Projects

Linking the classroom to the building site

Our Carpentry and Renovation Technician – Sustainable Design Build program is a 45-week Ontario College Diploma program that trains the builders of tomorrow, today.

We pride ourselves on connecting in-class learning to real-world projects.

While in the first semester of the program students begin hands on learning right away and continue through to the third semester by constructing a high-quality, high-performance, low-energy structure, from footings to finishes.

Students apply green building techniques to these projects, considering factors such as annual and long-term energy costs, building maintenance and longevity. It is this major construction project that sets our program apart from others.

“The beauty of this program is that it turns out well-rounded students who can grow and be successful in whatever career they choose,” says Mark Bell, Program Faculty.

Questions?
For more information about our building projects, please contact Chris Hahn, Dean, by calling 613-267-2859.


Project Homes

2018—2019 Passive House

Ekobuilt design house For the 2018/19 academic year the students are working with EkoBuilt to build a house to the Passive House standard for owners Veena and Paul in the Perthworks neighbourhood in Perth, Ontario. This high performance, low-energy home will be a first time we will build to this standard.


2017—2018 Sustainable Design Build

Ekobuilt design houseFor academic year 2017-18 students are building a 1500 square foot home at the Perthworks Sustainable neighbourhood in collaboration with Green Ark Incorporated and local architect Geoff Hodgins. This neighbourhood was featured in a recent Harrowsmith Magazine. Click here for more information.


2016—2017 Habitat for Humanity

Ekobuilt design houseFor academic year 2016-17 students are building a 1585 square foot home for the Habitat for Humanity Perth Chapter. A family of five has been chosen to occupy this 4 bedroom, low energy home with advanced building materials, some of which are first of its kind in Ontario.

Click here for more information on the Habitat for Humanity Initiative.


2015—2016 Residential Living Lab

Residential Living Lab design

2016 Residential Living Lab – On campus project.

Advanced Housing students are constructing the Residential Living Lab, a new applied research facility at the Perth Campus and the future home of the Perth Campus’s Office of Applied Research and Innovation. The building was designed by GRC Architects Inc., with inspiration from students in the Green Architecture program at Algonquin College’s Ottawa Campus.

Click here for build photos of this exciting project.

Advanced Housing students are now combining residential and commercial building strategies to construct a lab that is energy efficient, environmentally responsible and healthy. Once it is completed, this 2,500 square-foot facility will be equipped with technology and equipment that can be used for future applied research projects.

“What a legacy for these students, who will be able to point to this building with pride long after they graduate and say ‘I made that!’” says Chris Hahn, Dean, Perth Campus. “As a polytechnic, Algonquin College is known for its applied research and this project will allow us to step up our research efforts across all of our program areas, including the construction sector.”

The lab was funded in part by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund.
The project was launched in fall 2015 and will be completed for Fall/Winter 2016.


2014—2015 Arthur 55

Arthur 55 houseArthur 55 is a 2,000 square-foot home with two levels, three bedrooms and a second-floor deck off the master bedroom. Arthur 55 was built at the PerthWorks site in partnership with Ellard Enterprises Inc. The building’s construction emphasizes resource conservation, which reduces operational costs. This is a high-performance, low-energy home that is built to be comfortable, bright and healthy. The building is solar ready and can accommodate a 10 kilowatt rooftop PV system. Along with the other sustainable design features of the home, this creates the potential for the home to reach Net Zero (which means that it would generate as much energy as it uses).

Arthur 55 Features include:

  • air-tight construction
  • a whole-house ventilation system
  • gas fireplace and inline (with ventilation ducting) heating element
  • energy-efficient appliances and lighting
  • water-conserving fixtures such as low-flow taps and dual-flush toilets

2013—2014 SOBE House

SOBE houseThe SOBE House is a contemporary 1,600 square-foot, three-bedroom design from the Beaver Homes and Cottages Home Hardware catalogue. This high-performance, low-energy home demonstrates responsible, sustainable building practices. Our guiding principle is the conservation of resources. Everything about this house, from its modest size to its super-insulated assemblies, reflects this principle. We created a bright, comfortable, extremely livable home that has superior indoor air quality and will be easy to heat and cool.

