As a mortgage broker, mortgage administrator, investment manager, and proud member of the Canadian Home Builders Association, Downing Street Group is dynamic and financially strong. The company also operates as an exempt market dealer (EMD) and as such, it is authorized to offer investments for sale while conducting business. Therefore, the company is strictly regulated by its local financial services regulatory authority.

Downing Street Group’s real estate investment division offers three investment theses—research-and-analysis-supported rationales for specific investment strategies. Firstly, its commercial investment thesis comprises buying and restoring single-story flex office and light industrial facilities that are, once completed, returned to the market for leasing.

Secondly, its traditional development thesis typically covers purchasing contaminated brownfield lots in a radius stretching from Durham to Niagara across the Golden Horseshoe, the Southern Ontario region surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario. It then joins forces with a partner which remediates the land, allowing the company to secure and resell rehabilitated land approved by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to developers. That is if it does not build on the land itself.

Thirdly, the company joins forces with one of several building partners to build, develop, and sell residential units. Its partners include Marydel Homes, Averton, and J.D. Development Group. Currently, there are nearly ten such projects in progress consisting of 2,000 low-rise, detached townhouses with some five-to-eight-storey buildings.

In addition, one of its properties in Etobicoke, an 11,000-square-foot co-working facility, has become a business incubator that is popular amongst new business owners for the excellent start-up opportunities it offers. Here, entrepreneurs can establish businesses that typically relocate to larger premises later. Downing Street Group also services building sites for third-party customers as it is an expert in a wide range of services.

There are several advantages to working with Downing. One of these is that the team readily shares advice and ideas with borrowers looking to buy properties with which the company has experience. Its in-house experts like environmental engineers, planners, and development and asset managers also can assist in reaching a final verdict as to whether or not a particular property is viable.

The company has a long history of visionary change-making since its founding by Daniel Odorico and another, now retired, Partner. It started as a restorer of class B office buildings in Toronto’s downtown area. Odorico was joined by Marc Canale, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, in 2011.

“The opportunity that you might find today may not be the opportunity tomorrow. There are so many segments of real estate to be in,” says Canale, noting that the company goes “where we see opportunity and we can add value. You have to evolve, and we follow where we believe the opportunity is.” And so, the firm often makes use of third-party investors to bring projects to life that benefit society in financially sound ways.

Its latest example of just how much its work benefits local communities is also one of its proudest projects, so far. The Laurentian Commons development is set on a brownfield site right in the middle of Kitchener-Waterloo. It boasts six hundred master-planned residential units alongside a mixed-use complex perfect for living and working. All of this spreads across twelve acres of beautiful land with easy access to a host of amenities such as stunning public parks and trails as well as retail and dining establishments. Getting to work and school is easy thanks to its strategic positioning and nearby transit stops.

As with all valuable real estate, its location is key to its value. “As the second-fastest-growing community in Canada, [Kitchener-Waterloo is] expected to reach a population of 742,000 by 2031. It is the tech hub of Canada with over 15,000 tech companies creating 200,000 jobs and sixteen surrounding universities and colleges,” says Mark Stirpe, Managing Director.

The development greatly enhanced the value of all the surrounding properties as it transformed a formerly unsightly, empty property into a thriving hive of activity. As a result, the city also benefits from increased property taxes. Ultimately, this development stands testimony to the huge contribution Downing Street’s teams have made to the community.

The flagship development was launched in collaboration with two of the company’s trusted and widely respected construction partners that are also members of the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA). Averton and J.D. Development Group were chosen for their tremendous experience and visionary approach to developments of this calibre.

“Laurentian Commons is a Downing Street community created for residents to enjoy surrounding parks and trails, shopping and dining, and employment opportunities. We wanted to bring vibrant community living to this area with this development, and we are proud to have achieved it,” Stirpe adds.

Downing Street Group’s team of around twenty-three people is as close-knit as a family, and Canale is open about how important its people are to one another. “I call them my second family. While they have very defined roles, there are a lot of touch points for various people,” across departments,” he says, noting that as a result, the company’s people are highly skilled due to the variety of fields in which its people operate.

“I think we provide people, especially young people, a real education in the real estate development business and the lending business very quickly. There is also very little repetition,” he continues. This is a company that makes a rewarding and healthy work environment a priority to benefit all of its staff members.

Naturally, this came into play in a big way when COVID-19 hit. Everyone pulled together like never before, and the rest is history. “I was worried for many of our tenants. But [they] did very well. We… did not have any defaults in our mortgage fund throughout COVID. Frankly, we are very proud of that achievement. We are frankly also proud of our borrowers that they sustained the blow of COVID and managed to [go] forward with their various properties,” Canale adds. Regardless of a couple of developments being shut down due to pandemic regulations, there were no major obstacles that came the company’s way during the crisis.

Downing Street Group has a big heart, and its teams love having fun with their charity work. Its generosity is based on a solid sense of responsibility toward those whose lives are affected most by its work. The supported charities are all local since the company is “local by nature. [We have our] feet on the street. Every asset that we own or mortgage that we currently have, we could drive to from our office within an hour or hour and a half,” Canale says.

One of its big focus points for giving back to the communities in which it thrives is in South Etobicoke, Ontario. Recently, the company partnered with the city in closing off a street to host an art festival where residents could celebrate locally produced art. Another time it welcomed people to a 1950s-style drive-in dining experience complete with servers on roller skates bringing food to visitors in their cars.

The company also supports internationally known medical aid organization Global Medic, which is headquartered in Etobicoke. “During COVID-19, we donated a 35,000-square-foot building of ours for their use so they could use it as a distribution warehouse,” says Canale.

But it is not just this city that benefits from the company’s generosity. Others, including Toronto, are also blessed with its strong involvement in community work. The company offers bursaries at St. Michael’s College School as well as significant support to Ve’ahavta. This Jewish charity performs social services to anyone in need, irrespective of religion or culture, by supplying the basic needs of the less fortunate from its offices at Chesswood Drive 1, Toronto.

Back at the Downing Street office, company leadership is set to make the best of future market trends. Despite obvious challenges, Canale hopes that the housing market’s current prohibitive pricing spike will correct itself for the sake of first-time buyers. In terms of the existing housing shortage, he refers to the January 2022 Scotia Bank Report noting that of all the G7 countries, Canada has the biggest housing shortage, with Ontario in the lead.

To this end, the company is committed to continuing to meet the demand in the Canadian housing market with expert knowledge and superb service. Canale is confident that the team is always ready and prepared to meet its next opportunity. “All our services complement each other. We take a sense of pride in [what we do.] When, generally speaking, people [are putting their] largest investment into [your work], you want to feel good that they feel good,” he says with a smile.

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Sean J. O’Connor had none of these things, but always knew a different path into the industry was possible.

Years before founding SJOC Construction Inc. in 2016, O’Connor wanted to be a builder, but freely admits he knew little about construction and had no family influences or any prior training. Even without hands-on experience, he was consumed with a passion to build and transform properties.

Meeting a lifelong contractor who began showing him the ropes, including dealing with trades and understanding different sequencing and methodology, his eyes were opened to this exciting new world—and his first love.

“I realized then that I have to learn this business, and I will do whatever it takes,” says O’Connor, who began touring job sites with his hardhat, safety boots and lunch pail.

Working for whoever who would take him on, he met a Cuban man who, on his own, was building a house in a Brampton, Ontario suburb. On the back of his dusty truck, the man wrote with his finger that he would pay $10 an hour. O’Connor told him to keep his money and rather, teach him how to build.

Joining the union and working with this contractor for a year of introduction, O’Connor fortunately met two seasoned construction veterans and worked his way up to lead carpenter. He quickly became so adept that the owners asked him to take over the company. Although the offer was tempting, he declined, sticking with his ambition of becoming a builder.

Creating a destiny

Around the same time that the offer was made, the Canadian construction industry was hit with a six-week union strike. That pushed the young O’Connor to start his own company, SJOC Construction. The company namesake comes from his initials representing total commitment and ownership. Since the original founding, the company is no longer about one person, but rather the entire team behind the same vision.

