Abstract

In keeping with its vision to develop sustainable, energy efficient housing, in 1992, Canada launched the Advanced Houses Program, a program to showcase Canadian Innovation and affirm our commitment to fostering a greener environment. Presented herein is an analysis of the energy performance of one of the ten houses built as part of this federal initiative, the NOVTEC Advanced House. Through the use of a house-as-a-system design philosophy and innovations such as an EIFS (exterior insulation and finish system) wall assembly, and an integrated home comfort system consisting of two ground source heat pumps, the NOVTEC Advanced House is one of the world's top energy performers. The implementation of a comprehensive monitoring plan which included the installation of over 100 sensors and an automated data acquisition system, allowed the authour to collect more than 21 months of data. This data showed that the house consumed 42% less energy than a typical R-2000 house (60 kWh/m 2 /yr vs. 104 kWh/m 2 /yr), and 72% less energy than a typical house built in the late 1970s. A detailed end-use energy analysis as well as an analysis of the seasonal efficiencies of the ground source heat pumps (GSHP) is presented herein. GSHPs can play an important role in improving the energy performance of our residential building stock and in helping Canada reduce its green gas emissions. However, in order for GSHPs to gain widespread acceptance, further R&D efforts are required to optimise their life cycle costs, namely the costs required to install, maintain, repair, and retrofit/replace them.