SOBE House Notable building metrics:

  • R20 sub-slab insulation
  • R30 insulated concrete form (ICF) foundation
  • R35 wall assembly
  • R80 ceiling
  • super airtight detailing
  • triple low-e argon windows (aluminum/vinyl hybrids)
  • hydronic radiant heating
  • natural gas, tankless domestic hot water
  • whole house high-efficiency ventilation (HRV)
  • steel roof
  • cementitious panel siding
  • cold-storage room

SOBE House Build Slideshow


2012—2013 Solar Decathlon: ECHO House

Echo house

In 2013, Advanced Housing students had an incredible opportunity compete in the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon as part of Team Ontario. Team Ontario was a multi-discipline collaboration of more than 100 students and faculty from Algonquin College, Queen’s University and Carleton University.

  • Their passion: promoting renewable energy and sustainable living.
  • Their mission: to design a new standard of sustainable living that would drive demand for sustainable, net-zero housing in the housing market.
  • Their home: ECHO.

Watch the video of the project:

AC Video player

Team Ontario describes ECHO: “Our home, ECHO, is an ecological home built for the next generation of young homeowners. It is the home we envision ourselves moving into over the next 10 years and the home we hope to raise our own families in. By educating and inspiring our peers to demand sustainable housing, we can revolutionize the housing market and dictate the level of impact our homes will have on the environment.”

Team Ontario was proud to be one of only twenty collegiate teams from the around the world selected to compete in the Solar Decathlon 2013. The major structure and components of the home were built by Advanced Housing students at the Perth Campus. Because the Solar Decathlon was held in California, the house had to be built in Ontario, then dismantled and reconstructed in California—a special requirement that the team was careful to work into the very design of the house.

Team Ontario placed sixth overall—an amazing achievement!


2011—2012 Olympic House

Olympic HouseOlympic House was an inter-professional project built in partnership between Algonquin College and Lanark Design/Build Group. Advanced Housing students constructed the high-performance, low-energy home. Olympic House was built to in part to raise funds for local Olympian Nick Tritton and several local charities.

2011-2012 Project: Olympic House Slideshow


2010—2011 The iFITSOLO

iFitSolo

iFITSOLO was designed with function and energy conservation in mind. Although the home is a total of 1600 square feet, that square footage is split over two stories. This means that the actual footprint of the building is a conservative 800 square feet.


iFitSolo Features include:

  • high-performance doors
  • high-performance windows
  • high-performance gas fireplace
  • whole-house ventilation system
  • traditional front porch
  • single-car attached garage

The iFITSOLO Slideshow


2009—2010 The Delta Home

Delta Home

The Delta Home was designed with function and energy conservation in mind. It has three finished levels and a conservative footprint of just 800 square feet.


Delta Home Features include:

  • super-insulated airtight envelope
  • high-performance windows
  • high-performance doors
  • high-performance gas fireplace
  • whole-house ventilation system
  • traditional front porch
  • wrap-around cedar deck
  • two-car garage
  • The Delta Home was built for a local family, the Silversides.

The Delta Home Slideshow


2008—2009 The DoubleSmart Duplex

Double Smart

Advanced Housing students collaborated with Perth architect Geoff Hodgins to construct the DoubleSmart duplex at PerthWorks. This project was a challenging two-storey 3,000 square-foot. energy-efficient duplex that included a complex, multi-pitched main roof and south-facing windows that make the most of natural light.

The DoubleSmart Slideshow


2007—2008 The eQuality Home

eQualityWith the eQuality Home, sustainability and accessibility go hand-in-hand. This 1,110 square-foot modular bungalow is an energy-efficient, healthy home that was designed to meet (or be easily adapted to meet) Ontario Building Code requirements for accessibility. This means that the home is inclusive and easily adaptable to meet individual needs. This particular building was designed and constructed especially for an Ottawa-based family with a son who uses a wheelchair. It was constructed at the Perth Campus and subsequently moved to a small community in Lanark County.

The eQuality Home Slideshow


2006—2007 The E-Cottage

E-CottageThe E-Cottage is an 800 square-foot structure that incorporates a variety of green building principles.


E-Cottage Features include:

  • simple, compact shape
  • passive solar design
  • healthy materials selection

The E-Cottage was purchased by an Ottawa family and has been moved to a lakefront property.

The E-Cottage Slideshow