Unlike others in the industry, SJOC Construction, from the beginning, was never afraid to tackle complicated, risky, structural remodelling projects. This led to O’Connor subcontracting, then bringing on board plumbers, masons, flooring installers, et cetera, building himself a list of trusted tradespeople, and negotiating with suppliers.

“I knew the client base was very particular on the level I got involved with, so I didn’t want a subcontractor touching something unless they had been doing it for 20 years,” he says. This included specialized tile setters who focused solely on creating remarkably precise work, rather than the “plumber being the painter being the tile setter.”

Soon this led to bigger projects and more responsibility, with O’Connor and his team building a reputation for work which was not only outstanding, but often completed ahead of time. Sometimes this involved O’Connor sleeping on the job site, doing whatever it took to get everything completed to client satisfaction.

“It’s like the old saying: ‘If you want something done, give it to a busy person,’” he says. Before long, O’Connor had built a company complete with site managers, project managers, architects, draftspeople, controllers, marketing experts, and finance.

Today, SJOC Construction takes on impressive residential works including residential renovations, custom and high-end luxury homes, commercial, institutional, military and security works, project management, property evaluations, design and engineering, and more.

“We operate across Ontario and take on any job we can mobilise around, and that either has drawings or doesn’t,” says O’Connor. “A big component of our business is design-build.”

A better construction experience

Sometimes clients approach the company with an idea but don’t know where to start. As the builder, SJOC gets involved at the consultative end, guiding the architects and engineers to better, more cost-effective ways to build for the client. “We handle all of those components on their behalf and on behalf of the trades, and help them get organized.”

At SJOC, the team lives by its straightforward motto: A Better Construction Experience. O’Connor notes, with pride, that he and his people ask themselves every day how they can improve the building process for their customers.

This includes everything from responding to client questions quickly (often within minutes, not hours), keeping clients in the loop about the state of the project, and being transparent about pricing. This can result in weeks shaved from construction times, saving everyone money and freeing both SJOC and their clients to move on more profitably.

“As much as our clients love us, what best serves the project?” asks O’Connor. “Being expeditious, providing high quality, and safety. We’ve never had a safety incident in the history of our company.”

Customers know which experienced team member they are dealing with, and aren’t bounced around from one person to another, as often happens in some other companies. These factors—timely project completion, stellar communication, professional work, and honest communication—are some of the reasons why customers come to SJOC, and leave glowing reviews on Google and other sites praising the company and its work.

Reasons for the outstanding reviews, says O’Connor, come down to one thing: SJOC Construction’s absolute commitment to its clients. “We don’t leave until you love it,” he says simply, “and that often comes at a cost to us, but it’s the roots of this company.”

Everything comes back to care. How do project managers and site manager work with clients? Are workers treating job sites respectfully, with no candy wrappers or cigarette butts left on-site?

“We care for that visual and the client comfort, and they don’t even feel like they’re on a construction site,” says O’Connor. “We should be like ghosts, and not have scaffold piled up in front of somebody’s lawn for seven months. Teaching that care to our people translates to the clients, that we give a damn, and that’s rare. It’s not common amongst different businesses.”

A piece of the pie

In fact, it was this care, and going the extra mile, that appealed to Chris Suraci. Now heading SJOC’s business development, Suraci says it was SJOC’s passion that drew him to the company. “The slogan of ‘a better construction experience’ speaks to our niche in an industry that’s very populated, and has definitely made a name for itself of being about greasy contractors with attitude,” he says. “We carve out a major piece of the pie simply by treating people better. We just do things that are considered ‘a better construction experience.’”

To ensure clients the best possible building experience, the company has invested in hiring the right people and using the latest technology, including next-level software that interacts with a project as it happens.

Once somebody comes on board with SJOC, a portal is created which can easily be accessed at any time through a phone app or computer, so all communication from anyone on the team, including subcontractors, flows through the app.

“It’s comfort they can see, and clients are at peace,” says Suraci. “How do you pull back the veil? How do you let people behind the scenes? That’s a big part of our positive Google reviews, and clients interact with that. It’s a big deal.”

With his company a proud member of the Canadian Home Builders Association, O’Connor attends many of the CHBA’s speaking events and promotional activities. “It’s always been a dream to be involved with CHBA,” he says. “I think our relationship is largely untapped with the resources that are there and available, something that allows us to get involved in different project scales, so it’s very interesting.”

No cherry picking

Taking on residential and commercial projects, SJOC believes there is an untold number of projects in any category or sector. “Anything constructible, anything that can be built, we want to get in and make our mark on,” says O’Connor.

This ambition frequently leads the company to unique projects, including one under way in Dundas, Ontario, where SJOC is using quantities of historic and reclaimed wood to realize the client’s vision. Other projects in the work are ultra-modern, with polished concrete floors, floating vanities, and no traditional elements.

Envisioning significant growth in the next five years, O’Connor says the company’s end goal remains the same: to be a company where clients simply say “Give the work to these guys, they’ll take care of it. That’s based on how many people know us,” comments O’Connor. “So it’s really about executing on projects, well-run projects, and building consumer confidence that we can handle it. ‘Forget about that other guy, honestly do yourself a favour, and hire these guys.’ That’s where we need to be.”

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This means Ontario’s energy system needs a significant overhaul, moving away from fossil fuels, which account for 76 percent of Ontario’s GHG emissions and 80 percent of total energy consumption.

Enter net zero homes, which produce exactly as much energy as they consume, making no net energy purchases from the power company. It’s a novel concept gaining acceptance as people grow increasingly interested in owning a home that is cost-effective to maintain as well as attractive and comfortable. Although challenging, it’s absolutely possible, and Enercare Home and Commercial Services has plenty of solutions to make it a reality.

Smart energy solutions

One of North America’s major providers of energy solutions for both residential and business services, Enercare serves 1.9 million consumers across Canada and the United States, selling, renting, repairing, and maintaining furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, water treatment systems, and other HVAC devices.

“We’re going to see quite a demand in net zero being built in the province of Ontario,” says Nolan Leiska, Director of Builder Sales. “In 2022, probably about 300 to 350 net zero homes will be built here, and in 2023, we see that number closer to 800, based on permits. We know the building code is going to get to net zero by 2030 anyway, so some builders are being early adopters.”

Because net zero homes are made to be up to 80 percent more energy-efficient than typical homes, they start out using less energy. They can be positioned to better receive the sun’s warmth and light, a process called passive heating, and to retain heat in the winter and keep it out in the summer, they’re also exceptionally airtight and insulated.

Low-energy appliances, HVAC systems, and other electrical equipment are essential, and through technology, homeowners can regulate energy use by paying attention to how energy is consumed throughout the house.

Through solar panels, water management, smart devices, energy-efficient appliances, efficient lighting, and high-performance windows and doors, numerous ways can be found to create sustainable and comfortable living conditions.

Pressure on builders

“I think it’s also fair to say that builders are starting to feel increased pressure from their purchasers on sustainable development—that customers are looking for energy-efficient options not necessarily available in the market today,” says Scott Beneteau, Vice President, Commercial, Builder, and Strategic Partnerships. “I think that’s increasingly driving builders to start looking at heat pump technology, energy recovery ventilators, and smart home controls to manage the energy for end users.”

That includes HVAC and water heating solutions; Enercare is seeing an increasing demand for efficient, on-demand water heaters and boiler technology as opposed to less efficient, tank-style water heaters, for example.

“We’re seeing that early adopters are pushing the envelope in trying new products,” says Leiska. “For instance, we’re in the water heater business and we signed a deal for our first heat pump / hybrid-electric water heater.”

The big advantage with this kind of solution is that it isn’t gas fired; it’s essentially a renewable energy and can be used to heat the water of the home.

“I think we’ll end up seeing everything pushed to net zero electric that can be,” he adds. And once this is implemented, you should find only two gas-fired appliances in a home, one a heating source, like a small furnace, and the other a gas BBQ. Everything else should be electric.

An eye on the tariffs

To reduce monthly energy bills, families are also turning to smart home energy solutions like thermostats that can change settings automatically to meet changing energy requirements. Additionally, this technology can identify inefficiencies to reduce wasteful power, water, and gas usage. By running homes on smart technologies, energy consumption can be drastically reduced.

