Green Homes

Suddwick Homes offers full service Green Home building. We can use your existing blueprints, or you can choose from one of our talented home designers or Architects.

A Green Home can be built to varying degrees of sustainability, below is a short overview of the methods and materials we typically employ.

One of the key aspects of a green home is geothermal heat. Using no fossil fuels, geothermal heat pumps heat and cool your home. After a moderate installation cost, the home owner can look forward to comfortable levels of air conditioning and heat for years to come, without a monthly oil or propane bill. This technology is the cornerstone of a Green Home. You invest in a long term solution for heating and cooling your home. You create no greenhouse gas. As dealers for Next Energy ^®, the largest distributor in Canada of Geothermal Heat Pumps, we offer the best pricing and warranties that are unsurpassed in North America.

Insulation levels are vital to the performance of any building. We go above standard BC Building code requirements by minimum 20%. Double wall systems which reduce thermal bridging are a standard practice. Taking your home to the next level is a wise choice, what you can do today, above and beyond the standard, will ultimately become the norm in under a decade. The insulation levels dictate the size of your heating generation costs. By ‘over insulating’, you actually reduce the cost of heating.

Water conservation and recycling are both easy and low cost options.

Using 0 % Volatile Organic Compounds paint and stains, we deliver toxic free indoor environments for all our homes. There are many other choices which can affect indoor air quality, including flooring, cabinets etc. We recommend choosing FSC certified wood, with Low VOC finishes, and carpet which is a natural fibre such as wool.

An electrical plan which takes into account the low voltage requirements of today’s high efficiency lighting is another way to lessen your carbon footprint. We take each blueprint, and with consultations with the end user, we design a home or commercial space to meet the highest standards of energy efficiency.

Solar is an abundant source of free energy for your home. We design with natural Solar Gain in mind, so your home is naturally heated, in addition to the mechanical heating systems operating in the home. Solar Thermal hot water systems are an inexpensive installation which can generate 50-60% of the hot water for a home, with a ROI of under 8 years. These systems are integral to the Green Home, and help the homeowner save money in the same way as Geothermal Heating.

Solar is a very scalable resource, it adapts to the home, to industrial settings and to large scale development. It can be built quickly and can be used in almost any energy applications. For the record, Canada has an excellent solar resource, much better than Germany’s, who is the poster child for an integrated alternative energy strategy.

We use Enerworks ^® Solar Thermal Collectors exclusively, we are trained and professionally accredited to design and install these systems. We are dealers for Enerworks in the Golden, Revelstoke, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge areas of BC. This means we can offer the best pricing and technological advice in the area.

LEED ^® Canada (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a rating system which sets standards for green building projects across Canada and the U.S. Suddwick Homes has a LEED ^® AP (accredited professional) on staff. Although not all our homes are LEED certified, we build each home adhering to the ideas set out in the LEED programs.

We are also dealers for Conergy ^®, the worlds' largest distributor of solar photovoltaic panels. We design and install photovoltaic panels as well as solar thermal systems. For a moderate cost, a solar PV array on the roof or wall will generate a substantial amount of electricity. For the home owner who wants to become more sustainable, or the remote cabin owner who wants reliable energy, solar is the answer.

We design and install all mechanical systems in our homes. From state of the art heating and cooling systems, to high tech wall and building envelope systems, to passive solar window locations, to green roofs, to rain water harvesting, our commitment to excellence is unparalleled.

If you are interested in participating in the sustainable housing revolution give us a call.