EnerQuality announces winners of the 2019 EQ Awards

The leaders of the Ontario building industry gathered via a reimagined virtual event to celebrate, connect and share their successes at the EQ Awards. The Hon. Jeff Yurek MPP, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks provided welcome remarks and was on hand for EnerQuality’s announcement that together, its community of builders had achieved 90,000th ENERGY STAR certified homes. This represents $222M in energy savings to Ontario home builders, and 1,110,851 tonnes of CO2e. This astounding feat is the equivalent of a 2014 Ford 150 driving between British Columbia and Newfoundland 596,000 times!

“We are proud to bring together our family of high-performance homebuilders again this year and share our community’s transformational results,” says Rose Benedetto, Managing Director of EnerQuality. “Despite the pressures of our time, the industry reaffirmed their intention to continue to build better and certify new homes. These homes deliver substantial energy and cost savings to Ontario homeowners and climate benefits for Ontario communities.”

This year’s EQ Awards also served as a catalyst for the industry to collectively take action. Together, attendees of the EQ Awards raised $3,825 for Second Harvest — enough to provide nearly 8,000 meals to their agencies.

Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest, the EQ Awards’ new Charitable Partner, provided remarks on how Canada’s largest food rescue organization is working to expand services to the country’s most vulnerable — a situation made worse by COVID-19. Toronto-based developer Times Group Corporation took the virtual stage to share why they provided support to Second Harvest earlier this year. EnerQuality challenged builders to support Second Harvest through a donation campaign. The campaign will formally end Monday, October 12, 2020 which happens to be Thanksgiving.

Other special guests included Ruth Talbot, Director of the Buildings and Industry Division within the Office of Energy Efficiency, Natural Resources Canada, who congratulated members of the ENERGY STAR® Multifamily Steering Committee for their input and support of the ENERGY STAR Multifamily Pilot. EnerQuality has enrolled 16 buildings and 2,583 units in the program with more to come.

Together, more than 250 building professionals logged on to enjoy the Awards following a virtual networking lounge that took place just before the show. Hosted by Strategic Change leader Connie Carras, President of CEC Enterprises Consulting, and facilitated by John Amardeil, Marketing Consultant, Larry Brydon, Vice-President, Business Development and Regulatory Affairs at Cricket Energy, Katherine  Sparkes, Director at EnerQuality, and Sarah Margolius, EnerQuality’s Director of Partnerships, the session enabled participants to explore various provocative topics related to housing sparked by the pandemic, including:

● With the rapid transition to work from home, will our cities continue to intensify or will technology, work from home and school from home grow the demand for larger and more remote dwellings? 

● As transportation changes vehicles from fuel to battery to driverless to “as a service”, how long will every home need a garage and what will we do with the extra space? 

● Will technology adoption and innovation improve the ways the new home industry works together and collaborates in designing, selling and constructing new homes and improve the speed of delivery of new housing supply? 

Several new awards were added to the categories this year including the Green Renovation Project of the Year, Licensed Professional of the Year, HBA of the Year, Product Innovation – Mid and High Rise.

“Innovation drives our industry,” says Shannon Bertuzzi, Vice President, Market Development. “We have the solution providers to help accelerate housing of the future, and now is the time to showcase them and drive energy efficient and zero carbon options.”

Special designations selected by EnerQuality included the EQ Industry Partner, Hall of Fame winner, Impact Award and Leader of the Year:

2019 EQ Award Winners:

• Best Green Marketing Campaign – Acorn Developments – NetZero Ready Showcase Home
• Builder Achievement – Jennifer Weatherston, Claxton + Marsh
• Building Innovation – Low-Rise – Great Gulf – Active House
• Building Innovation – High-Rise – Minto Communities Canada – Minto Yorkville Park
• Champion of the Year – Roy Nandram, RND Construction Ltd.
• Energy Advisor of the Year – Sacha Klein, A&J Energy Consultants
• EnerQuality’s ENERGYSTAR for New Homes – Large Volume Builder – Mattamy Homes
• EnerQuality’s ENERGYSTAR for New Homes – Mid Volume Builder – Doug Tarry Homes Ltd.
• EnerQuality’s ENERGYSTAR for New Homes – Small/Custom Builder – Terra View Custom Homes Ltd.
• Green Renovation Project of the Year – Steve Snider Construction – Lakeview Farm
• HBA of the Year – Greater Ottawa HBA
• Licensed Professional of the Year – Luka Matutinovic, Purpose Building Inc.
• Net Zero Builder – Claxton + Marsh
• Ontario Green Builder of the Year – Low-Rise – Acorn Developments
• Ontario Green Builder of the Year Mid or High-Rise – FRAM + Slokker
• Product Innovation – Low-Rise (OBC Part 9) – DAVESDUCTS – Aeroseal
• Product Innovation – High-Rise (OBC Part 3) – Owens Corning Canada – Thermafiber®, RainBarrier®, High Compressive Mineral Wool Insulation
• Enbridge​ Savings by Design Affordable Housing Award – Redwood Park Communities
• Enbridge ​Savings by Design Commercial Award – Brookfield Residential
• Enbridge ​Savings by Design Residential Award – Icon Homes
• Enbridge ​Optimum Home ​Award – Doug Tarry Homes Ltd.
• Industry Partner of the Year – Owens Corning Canada
• Panasonic Canada EnerQuality Hall of Fame Award – Doug Tarry, Jr.
• People’s Choice Award – Acorn Developments
• EnerQuality Leader of the Year Award – Stefanie Coleman
• EnerQuality Impact Award – Lakeview Homes (Tony Muto)