“Obviously, as these technologies continue to grow and we move away from natural gas and toward electrification, electricity tariff structures are increasingly important,” says Beneteau.

“There are new programs on the horizon that leverage battery technology. If you use it in your home, you get an off-peak discount on your electricity to allow you to store energy during the night or peak hours when it’s cheapest. It’s just common sense to streamline our electric base load and incentivize customers from a tariff point of view to deploy these technologies,” he says.

But it’s not just HVAC and water heating technologies at play; it’s on-site energy generation, including solar, says Beneteau. The next mass market products to follow will then likely be battery storage combined with smart panels to allow customers to store energy and have backup resilience for power outages.

“For example, we continue to see an increase in EVs (electric vehicles) being able to use the power stored in their batteries and feed it back into your home in times of an outage,” he says. “When I think about electrification, that’s really what jumps to my mind as the most likely next step.”

Following that would be central heating and cooling based on heat pump technology, which has come a long way in meeting the rigours of the Canadian winter, in particular.

The challenge of heating water

“There are very good technologies on the horizon, and I think water heating is likely the one to lag behind,” Beneteau shares. “Obviously it takes a lot of energy to heat water, and our expectations from a comfort perspective are that we have a voluminous, ready-at-hand supply of hot water. So there’s work to be done on the water heating side as it relates to electrification.”

Additionally, electricity is expensive in Ontario, so, in the formulation of public policy at the provincial and federal level, the cost of electricity itself will be a large factor, along with the carbon tax.

“There needs to be some reasonable offset, or something approaching parity, between electricity and natural gas to really get customers and builders to take up that option,” says Beneteau. “We also need to educate and convince customers that this is a good idea for the future.”

With respect to water heating, he thinks there will be a share of scepticism if electricity is the fuel that can ultimately deliver the volume of hot water we have come to expect in Canada at a price that people are willing to pay.

“As it stands today there’s a trade-off,” adds Leiska. “You can be more energy-efficient and feel good about not using fossil fuels, but you won’t feel super good when you have to take a cold shower because demand can’t keep up.”

The use of electricity for water heating certainly brings some significant challenges. Can it be done? Absolutely, says Beneteau, but you need large electrical coils to do it, which drives high costs and a heavy demand on the electricity grid.

“There are obvious challenges we’re going to face with electrification given the demands of hot water heating and the increased capital cost of acquiring these electrical heat pump technologies as compared to a conventional gas-fired system,” he says.

Heat pumps as standard

The industry is moving slowly, but there’s certainly demand, particularly in high-rise new construction where heat pumps are increasingly becoming standard, which is good to see. “High-rise new construction is an area where I expect to see tremendous growth in heat pump and smart tech deployments,” says Beneteau. “High-rise developers are building product that offers greater energy efficiency and long-term operating cost savings; however, property managers will need more support to help manage these increasingly sophisticated and connected HVAC systems,” he shares.

“One of the core pillars of our company is affordable sustainability,” says Beneteau. “What’s the mix of technologies that will ultimately get our customers to have a more sustainable home, but be able to do it in an affordable way?”

He thinks the answer is natural-gas water heating as the standard for the foreseeable future, increasingly moving to centralized heat pump technologies. However, that should be paired with battery and smart home panel technologies that offer the insights and actionable intelligence that customers need to run a home more effectively, and ultimately take some accountability for their energy consumption.

“It’s going to take a mix of technologies to deliver the affordable part of our sustainability goal.”

Leiska agrees, adding that educating the customer is vital, as most don’t know what appliances are out there.

Aiming for net zero

“Other than buying something with an Energy Star sticker and feeling good about that, you really don’t know what energy drives your day-to-day life,” he says. “Part of our smart technology would be telling you where you’re using most of your energy so you can pay attention to it. If your washing machine uses the most electricity, maybe you should be doing laundry loads at different times of the day.”

Smart home scheduling is going to be critical to managing overall energy consumption, along with heat pump technology and likely, a gas-fired, energy-efficient water heater, says Beneteau. “I think that’s a setup that can get you, if not entirely to net zero, then pretty close.”

Leiska agrees. “It’s like monitoring the performance of your home. It’s absolutely done through a combination of electric and gas and the cleanest kind of energy you can put in—and the most affordable kind of energy is electricity.”

After heating is taken care of, water will be the next challenge, says Beneteau, including wastewater conservation, and reusing the water inside the home, more goals and challenges that Enercare is looking to tackle.

“We see ourselves as a leader, somebody our customers are looking to to bring new technologies, new control systems and ultimately, deliver on the affordable sustainability that we’ve really turned our mind to,” he says.

What Beneteau would like to see includes at least a third of the construction business in the next five years moving forward with net zero configuration, or at least starting down the path at some of their sites, making them net-zero ready with devices in place and properly configured.

In the meantime, there’s work to be done on keeping our living spaces as clean and green as possible.

“Smart panels and batteries, grey water capture, and recycling,” he says. “That’s a huge step to affordable sustainability for our customers. Our ambitions in the next five years are to get a third of our customers taking meaningful steps toward net zero, or at a minimum, net-zero ready.”

The post Turning the Energy Tide with Net Zero Homes<p class="company">Enercare</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The initial operations of AMRIK as a real estate company centred on buying and selling distressed assets like apartment buildings, coupled with other transactions that made sense for the then-nascent business. The company purchased land around Alberta over time and began working with land developers and home builders to develop land and build single-family homes, car washes, and more.

Once the lots were purchased, the AMRIK team would bring in preferred home builders to complete the home construction while they managed the inner workings of development, such as financing and marketing. Having started with only nine lots and growing that into hundreds, the company has become one of the foremost developers in its area through its significant growth.

AMRIK is a proud member of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), and Singh says that the affiliation has helped the company expand its network of contractors over the years. CHBA has allowed AMRIK to meet trades and contractors that may not have been available otherwise. The partnership has also given the company access to helpful industry information, which is further relayed to its builder groups. This information helps all involved to stay ahead of the curve in the industry.

The CHBA partnership forms a crucial part of the way AMRIK does business. “We’re so glad we’re a part of the CHBA now,” Singh affirms. “I don’t know what took us so long but… once we had the opportunity to make the leap, we’ve never looked back.”

AMRIK’s mission is to help builders in local communities find land opportunities, whether for residential, multi-family, condominium, or other building projects. The company provides marketing and financing services for the home builders it works with, and if land opportunities are not available, AMRIK will analyze the areas in which these builders operate to help them make informed purchasing decisions.

To illustrate the company’s success with its builders thus far, Singh gives the example of one of AMRIK’s main builders, one who was initially unsure of how to begin business in Alberta. AMRIK offered the builder lots in its first large land purchase, the Hills at Charlesworth neighbourhood in Edmonton, and offered financial support along with marketing and sales expertise. Singh adds that, at times, financing can be a problem for a builder because it may not be big enough to qualify for lines of credit or simply may not know the area well enough to market to it.

Buying can also present a significant challenge, as large developers do not always sell to smaller operations. In this case, through the efforts of AMRIK, the builder went from constructing five homes a year in one area to forty homes a year, a success that spurred even more builders to crop up in the AMRIK pipeline.

AMRIK Developments is not only concerned with its local community from a business perspective, but from a philanthropic one also. The company has been involved with community and charitable organizations for a long time, helping to sponsor, fundraise, or support local sports teams, drives, and charity events and societies. The company’s work with CASA Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health hits home for everyone involved. As so many people worldwide and at the company itself have had loved ones facing mental health issues or have been impacted by them themselves, AMRIK looks to its builder partners to support this type of universal cause.

For both the company and its builders, the opportunity to give back to the community is hugely important, as is the ability to start a positive social movement. Singh cites the Chief Executive Officer of Cantiro Homes, George Cantalini, as the person who inspired him to take this attitude toward charitable actions and who taught him the importance of giving back.

“You don’t know what people are going through,” he explains. “We’re all in this together and we need to reflect on what the other person is going through.”

