Tribute Communities making a Green difference
By NextHome Staff
October 05, 2018
October 05, 2018
Tribute Communities is a builder/developer that’s making a difference for the industry and Ontario new homebuyers through Green initiatives. Just ask Tim Clarke, a software engineering consultant who worked for a company specializing in reducing the water and wastewater demands of residential buildings.When Clarke bought a home in Tribute’s Grandview development in Oshawa, he was interested in upgrade packages that would make the home more energy efficient – not a typical request like hardwood flooring or marble countertops.“He wanted a better than (Ontario Building) Code home,” says Wally Kunz, options manager at Tribute’s decor centre.Little did any of them know at the time that this request would lead to the launch of Tribute’s Innovative Performance Standard, or TIPS.
Frank MacPhee, Tribute’s vice-president of contracts and the man who gave the program the green light, had sensed a better-than-code ask was inevitable.Clarke’s request “just pushed it quicker to the forefront of our mandate.” Clarke received the “comfort package,” consisting of a Lennox two-stage 96 AFUE furnace, a Lifebreath ERV, HVAC balancing, a drainwater recovery unit, greywater rough-in, a Green Whisper Select bath fan and Excel sheathing.Soon after, TIPS was offered as standard fare at Tribute’s new Ajax community, Quantum Falls. Enbridge then approached Tribute to join Savings by Design, a program that provides builders with a $2,000 rebate for every home (up to a maximum of 50 houses per community) that is rated 15 per cent better than the 2017 code.Meanwhile, with a new home rated 21 per cent better than code, Clarke is already seeing savings in his bills.For perspective, his old house was 2,500 square feet, 1,000 square feet smaller than his new one. In the new home, monthly hydro bills have dropped from $150 to $100 and gas is down from $170 to just over $100.
MacPhee says Clarke’s home is one of more than 30,000 homes across Southern Ontario built by the 2016 Ontario Home Builders’ Association’s Homebuilder of the Year.Through its participation in the Savings by Design program, Tribute Communities is constructing energyefficient, healthy and sustainable homes that exceed building code requirements by at least 15 per cent, as well as promoting environmental stewardship through reduced greenhouse gas emissions, conservation of natural resources, habitat remediation and environmental education.This story is from an article appearing in Better Builder magazine by Toronto-based writer Rob Blackstien.ENBRIDGE For more on Savings By Design, visit SavingsByDesign.caTRIBUTE For more on Tribute Communities developments, visit TributeCommunities.com
Frank MacPhee, Tribute’s vice-president of contracts and the man who gave the program the green light, had sensed a better-than-code ask was inevitable.Clarke’s request “just pushed it quicker to the forefront of our mandate.” Clarke received the “comfort package,” consisting of a Lennox two-stage 96 AFUE furnace, a Lifebreath ERV, HVAC balancing, a drainwater recovery unit, greywater rough-in, a Green Whisper Select bath fan and Excel sheathing.Soon after, TIPS was offered as standard fare at Tribute’s new Ajax community, Quantum Falls. Enbridge then approached Tribute to join Savings by Design, a program that provides builders with a $2,000 rebate for every home (up to a maximum of 50 houses per community) that is rated 15 per cent better than the 2017 code.Meanwhile, with a new home rated 21 per cent better than code, Clarke is already seeing savings in his bills.For perspective, his old house was 2,500 square feet, 1,000 square feet smaller than his new one. In the new home, monthly hydro bills have dropped from $150 to $100 and gas is down from $170 to just over $100.MacPhee says Clarke’s home is one of more than 30,000 homes across Southern Ontario built by the 2016 Ontario Home Builders’ Association’s Homebuilder of the Year.Through its participation in the Savings by Design program, Tribute Communities is constructing energyefficient, healthy and sustainable homes that exceed building code requirements by at least 15 per cent, as well as promoting environmental stewardship through reduced greenhouse gas emissions, conservation of natural resources, habitat remediation and environmental education.This story is from an article appearing in Better Builder magazine by Toronto-based writer Rob Blackstien.ENBRIDGE For more on Savings By Design, visit SavingsByDesign.caTRIBUTE For more on Tribute Communities developments, visit TributeCommunities.com