Active House | superkül

The Active House – built by Great Gulf, one of Canada’s largest home builders - sets a new benchmark for suburban residential development in Canada. The design emphasizes energy efficiency, low environmental impact, superior indoor environmental quality, and high aesthetic standards. Active House aims to shift the expectations of the single-family home away from traditional design and ‘luxury’ finishes, towards design focused on human and environmental health.

Using existing local design guidelines (including a traditional gable roof) and adapting them for Active House specifications yielded a design that provides an abundance of interior daylight, and a house of superior environmental performance. Unusual for a builder home, Active House has an open cross-axial plan with a series of operable skylights and windows that infuse the house with sufficient daylight that little to no artificial lighting is needed during the day. Skylights and windows are equally designed to provide natural ventilation.

From the outset, the house was designed as a prefabricated panelized wood structure to reduce construction waste and construction time. Wall, floor and roof panels were factory-built and the entire framing of the house was erected in a few days. The thermal environment optimizes comfort and efficiency using zoned heating, HRVs and a high efficiency furnace. South facing glazing maximizes solar heat gain in the winter, while overhangs and shades keep the house cool in the summer. A heavily insulated building envelope and home automation system operates the house’s 14 skylights, windows, and motorized shades, based on heating and cooling loads to ensure the house operates efficiently. A solar hot water system and drain water heat recovery further contribute to reducing the house’s environmental impact.

This project was a leap of faith, in a market that has not to date shown much interest in sustainability, human health or quality of experience. Active House is the first of its kind in Canada, and its success has compelled Great Gulf to commission the next version, which is currently under construction in Toronto.

Active House is a watershed in Canadian residential development, simultaneously pushing the boundaries of sustainable and modern design – for the thousands of new homes built in this country every year.