This attitude is also why the company emphasizes slow and controlled growth for itself to avoid industry burnout and continue to keep perspective on its actions. Singh mentions that a big part of the AMRIK calendar year is the annual CASA charity golf tournament, which is held in late August and is always a lot of fun.

The company has gone from large project to large project within the last year alone. In 2021, the company worked with JL Developments on a purchase of lots in Schonsee, North Edmonton. AMRIK purchased eighty-five lots from the city of Edmonton in May 2021 in a project that was, at the time, the largest development the company had partnered in.

Now, its biggest ongoing project concerns the Robinson subdivision in Leduc, Alberta. This one will be the largest development that AMRIK has been a part of to date, according to Singh, and is well underway. When looking at the developing market in broad focus, he admits that homebuilding right now is a little tougher than usual, mostly due to interest rate inflation, and the cost of supply and obtaining of goods. It is something of a fraught time for a lot of developers and homebuilders, especially with some Canadian markets being more strongly affected than others. Singh is confident, however, that Alberta will be able to remain strong throughout market fluctuations and will weather the storm; it will just need to be cautious.

When AMRIK Land Development Corporation began operations five years ago, it was with only a nine-lot subdivision. “We had no clue what we were doing,” he chuckles.

AMRIK not only survived and learned a lot along the way but today sports a fifty-lot subdivision with a further goal of 100 to 150 lots by 2023. AMRIK also has eyes on becoming a boutique land developer, dipping into buying, designing, and developing its own land exclusively for its collection of builders. This measured growth and doing right by its builders have led AMRIK Developments to great heights, and promise to be the values that will see it through the coming decade and beyond.

The post Supporting Alberta-Area Builders and Charities with Continued Growth<p class="company">AMRIK Developments </p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The budget addresses the issue with its first chapter, “Making Housing More Affordable,” and touches on how the goal of achieving a safe, reasonably priced home — “one that was taken as a given for previous generations — is increasingly out of reach for far too many Canadians,” especially amongst younger persons. “Foreign investors and speculators are buying up homes that should be for Canadians to own. Rents in our major cities continue to climb, pushing people further and further away from where they work.”

Shortage of housing stock

The lack of housing in Canada did not suddenly emerge, but has been simmering for years. The issue is multifaceted; out-of-reach prices are one factor, and lack of supply is another. According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada has a far lower number of homes per person than many other OECD countries, such as France, Germany and Japan.

Every year, on average, Canada builds some 200,000 new housing units. To meet demand, Canada needs to double its present rate of new construction over the next decade. In fact, Finance Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimate we need to construct a minimum of 3.5 million new homes by 2031.

Creating a list of Key Ongoing Actions, the federal government is slated to deliver over $72 billion via the National Housing Strategy by 2027-2028, allocating billions of dollars for building and repairing rental housing, affordable housing and shelters, support for housing in Indigenous communities, joint funding with the provinces and territories, and other initiatives. The budget also proposes tabling legislation to implement the nation’s first national vacant housing tax, applying to non-Canadian, non-resident owners.

The role of CHBA

Serving as ‘the voice of Canada’s residential construction industry for almost 80 years,’ the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) represents one of Canada’s biggest industry sectors, with approximately 9,000 members, including land developers, home builders and renovators, contractors, insurers, manufacturers, building product suppliers, lending institutions and others. Supporting its members, CHBA plays a vital role in ensuring Canadians have access to housing that meets their needs “at a price they can afford to pay,” and conveying the interests of homebuyers and homeowners to all levels of government.

Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Kevin Lee for almost a decade, CHBA continues to call for the creation of, and access to, housing in Canada. “It is really important to distinguish between affordable housing, and housing affordability,” says Lee. “We typically talk about housing affordability, which is very much about market rate. Can a young family afford to buy a home in their community and become first-time homebuyers? Housing affordability applies to rentals as well. Can you afford a rental unit in an area where you should be able to afford to do so? It’s very different in affordable housing, which is social housing for all intents and purposes.”

A fine balance

While all kinds of housing are important, about 95 percent of Canadians live in market rate housing and are concerned about housing affordability, while the remaining five percent need affordable housing units. Worldwide, there is a movement toward inclusionary zoning, where a certain percentage of units must be affordable (half the price of a normal unit in the market, for example). However, this raises the question: where will the subsidy come from – the general tax base, municipalities lowering development taxes, or different types of offsets?

Although some say developers should pay, this ignores the fact that developers need to operate a profitable, functional business. If developers are compelled to pay the difference, this will come out of the price of the market rate housing units, drive up prices, and can lead to fewer houses being constructed, since it will be less desirable for developers to build in some areas.

“So we are very concerned about municipalities when they look at inclusionary zoning, that they do it in such a way that is not going to drive up the price of market rate housing, and that is not going to mean less market rate housing,” says Lee. “Those are the two things that we can least afford to have right now.”

What is ‘housing?’

For many of us, the image of ‘housing’ in our mind’s eye usually evokes a single-family dwelling in the suburbs, or perhaps a condo in the heart of a large city. With a massive shortfall of much-needed housing, we must address how we view neighbourhoods and communities, especially the “missing middle,” such as medium density housing, multi-unit construction, and stacked townhomes.

Altering views on newer types of housing products – such as laneway and backyard housing – also means changing Nimbyism, the ‘not in my backyard’ perspective where residents are opposed to changes in their areas. It requires recognizing that today’s housing needs are not the same as those of the past. Along with laneway houses and secondary suites, Canada needs other types of housing, including higher buildings with greater density.

Another benefit of varied housing stock is the creation of walkable communities, complete with amenities that make neighbourhoods great, such as shops and restaurants. “The big change isn’t how we view housing — some people want single-detached of all different sizes; for others, it will be the semis and townhomes, or condos that are four-storey or six-storey or towers — but we need more of everything, and that includes more of those things in our existing communities.”

The need for immigration

This year, Canada plans to welcome 431,645 new permanent residents, another 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024, according to Federal Government data. While some are critical of these targets, CHBA is very much in favour of immigration. Canada-wide, many industries, especially the skilled trades in construction, are facing labour shortages. Combined with an aging population and about 22 percent of the nation’s workforce set to retire over the coming decade, it is plain that immigration is critical to future sustainability and growth.

“The issue with Canada’s shortfall of housing supply — which is dramatic — is not a function of immigration,” states Lee. “We haven’t kept up with household formation, and that is not new.” Just five years ago, CHBA stated that at current rates, Canada would be 300,000 family-oriented housing units short in the coming decade, a figure which became reality.

And what if Canada fails to address its housing shortage? According to Lee, many kinds of housing will be in jeopardy, including affordable and social housing, with residents stuck in a cycle, unable to afford to move into market rate rentals. Others, eager to move from their first home to a second house, will be unable to do so with skyrocketing prices.

“Historically, 80 percent of the rental units in Canada that come available every year come from first-time homebuyers vacating rental properties,” comments Lee, “so it’s really important that you continue to have first-time homebuyers. And if we don’t get the supply going, we will have all kinds of issues across the continuum.”

While some feel additional taxes on foreign buyers, tighter mortgage restrictions, and increasing lending rates will help quell house prices and somehow ‘help’ Canada’s housing crisis, the opposite is true. “Tighter mortgage rules and raising interest rates make housing actually less accessible,” comments Lee. “By definition they say, ‘you can no longer afford to buy this house because of mortgage rules.’ So we need to go and create actual supply, because if we don’t get this done, we will forever see accelerating house prices to the point where we will continue to see big drops, not only in homeownership, but in the ability of all Canadians to afford even rentals.”

The post The Need for Housing is Now<p class="company">Canadian Home Builders’ Association</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Building Knowledge Canada supports homebuilders with a trained team of expert advisors who have over thirty years of consulting experience. With their help, home builders certainly will not build them like they used to, and that is a good thing.

The company collaborates with home builders, renovators, and developers as a registered advisor for energy efficiency, net-zero qualifications, and the overall scope of building science. It focuses on Part 9 of the National Building Code of Canada and the Canadian Code for Residential Construction, which includes buildings with three storeys or less.

