Brian Fewster, Le Belvédère’s visionary owner, chose to pursue Passive House certification without hesitation, saying “On this project everything was negotiable, except Passive House certification.” The Certified Passive House Consultant on this sustainable building project is Homesol’s President Ross Elliott. Passive House design represents the world’s highest energy standard for residential and commercial construction, and delivers energy cost reductions of up to 90% with construction costs that are usually no more than 10% higher than conventional building.

Elliott predicts Le Belvédère, which will be nearly six times larger than the average 2011 home, will have an annual electric heating bill as low as $600. Elliott, speaking at PHIUS 2012 in Denver, Colorado September 30, wants to provoke building industry policy makers across North America to aim higher, like Le Belvédère, for achievable cold-climate efficiency. Le Belvédère achieved a Canadian standard EnerGuide Rating of 95, which is approximately 90 per cent better than current Canadian standard building code.