Choice And Flexibility

What does an R-2000 home look like? The short answer is, “like any other home!” Virtually any home can be built to the R-2000 Standard. This means that you can get any style, design and feature you want in a home, and enjoy all the benefits of R-2000 at the same time.

Because the Standard is performance based, setting criteria for how the house must work once it’s completed rather than how it must be built, you and your builder can choose any approach that fits the location, your personal preferences and your budget.

• Construction method. You can use traditional wood framing, steel framing, insulated concrete forms, or any other kind of framing materials, with any type of exterior cladding.
• Insulation and air-sealing. These are important features, so your builder will select those products and approaches that work best with the chosen construction method. Some R-2000 builders give preference to insulation materials with recycled content.
• Heating and cooling systems. The R-2000 standard allows all kinds of systems: forced air, hydronic, radiant, combination hot water/air handler systems, electric baseboards and others. Your builder can advise you on the most cost-effective systems and best overall choice for your home, depending on the energy choices and prices in your area.
• Design. R-2000 works well with any kind of layout, but is particularly well suited for today’s open concept working and living areas. Airtight construction and balanced heating and ventilation systems help to eliminate drafts, hot and cold spots, and stratification, i.e., hot air at the ceiling and cold air at floor level.
• Light. Many R-2000 homes can be extraordinarily bright and sunny, with lots of windows. Today's window technology allow homes designs to take full advantage of R-2000’s energy-efficient construction and use windows extensively for passive solar heating and to bring light into the home, without driving up heating or cooling costs.
• Finishing touches. The choices are entirely yours, almost. The R-2000 Standard requires water-saving plumbing fixtures, but doesn’t dictate style or cost. Your R-2000 builder is also required to incorporate a certain number of “healthy” products aimed at protecting the indoor air quality. From there on, the decisions are all yours, whatever your vision for your new home may be.

Interested in more information and ideas about home designs, choices and options? Check out EnviroHome, an initiative of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association to promote environmentally responsible homes built to the R-2000 Standard.

Contact your regional R-2000 Office for more information on R-2000 in your area, or use the "Find A Member" module to the right. Select "R2000 Builder" under Category with your province or local HBA to find R-2000 Builders in your area.