Building Knowledge Canada is also involved in industry-wide education efforts. The company often participates in public presentations about building science and developing high-performance homes. It aims to encourage discussion about the challenges of balancing new building regulations with the need to keep housing affordable. It works closely with several industry committees to offer training and educational resources that will help improve the industry’s knowledge of building science. By focusing these efforts on efficient and sustainable building patterns, the company hopes to raise the bar for home builders across Canada and beyond.

Its centre of operations is in Ontario with its headquarters in Cambridge. It provides consultation services to builders across all Canadian provinces, as well as to a few large home builder clients in the United States.

As it stands, the homebuilding industry is in a bit of a perfect storm. As material costs and labour shortages have continued to rise, so have the costs to build a home. “We recognize, along with our clients, that housing affordability is not only under threat, it’s almost become untenable,” explains Vice President and Director of Building Science Andrew Oding. “The world of building, developing, and renovating is becoming more and more complex due to all of the societal concerns and burdens.” Building Knowledge Canada is determined to apply its building science expertise to solve the problem of affordability in the housing market.

Over the last two decades, the world has awoken to the impending threat of climate change, and the home building industry has been transforming. Homes have become significantly more efficient in using energy to keep them operating. Designs have been adapted to manage and make use of solar heat; insulation materials have been substantially improved; windows and doors are installed with better seals, and much more. The enhancements are many and varied, and the resulting structures represent a drastic improvement in sustainable housing.

Home builders are continually adapting their practices as we refine our understanding of climate change, but requirements and recommendations change so quickly it can be a challenge to align regulatory compliance with customer needs. Building Knowledge Canada’s team of expert advisors specializes in applying building science to navigate these challenges.

Often, when building a modern home, the instinct is to focus on the most obvious environmental concerns, and there is a rush to implement those. Building Knowledge Canada consultants bring a deep understanding of building science to help home builders consider the less obvious concerns as well. With their expertise, builders can design a strategy that is sustainable and follows regulations, all while maintaining affordability in the final product.

For example, one way to reduce carbon emissions in a home is to focus on installing high-performance insulation, robust assemblies, more panes of glass, and specialized roofing material. A properly sealed home will reduce its carbon footprint throughout its lifecycle. This approach is necessary for building sustainable housing, but Building Knowledge Canada understands that there is more to this story.

“These things are good, and we will need to do them,” says Oding. “However, if we use certain materials in a house to reduce the carbon emissions while it operates, we could end up using materials that have high embodied carbon already in them, and the problem with that is we actually may make the problem worse. We may actually emit more carbon if we’re not careful about the materials that we’re using.” Embodied carbon is the total greenhouse gas emissions released during the complete lifecycle of material from manufacturing and delivery to installation and disposal. It is a balancing act, but one that Building Knowledge Canada understands well.

The complications go even further. Many of the low embodied carbon building materials best suited for these projects have drawbacks. These products are often naturally grown and harvested wood fibre products that can be prone to water damage. This makes it even more important to focus on rainwater management in the design of the home, to ensure that low materials can be used without adding the burden of water damage risk to the homeowner.

Building Knowledge Canada is committed to helping home builders balance all these concerns and design reasonable solutions that address them together. The company has identified three key focus areas that are helping to drive the industry in the most sustainable direction. These are energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and climate resiliency.

Energy efficiency has been heavily codified in the tiered energy code, reaching net-zero requirements for the highest tier. Canadian provinces have already adopted the requirements for some of the mid-tier levels, and these regulations will continue to move toward more efficiency going forward.

“What we have to remember though, is that energy was really just a surrogate for the real conversation, which is about carbon reduction,” says Oding. “Over the next five to ten years, we’re going to see more of an emphasis on not just reducing energy, but also reducing carbon.”

Beyond energy efficiency and carbon, resiliency is beginning to take on a bigger role in the design of modern homes. As the world continues to see more unprecedented climate events, homes will have to be built to accommodate extreme weather and other environmental threats.

The industry is evolving and so too must the tools and technologies used by home builders and advisors like Building Knowledge Canada. Recently, Chris Magwood and his team at the Endeavour Centre in Peterborough, Ontario released an innovative new tool called BEAM Estimator. BEAM is an acronym that stands for Building Emissions Accounting for Materials. An advisor can submit the main dimensions of a building and get back a list of raw materials with details about their carbon cost.

Tools, like Natural Resources Canada’s ‘HOT2000,’ have existed for calculating the energy cost of a building, but now with BEAM, the complete carbon footprint can be calculated as well. This includes not only operational carbon—the carbon released in heating, cooling, and providing electricity to a building—but also embodied carbon. These two metrics are being combined into a measurement that industry leaders have begun calling ‘carbon intensity.’

Carbon intensity is a relatively new concept, but some research is already being done. Chris Magwood, one of the members of the group behind BEAM, headed up the world’s first greenhouse gas benchmarking study, called Emissions from Materials Benchmark Assessment of Residential Construction (EMBARC). This research studied greenhouse gas emissions from building materials used to construct homes in Toronto and Hamilton. The results of this study revealed more than 840,000 tonnes of carbon and demonstrated the value of a more comprehensive metric for carbon measurements.

Building Knowledge Canada has long brought an understanding of both operational and embodied carbon to its consultations but the addition of these new tools and techniques will greatly improve carbon measurements not only for itself but for the industry at large.

As the director of building science, Oding keeps a very close eye on industry advancements. He is a past chair of the technical research committee for the Canadian Home Building Association and the Net-Zero Council. He is also a member of the Net-Zero Council Management Committee and has been since it was originally founded in 2014.

“To me, it’s been an absolute privilege to get to know the industry experts and stakeholders that participate in these committees. There’s really no other forum like it in Canada,” says Oding.

This year, Building Knowledge Canada President Gord Cooke was recognized with the ‘Clean 50 Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his ongoing contributions to sustainability in the Canadian housing market. Last year, Huso Ashimi, a Building Knowledge Canada energy advisor with nearly two decades of experience, won the energy evaluator of the year award from EnerQuality. But beyond these recognitions, Building Knowledge Canada feels that the real reward is watching its customers achieve new levels of sustainable home building.

Recently, one of its clients, Mattamy Homes has begun closing on properties in a new development called Springwater, one of the first net-zero-ready communities in Canada. Another of its clients, Activa Homes announced this last spring that every single-detached home it builds going forward will achieve net-zero-ready performance.

“This is really exciting to us because these are builders talking about building the best homes that Canadians could possibly live in. They’re efficient; they’re lower-carbon; they’re healthy; the air is fresh and clean. You’re giving the homeowner a place where their family can thrive, and you’re building them an asset that is not going to depreciate in the face of climate change,” says Oding.

The post The Science of Sustainable Home Building – Balancing Energy Efficiency, Carbon Reduction, and Climate Resiliency<p class="company">Building Knowledge Canada</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Elviano strives to provide top-notch services for every project, utilizing 3D renderings, competitive pricing, and a commitment to excellence that sets the company apart from competitors.

“We think of ourselves as a one-stop shop,” says Pooya Sayyadi, Vice President, Operations. “We like to start off with the clients from their planning stage, understand what they want to do within their property and what they’re envisioning.” Once Elviano has that feedback, the design phase follows, allowing the company to understand client criteria and needs. Based on that, a preliminary plan is created for the client’s review.

“Once we know the clients are comfortable and the plans are within their criteria, we submit that to the city,” says Sayyadi. “Then we do all the building permit work, and once the permits are ready and issued, we demolish if there’s a house on the property, and then we build.”

Fostering close relationships with everyone involved in a project is key to ongoing success, he says, along with Elviano’s distinctive and exquisite design ideas and its efficient, meticulous work ethic, all of which have contributed to the success of this family-owned firm.

“What’s a little bit different with us is that when the construction phase is done, a lot of the finishing details in the house are done by our own co-workers,” says Sayyadi. “Because we have that capability of building the finishings and the furniture ourselves, we plan ahead. In our design phase we plan a lot of the illuminations and where the HVAC vents are going to be.”

Elviano pre-plans for “everything,” he adds, including all detailed construction work, potential problems they might face in the future, and even building the right furniture for the house.

“That’s where we finish off,” he says. “Then, if there’s any maintenance or any help the clients may need in the future, we’re always there to provide that.”

