A Â鶹AV building company is changing the housing game with the check mark approval for step five energy efficient modular built homes.
Woodland Crafted Homes has achieved the province's highest standard for energy efficiency under the B.C. Energy Step Code.
Project manager Jamie Fielder said there is a comprehensive list of targets that must be hit in order to achieve the highest step.
"The easy one to talk about is your air exchange per hour rate," Fielder said, referring to the rate at which indoor air is replaced with air from outside. "For a step three, you have to be under 2.5 and for a step five you have to be under one."
Other factors that have to be considered, Fielder said, are home insulation, windows and doors, and mechanical efficiency. Throughout the construction process, Fielder said regular quality checks are done both on the labour and on the materials used.
"The cost goes up on the planning stage there, and then the cost goes up because we're using higher quality material," Fielder stated the cost will be saved by the homeowner in the long-term with all step five homes being net zero ready.
Woodland's energy-efficient homes are on the market at Deer Meadow Estates on Jim Bailey Road.
All of the modular homes in the development are between step three and step five in the energy code and with the houses being built on-site. Fielder said it only takes about 90 days from cutting the first piece of wood to handing over keys to the homeowner.
"I grew up in Â鶹AV and I've seen how the market has changed," Fielder commented. "Affordable housing is something we need. The fact that we can offer that is great and the fact that we can produce it so quickly is also good. It's really nice to see some of the first-time home buyers coming in and hearing the stories that this helped them get into their first house."
Deer Meadow Estates is about 90 per cent sold out with the development expected to have about 350 new modular homes when completed.
Fielder said the next project on the books will be in Vernon. is now selling phase one of the development. The modular houses are available with up to three bedrooms, including a small yard space, and start at $238,000.
