for our customers,” says Alison Minato, Vice President Sustainability at The Minto Group.

Minto is committed to 100% third-party verification on its new developments in Ontario; as of last November, 2,224 Minto homes in Ontario have been ENERGY STAR® qualified and since 2009, Minto has certified over 1,400 homes under various LEED® programs. In 2012, Minto received five LEED® certifications – one of which was the LEED® Platinum Core and Shell certification of its flagship office tower in Ottawa, 180 Kent. In 2012, Minto was named Ontario Home Builder of the Year by the Ontario Home Builders’ Association and recently was named EnerQuality’s Green Builder of the Year and Leader of the Year for the second year in a row.

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About Minto: The Minto Group, established in 1955, is an Ottawa-based real estate, development, construction and property management company with operations also in Toronto, London (ON), Calgary and throughout the state of Florida.

For more information or to schedule interviews, please contact: Robert Smith, Director of Innovation, The Minto Group robsmith@minto.com