Elviano prides itself not only on working with clients until they’re satisfied with what they see, but also on building homes in a timely manner while creating designs that reflect current market desires, and staying within budget.

“We try to really take care of the entire process because it’s time-consuming and clients don’t have that time to invest in building the house,” says Sayyadi. “We really try to support them in making it as time-efficient as possible.”

Elviano also doesn’t work with investors, as properties are developed with their own investments through the company, along with clients it does project management for. “We don’t have any other investors in our company or any other properties that we’re doing work with through investors.”

Although Elviano has faced the recent challenges of how COVID has changed workloads and daily lives, along with supply chain issues that have impacted pricing, it has remained committed to its goal of keeping estimates steady in the face of ongoing fluctuation.

“Because the time span for a project can range anywhere from three months for a design project to two or three years for a construction project, our biggest challenge is understanding the timing of things and being able to estimate in a way so we don’t have to go back and change the pricing that we’ve done,” says Sayyadi. “However, we have high hopes that everything’s going to balance out and go back to normal.”

In an industry where price ranges are vastly affected by different shortages, it can be difficult when building a wide range of houses priced from $5 million to a whopping $17 million. Elviano’s $17 million home, located at Yonge and York Mills in Toronto, is truly spectacular, boasting an indoor basketball court, home theatre, gym, pool, backyard soccer field, firepit, and outdoor kitchen.

“It was a pretty cool project, and one of the first projects where we tried to do all the finishings ourselves,” says Sayyadi. “All the furniture and all the finishings, feature walls, hand railings. A lot of the work has been either custom-designed by us or actually built in our workshop. It was one of the projects that really pushed us forward.”

This impressive accomplishment was due in part to having that workshop set up and being able to create finishes to the client’s liking.

“What’s really difficult in building houses is when it gets to finishing it’s very time-consuming and very hard to finish the little details of the house perfectly,” Sayyadi says. “But when you have the workshop, if something’s not to your liking it’s always easy to adjust and fix. The more time passes the better the finishing get, so it was really a big accomplishment as we were struggling with finding groups that could do the finishing for us. That’s one of the reasons we decided to do them ourselves.”

With finding skilled labour also being hampered by the pandemic, Elviano’s ability to fulfill projects in-house allows the company to take control of every aspect of a project. “We really like to keep our group together,” says Sayyadi. “We’re not interested in having co-workers that are just there for a while. We really want to have our people be happy in the company and enjoy it and really want to stay within.”

He adds that it can be a challenge to find the right people. “It makes our life very hard to find these good people, but we’re happy that we found the group that we have now because it’s pushed us forward,” he says. “A lot of companies are struggling with finding people to work, but we’ve been able to keep our people. We’ve been blessed in that sense.”

Looking forward, Elviano aims to further establish the furniture side of its business and continue to help clients get the best furnishings during the final phase of house construction.

“We’re really invested in getting our furniture to the best quality possible and being able to produce any kind of furniture you can imagine, plus do it locally so it doesn’t affect our programming in terms of time,” Sayyadi says. “We control our lead times and make sure the house is turnkey and move-in ready at the time that we promise our clients.”

Again, putting clients first and helping them achieve their desired goals remains at the heart of the company’s competitive advantage.

“I think there are a lot of businesses that are also very good in the industry, and I don’t want to compare ourselves with other people. I don’t see them as competitors, but as people who work in the same industry as us,” says Sayyadi. “There are a lot of other good project managers and other good designers in the industry, but our vision is we do only projects that we love. When we take on a project we want to make sure that everything in that project goes well and there’s nothing off about it or something that doesn’t make sense. We really go into detail.”

To that end, Elviano’s different phases of work involve fully embracing those detail-oriented aspects to ensure everything goes as planned. This approach allows Elviano to take pride in presenting the finished project to the client and seeing the client use the space. This involves “lots of pre-planning” well in advance via 3D software used to render images showing how the house will look prior to work ever beginning.

“It gives great detail in terms of a vision of how the house is going to look before we even start building,” Sayyadi says. “So if we see any problems we change it prior to construction rather than having to do a lot of changes of plans during construction.”

This detailed 3D rendering provides much appreciated assistance, he adds, particularly with high-detail homes, allowing clients to view all aspects of design beforehand, saving both time and energy for all involved. That attention to care and detail is an essential aspect of Elviano’s overall process, and one that can be found throughout its entire company culture.

“We’re really family-oriented,” says Sayyadi. “Our company is a family company and no matter how big we grow, we’re accustomed to that family feel. We don’t even like to say we have ‘employees,’ because we see everybody as our co-workers. We’re working together to achieve our goal. Our relationship with our coworkers is like family, and everybody who comes into our office will get that feeling,” he says.

“We really love what we do, and we want to understand the families that we’re building homes for,” says Sayyadi. “We really incorporate their needs and how their family will function better within that house, and create that for them. It’s a practical home that they can use and also have it be their forever home. We really take pride in that.”

The post Welcome Home: A One-Stop Shop for Beautiful Buildings<p class="company">Elviano Homes Ltd.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

“We’ve always tried to do something a little different, always tried to be a leader with energy efficiency, accessible housing, whatnot,” states Karwood President Greg Hussey, adding that the company asks itself “‘how do we advance the industry to the next level?’”

Karwood specializes in residential projects including duplexes, bungalows, split entry, and two-storey houses. Customers can select from multiple design options at different price points and provide input on various features.

“The majority of our stuff is residential but we have a full-fledged architectural firm. We can tackle any project,” he says. Outside of residential, the company has worked on everything from veterinary clinics to restaurants, retirement homes, and a church.

From its original base in Paradise, Newfoundland, Karwood has expanded and now has a branch in Dorchester, Ontario. “Our push is to expand across the country and to be super-flexible to be able to go where demand is. What we’re trying to do is develop a company that has zero footprint wherever we go, so the whole thing can move tomorrow if we have to,” says Hussey. “Our system is designed to be operated out of anywhere.”

To this end, the company relies on small, technology-savvy construction crews who work in a highly efficient manner. Its on-the-ground team for single-family homes typically consists of “a project coordinator, a renovation-level carpenter, and a labourer, and that three-guy team can do twenty-five to thirty [assignments] a year, and everything is web-based or electronic-based. There’s no paper. That team functions as a unit, and they can go anywhere,” he says. Some duties such as drywall and painting are handled by subcontractors, but Karwood remains the builder of record on its projects.

The company is constantly looking to streamline its already nimble operations. Wall and floor panels offer a case in point. In most residential builds, wood panels are manufactured offsite and then transported to the worksite. To speed this process, Karwood partnered with a firm to create a portable wood-panel production plant. “We can move the plant to a subdivision and build in the plant,” says Hussey.

Reducing construction site wastage and energy consumption in new homes are also top of mind. “Most builders, if they get wastage down to ten percent, they figure they are doing pretty good. But that means, for every ten homes we build, we throw one away. So, how do we improve wastage? Not the way we are doing things now,” he states, remarking that wastage can be reduced by using recycled materials.

Hussey has been working in the construction and real-estate field since 1995. Back in Newfoundland, he worked for his father, a land developer turned building developer. In 1999, he split the building and engineering side from the original company, “and we grew from there,” he recalls.

Karwood has only been in Ontario for a few years but has already made a strong impression. In addition to home building, the company is taking part in several high-profile initiatives. These include a pilot project with Panasonic involving ductless mini-splits. A ductless mini-split is a home heating and cooling system with temperature controls in multiple locations. People in different rooms can adjust the temperature according to personal preference. Ductless simply means a home with no ducts.

The Panasonic project, which was announced last year, involves a pair of nearly identical homes in St. Thomas. One home was constructed with ducts and a conventional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC). The other home, built by Karwood, uses a ductless air-source heat pump (ASHP) system. Operating and capital costs for each home will be compiled and compared over ten years.

Karwood is also involved with the ‘Net Zero Initiative for Multi-Unit Residential Buildings (MURB)’ project. Launched in June 2020, this initiative by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) in partnership with Natural Resources Canada features teams from around the country constructing net-zero buildings.

