Home building in Alberta is about to take a quantum leap.

With the introduction of its first two net zero homes earlier this week — one show home in Seton in southeast Calgary, the other show home in southeast Edmonton in the Hills at Charlesworth — Jayman Built says it’s changing the way homes are built in this province.

“We’ve really built these homes well above the 2030 building code,” said Dave Desormeaux, Jayman’s president and COO. “We’ve basically reached the 2050 targets that the federal government has outlined for Canada.”

The 2030 building code calls for homes to be built so they’re net zero ready, meaning the envelope of the 2030 house has to have all the insulated values but it doesn’t require providing an energy source to achieve net zero. The 2050 proposed building code, notes Desormeaux, is looking at taking it to that next level and having it net zero certified — where the house will have to produce enough energy to offset the energy it consumes.

The challenge, said Desormeaux, was not just to build a net zero home. That has been done. Rather, it was about obtaining net zero certification in the most cost-effective way possible with no degradation to build quality, and enabling these homes to be built on practically any lot and from almost any model Jayman offers.

“The other challenge was how close could we get to making it as affordable as possible for people to start making a decision to switch to a net zero home now,” added Desormeaux. “Not in 2030, not in 2050. We wanted to push the envelope, and that’s what we’ve done.”

“We’re within $50,000 to $60,000 for this net zero home,” said Desormeaux, noting they’re trying to get federal incentives to reduce that cost difference. “We believe that if we can get it down to $30,000 to $35,000 or a $40,000 difference, why wouldn’t you buy these homes every day because of the savings in energy and utility bills.”

Jayman said these next-generation homes, marketed under their new Quantum Performance Ultra E-home banner, use 80 per cent less energy than any home built to the current building code and each will save more than eight tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. This is done, in part, via an ecosystem that includes solar panels, upgraded insulation and windows systems, and the house being 100 per cent electric.

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