Each month that the Allain family receives a power bill at their new 1,700 square foot house, Luc Allain sees his investments in energy efficiency paying off. The Allain family home, built with a geothermal heat pump and passive solar heating, has an EnerGuide rating of 89, putting the home in the top 1% of the province’s most energy efficient homes. In fact, this house is so energy efficient that its estimated annual heating cost could be around $600!

Luc, the home’s advocate for energy efficiency, says that experience through his job with FundyPros instilled in him a strong desire to build a tight, energy efficient house.  Luc knew that the house overlooking the Bouctouche River in Sainte-Marie-de-Kent would be the home he and his wife will eventually retire in, even before construction began.

“I was raised here, this is where I wanted to retire” says Luc.  The house is built on his grandfather’s former farmland and is within walking distance to his parents’ and siblings’ homes.

Knowing that this would be their home for many years to come, Luc decided to invest in a highly efficient heating system. “From our experience before we built, in eight years at our previous home, the price of electricity is only going in one direction and it’s not down. I wanted something that would save us money in the long-term,” he says.

Luc was very involved in the construction process. “I asked a lot of questions,” Luc says, before he decided to insulate the fully furnished basement, which has a walkout in the back, with 2” foam beneath the concrete floor, and an extra R5 rigid foam on the basement walls that are exposed to the elements.

Thanks to a number of south-facing windows, the house heats up nicely in the winter through passive solar gains and has an expansive view of the Bouctouche River. “In the summer, with the sun higher in the sky, the house stays comfortably cool,” he says.

“In terms of building for energy efficiency,” says Luc, “I wouldn’t do anything differently.”

The EnerGuide 89 house was built with an open-loop geothermal heat pump, which provides high efficiency heating and cooling and preheats the domestic hot water. The home incorporates passive solar heat through south-facing double glazed, low e with argon windows and a well-insulated building envelope.