Net-zero structures produce as much or more energy than they consume annually. To achieve this, net-zero buildings sport features such as solar panels, high-performance water heaters, thicker insulation, and triple-glazed windows. The building Karwood is working on in St. Thomas is three storeys high with fifteen units.

“We’re one of six builders looking at different types of MURB projects, to see if you can do net-zero in a multi-storey building and how it would look and function. We’re going to use that pilot project to help shape new codes for MURBs coming forward,” Hussey explains.

The company has partnered with Doug Tarry Homes (a well-respected developer in St. Thomas), the YWCA, St. Thomas Elgin, and Sanctuary Homes (a faith-based affordable housing organization), on another initiative called Project Tiny Hope. The project aims to create miniature but functional and aesthetically pleasing residences called tiny homes and a multi-unit building for low-income residents in St. Thomas. Karwood was brought on board to help with design and planning work.

“Effectively, the project is a group of tiny houses that the ‘Y’ is going to operate as affordable rentals. What we’re trying to do is not only design this but make something that is affordable and repeatable,” he says.

Being an early adopter of technology has helped Karwood stay ahead of the curve. The company was using PalmPilots on worksites back in the 1990s, a pioneering move at a time when construction crews were not usually equipped with any technological devices. The company uses three-dimensional design software and business information modelling (BIM) solutions and is excited by the possibilities presented by virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

“My techs fitted me with VR goggles to walk me through one of our buildings,” states Hussey. As for AR, “We’re looking at being able to go onsite, hold up an iPad, and you see your house and all the houses that are going to be around it,” he continues.

Karwood is not just about futuristic solutions, however; the company has a strong preference for old-fashioned construction materials such as wood. It likes to use cross-laminated timber (CLT) as an alternative to concrete and steel. This is “an engineered wood product consisting of layers of kiln-dried dimension lumber (usually three, five, seven, or nine) oriented at right angles to one another and then glued to form structural panels,” explains Naturallywood.com.

“If we want to build a building that has zero carbon footprint, then you have to build without materials that have a lot of carbon. Single-family is mostly wood anyway. It’s in the multi-family, multi-storey stuff where the cross-laminated timber comes in,” states Hussey.

Like all other businesses across the continent, Karwood had to deal with COVID. The pandemic began around the same time the company was expanding into Ontario.

“Starting in a brand-new market in a brand-new province and having to do that in a pandemic is a challenge like no other. The fact that we’re still able to advance all these things despite all the headwinds shows that nothing is impossible as long as you stick to the dream,” he notes.

Still, COVID did not affect Karwood quite as badly as might be expected. “We kind of got lucky at the very beginning, because we had recently moved into a brand-new market. We were already one hundred percent set up to work remotely,” Hussey recalls.

Office staff relocated to home while construction work continued apace. “We didn’t miss a beat on our backend. Our sites remained open the whole time,” he notes.

This is not to say COVID did not present certain challenges. With operations in both Ontario and Newfoundland, Karwood had to abide by different regulations in each province regarding the virus.

For all this, Karwood is growing fast. It currently has roughly sixty employees, up from forty-five this time last year. The company likes to hire problem solvers who “want to make a difference,” says Hussey. Being familiar with technological tools also helps. “You can’t join our company, even as a carpenter if you’re afraid of an iPad and want to have paper. It’s pointless to even apply,” he says. While it does not expect all of its staff members to have Bill Gates-like abilities, the company strongly values technology and out-of-the-box thinking.

“We’re trying to push the boundaries on everything. We want people that are going to come on board who appreciate continual learning. Where is the industry going? How does energy efficiency construction work? They also need to understand building science,” he explains.

As for the future, “the expansion into Ontario was sort of a first step on how to be able to have a small company that can operate in multiple jurisdictions,” he continues.

The plan is to continue to embrace technology and new construction methods “so we build better homes that are more affordable. That’s where I’d like to be in five years,” adds Hussey.

The post Karwood Does It Differently<p class="company">Karwood Contracting Limited</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

“When we build houses, we usually look at, ‘what can we create that is family-oriented?’ because we all have our own families,” says Masoud Sanai. “We look at tiny details, like putting in a small closet here, a crawlspace there, or a corner for a desk. Even things like a glass railing instead of a normal railing to give a better view and create spaciousness. The small things make it more liveable.”

Along with brothers Farhad and Amir, Masoud is one of the co-owners and Directors at Azora Group, one of Vancouver’s premier residential developers for over 12 years. For the privately held company, the word ‘family’ doesn’t just apply to the brothers, but also to new home buyers.

For the Sanai family, construction has been a part of their lives for decades. About 80 years ago in Iran, their grandfather was a renowned architect and construction developer who created many successful projects; in fact, some architectural monuments are still under protection from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Following in the family tradition, Farhad, Amir, and Masoud’s father and uncle created their own building company, focused on developing houses and road construction.

At age 13, Masoud — the eldest of the brothers — moved to Germany where he lived for 17 years before coming to Canada, while Farhad and Amir moved with the rest of the family to Dubai, where they lived for a few years before meeting up in Canada. Masoud received his education in Germany in Economics and Mechanical Engineering before attending Harvard Business School. One brother studied Integrated Engineering at the University of British Columbia, while the other brother attended the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) alongside his degree from Iran in Integrated Mathematics in Economics, and earned his real estate license.

“So we put all this knowledge and education together,” states Masoud. “We are the third generation.” Even though they didn’t have the same network and connections as in Iran when they came to Canada, a passion for building has led them to great success. “We had the luck to be the third generation and have the mindset of being a developer.” Starting off small, one of the first projects in Canada for the brothers was creating a duplex house in the British Columbia city of Coquitlam. Soon, this led to the creation of other duplexes, then fourplexes and increasingly larger townhouse projects.

No matter the type of project – multi-family, single-family, or custom – they are backed by new home warranties of two years, five years, and 10 years. Clients are always thrilled with their homes and the service they receive, which reflects Azora Group’s longstanding commitment to craftsmanship. “We look at our projects for the long run, and don’t skimp on quality, because our names and reputation are out there,” states Masoud. On the rare occasions where there are deficiencies, Masoud or his brother will visit the homeowner personally with one of their sub-trades to correct any issues. “Sometimes we do more than we should, because we think the relationship is worth more than saving $100 or $200 on deficiencies.”

This type of customer service, along with backing from one of the province’s best-known warranty companies, keeps paying off in repeat clients and word-of-mouth referrals.

Building residential projects that they themselves would want to live in, the Sanai brothers’ outstanding projects include Shannon 18 and Brock House. Now selling, Shannon 18 will be a collection of 18 contemporary three-bedroom townhomes of 1,300 square feet in Vancouver’s west side, at 7659 Granville St. With luxurious finishes and private balconies, Shannon 18 will offer homeowners stunning views of Vancouver, gorgeous landscaped entryway patios, an open, common courtyard, and much more. It is, says Masoud, a way of getting new neighbours to know one another in a community setting while still having their own private oasis.

Always mindful of creating outstanding properties, Azora Group also provides homeowners with great value. Priced at around $1.5 million, Shannon 18 is in a location where most homes sell in the $4 million to $10 million range. Popular with young families who want to be in an excellent area near quality schools, the project is also a hit with empty-nesters who don’t need much space but still want to live near their children and grandchildren. “I would say 70 percent of our buyers are young families, professionals who want to be in that area, because we are always looking to create something valuable for people,” comments Masoud, adding that instead of spending $2 million, Azora buyers can purchase one of their townhomes for $1.3, which boast the same infrastructure, spaciousness, and number of bedrooms.

Along with Shannon 18, another recent project is Brock House, a collection of 10 exclusive homes — eight duplexes and two single homes — all with three bedrooms and competitively priced between $1.3 and $1.5 million. Four of the properties also have downstairs rental units complete with separate kitchen and bathroom.

Situated in East Vancouver’s Kensington-Cedar Cottage neighbourhood at 2310 Brock St, these two- and three-storey homes seamlessly combine contemporary materials with classic architecture and design. Brock House features private patios for every unit, and an open, common space courtyard.

