they also placed three-and-ahalf inches of insulation under the concrete floor. According to Cal, “The insulation keeps the basement floor closer to room temperature. Without the insulation the floor will always feel cold because the concrete that is in contact with the ground takes on the ground temperature of five to seven degrees. The insulation results in a dramatic increase in comfort of your basement.” The concrete used on the project is a low carbon concrete from Lafarge called EcoPact. EcoPact reduces the carbon footprint by at least 30 per cent and up to 100 per cent on some of Dueck’s other builds. For further eco-friendliness, the home uses the Mitsubishi Zuba Central heat pump. The Zuba is an air source heat pump, that operates much like a geothermal system, but uses air temperature instead of ground temperature for moving heat. It operates at about three-tofour times the efficiency of an electric furnace and has a builtin electric backup that kicks in if needed during periods of extreme cold. The Mitsubishi Electric Zuba also provides excellent heating performance in the winter and effortlessly cools and dehumidifies a home in the summer. In general, sustainability is built in to every part of the home. For example, the home is oriented to take advantage of lots of natural light to allow for passive solar heating and lighting along with automatic shades to avoid overheating in summer. It was painted with zero-VOC paint to prevent off-gassing. Even the mantel surrounding the fireplace in the rec room is sustainable, as it was reclaimed from the century-old house that used to be on the property. The sliding mud room door was the old home’s front door, THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA
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