While the property offers the beauty of General Brock Park — which evokes feelings of being in the middle of a natural oasis with a children’s play area — homeowners are also close to nearby conveniences, including a community centre with a 4,000-square-foot fitness centre, gym, ice rink, music studio, licensed preschool, dance studio, art studio, café, and plenty more, truly embodying the best of modern family living. And since it is a strata-managed property, homeowners can enjoy the grounds without having to worry about gardening.

Previously the site of two older homes, Brock House is an ideal property because it has three-corner sides. “That’s an advantage for us, because if you have three-corner sides, you can have much more exclusivity for parking and entrances and so on,” explains Masoud. Negotiations with the city took two and a half years, since Vancouver wanted nine homes, not the 10 requested by Azora. “If we went for nine units, they would have been much bigger, but it wouldn’t have been that affordable for families to live in,” he says. “That’s also another thing to think of: affordability for a family to live in a three-bedroom house, possibly with the mortgage helper downstairs.”

Prior to planning projects, Masoud and his brothers review the drawings of their long-time architect, who is open to collaboration and suggestions. Operating with a modest back-end team, the company works with about 30 to 40 others, including sub-trades, who are treated like extended family members. This friendly, community mindset is carried over to all Azora developments, which sees neighbours become friends and enjoy get-togethers and barbecues.

Today, many of Azora’s projects are in the $20 million to $30 million range. Operating mainly in Vancouver itself, the company is eyeing North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Richmond and Burnaby. And while the desire to expand is strong, Masoud and his brothers remain realistic. “We want to grow as much as our abilities,” he says, “and do the job we are doing now, but on a little higher scale with more projects, and grow organically instead of exponentially. We want to be safe, keep our clients safe, and let them know they have a partner they can work with for years.”

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That fascination with real estate seems to be a trait that came down through the family.

Nick’s entrepreneurial great-grandfather came to Canada from Macedonia in the early 1900s and became involved in the restaurant and banquet hall business, along with the building sector. Nick and Jim were also inspired by their fathers, who were involved in insurance and real estate brokerage after emigrating from Greece.

“I guess the real estate and construction industry is in my blood,” says Nick. The co-founder and CEO of Fusioncorp Developments, self-made Ainis earned a Bachelor of Technology degree in Architectural Science and Project Management from Ryerson University before immersing himself in the construction industry.

One of his first jobs was a $5,000 bathroom renovation. Soon, he began working for developers, steadily gaining experience on large projects including a 12-storey/five-level-underground building in Toronto’s Yorkville area at Bay and Cumberland, and later the Pantages Towers on Victoria Street.

Near the heart of the city’s downtown at Yonge and Dundas, the sleek 44-storey structure was one of the tallest at the time in all of Canada.

Growing by knowing

Growing his knowledge and fuelled by his passion for construction, Nick incorporated Fusioncorp Developments in 2005. Starting off as a part-time operation, Fusioncorp became a full-time endeavour in 2007. Joined by his cousin Jim, who today serves as principal and vice-president, Fusioncorp steadily grew its client base, and became registered with Tarion – a not-for-profit consumer protection organization founded by the Ontario Government to oversee the new home warranty program – in 2010.

“At the beginning it was just the two of us,” says Nick. “Today, we have close to 30 employees, and have grown and learned a lot.”

Part of the learning experience for Fusioncorp is getting to know its markets inside and out.

The construction company behind many successful small to large-scale, multi-unit residential and commercial developments, Fusioncorp has forged a reputation for expertise in medium-density projects. From project management services to new constructions, refurbishment, renovation, custom homes and commercial construction, Fusioncorp’s projects encompass low-rise and mid-rise, condos, and conversions.

Wide experience, wide expertise

Taking on projects ranging from about $20 million to $60 million, the company also has a general contracting division responsible for smaller, mainly fixed-price works up to $5 million.

“We cover a wide range of mid-rise types of projects,” says Ainis of Fusioncorp, which operates within a two-hour radius of Toronto, going as far east to the Niagara region as Belleville, and as far north as Georgian Bay and Collingwood.

Taking on different constructions, including low- and mid-rise wood frame, pre-cast, cast-in-place condominiums, conversions of historic buildings, commercial buildings, office buildings and others, the company also covers many mid-rise type projects and conversions.

“We are always interested in doing amazing modern homes, and design/build,” says Ainis. The company also has a design/build partnership in general contracting with a well-known Toronto firm.

At present, Fusioncorp is handling preliminary work on a super home project in the Georgian Bay area, which, when complete, will measure between 9,000 and 10,000 square feet.

Many of the company’s baseline projects are in the mid-rise, 150-unit range of about 150,000 square feet. For Ainis and his team, smaller condos present more of a financial challenge. “We see a lot of stacked townhouse projects,” he says, “and we cater a lot to new-development companies as well.”

From wood panelization to cast-in-place concrete systems, Fusioncorp’s expertise encompasses a wide range of building types and sizes. These include low-rise condos such as the Roncesvalles Lofts, mid-rise works like Amik II and Amik III, the Garment Factory Lofts conversion, commercial works (College Office Building, Firkin on the Danforth), and general contracting projects Gatehouse, Markham Road and The Palisades.

Values and vision

Founded on construction knowledge and guided by the values of integrity, safety, longevity, sustainability and transparency, Fusioncorp Developments is proud of its track record as one of the most accountable and open boutique construction / project management and general contracting companies in Canada.

As a key point of difference from some other construction organizations, Fusioncorp is less about one-off projects than about forging lasting relationships and moving forward with clients into the future.

Along with delivering works professionally – on-time and on-budget – Fusioncorp’s customer commitment includes meticulous planning, problem-solving, transparency, safety, sustainability, and always working in the best interest of the client by keeping them informed from project inception to completion.

To ensure the company maintains its dedication to all clients, Fusioncorp has built a team of dedicated staff who are not only professionals in the field but uphold its values.

“We want people who have experience in the construction industry, primarily multi-unit residential construction, as project managers and site supervisors,” says Ainis of the family-oriented business. “And we are also interested in making sure we have people who have the right attitude and are the best fit for our company. Our culture is hard work and fun, but we also want people who are honest and loyal.”

Sustainable building

On Fusioncorp’s website, Nick Ainis points out that the company is building a green future and scrutinizes every project through this lens.

“We strive to achieve that goal by assessing your project from an environmentally responsible perspective. While our obligation and responsibility to the planet is incorporated into our daily practices, as builders and project leaders we are committed to developing a sustainability plan that is within your means and budget to help ‘build a green future’ for our planet.”

Responsible for a number of LEED-certified projects over the years, Ainis acknowledges that although sustainability is a company-wide touchstone, there are plenty of trends in the construction sector that need to be considered.

“It’s an old-school industry, and change does not happen quickly,” he says. Although many municipalities have adopted sustainable buildings and more green standards than a few years ago, Canada could be further ahead with green building.

“We have a passion for innovation, and we have a passion for technology, so as a company we’re looking to see where the trends are and aiming to be at the forefront of those trends.”

New solutions

As a veteran of the construction industry, Nick Ainis follows Canada’s housing shortage very closely. For things to improve, however, he believes the government must change how it handles the issue. Ainis doesn’t mince words: “We need the government out of that. We need them not to create policies: they need to be a partner in this.”

Canada’s construction sector is already facing many challenges, from a shortage of skilled tradespeople to rising material costs. Wanting to build affordable housing is one thing – having the resources and funds to do it is something else.

“We need tradespeople and labour to build it,” he says. “So when situations arise like this, we need to think outside the box and create new solutions. Maybe those solutions just don’t exist right now. And as an industry, it’s a challenge how to make housing more affordable, and how to create more housing for the larger population. We need innovative solutions, and those don’t come from the government, they come from private companies, and innovation comes from the marketplace.”

From concept development, budgeting, and scheduling to estimating and tenders, contractor and project management, cost control and quality control, risk analysis and more, Fusioncorp works with clients to create strategic, custom-tailored services to fit their exacts project needs.

“We consider ourselves very creative, adaptable and innovative,” he says. “We are a company of integrity, and we want to maintain that. There are a lot of good companies out there, and we are one of them.”

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