Energy-Efficient Construction Services
At Blue Water Concepts, we’re passionate about building custom homes that are beautiful, functional, and energy efficient. Whether you’re interested in building a brand new Certified Passive House or simply want to make sure that your dream home is built using environmentally sound and sustainable practices, our licensed team of design and construction experts will work collaboratively with you to bring your vision to life.
Between rising energy costs and the effects of climate change, we believe that energy-efficient construction is more than just a responsible practice: it’s a valuable step toward creating a better future for all of us. With this in mind, we specialize in Passive House, Net Zero and Net Zero Ready homes. These homes are designed and constructed to work harmoniously with the environment to make them incredibly energy efficient. The result is a home with a reduced ecological footprint and lower energy bills overall. These are also designed and built in a way that you know you are getting a top quality product.
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Our Energy-Efficient Construction Services
IN-HOUSE DESIGN
As a true design-and-build company, we’re proud to offer our clients professional design services as part of their home construction project. Our professional designers will meet with you to learn more about your dream home before translating your vision into the floor plans and architectural drawings that our construction team will use to build your new home. By offering both design and construction services under one roof, we work to provide a seamless process for our clients every step of the way. We also love to work with outside design teams, so if you have an Architect or designer already we can always play a supporting role when it comes to energy-efficient construction details and ensuring the design will match your budget.
PERMITTING
Our knowledgeable and professional team will take care of the permitting process for your construction project, saving you the time and stress. We work with the required professionals and building departments to make sure every project meets local bylaws and B.C. Building Code specifications.
CERTIFIED PASSIVE HOUSE BUILDING
In order to meet this level of certification, the building must meet stringent standards for insulation and air tightness, as well as the use of a highly efficient heat recovery ventilator to reduce the energy needs of the building. Passive Houses are incredibly resilient, comfortable, and healthy, and can reduce your energy bills by up to 90% compared to a conventional “code built” home.s. With five Certified Passive House Tradespersons and a Certified Passive House Consultant on our team, Blue Water Concepts has the expertise to bring your Passive House project to life.
NET ZERO OR NET ZERO READY HOMES
A Net Zero home is a home designed and built to produce as much or more energy than it requires to operate. This is done by designing a home that is incredibly energy efficient which results in very low operational costs. A “Net Zero Ready” home is a home designed and built to the same standard, but without the “energy production” aspect included. A Net Zero home will have some form of energy production built into it. This is more often than not solar panels but can sometimes include wind harnessing or even hydro generation. Our team is Net Zero certified, so if this is something you’re interested in, our design and build team can guide you through this.
Areas We Offer Our Energy-Efficient Construction Services
Our professional and licensed team provides energy-efficient construction services in West Vancouver and throughout the Sea-to-Sky Corridor, including:
- West Vancouver
- Lions Bay
- Furry Creek
- Britannia Beach
- Squamish
- Whistler
Our Energy Efficient Construction Projects
CLARK ROAD PASSIVE HOUSE
Clark Rd Passive house was designed and built by our in-house design and construction team. This was Squamish’s first certified single family Passive House project, something we are very proud of. We started this build in late 2019 and completed it at the end of 2020. Even with the challenges that came from navigating COVID, this project was delivered on time and on budget. The building is a beautiful mix of Coastal Alpine and Scandinavian style architecture and is built at the base of Mt. Lapworth just off the Squamish River. The total heating and cooling bill for this building is $145/year. It really is an incredible single family home.
FABER ROAD PASSIVE HOUSE
Our Faber Rd Passive House is currently under construction and is slated to be completed summer of 2023. This house was designed by our in-house design team and built by our team of certified tradespeople. The estimated cost for heating and cooling this house for a calendar year is $225. During the design process we kept all five Passive House principles in mind to ensure it would meet the world’s most stringent building certification.
COTTON BAY, GAMBIER ISLAND
Step 5/Net Zero Build
Our Cotton Bay Net Zero build is going to be completed late 2023. This is a family cabin retreat that is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes in a year. Everything about this building was designed to be low maintenance and very robust. When you’re trying to escape it all for the weekend or a holiday, the last thing you want to do is have to work on your cabin. Our in house design team designed this building to meet our clients needs for a young family to enjoy a weekend escape while also feeling good about their building. This building will achieve Step Code 5 when complete. It will be an absolute stunner of a building, right on the ocean facing Gibsons.
Why Our Clients Trust Us
“Having undertaken a number of major renovations over the years and experienced the escalating costs and unpredictability of this process we decided to opt for building a home from scratch. We had seen a Bluewater project going up locally and were impressed with the design and efficiency of the build not to mention the extremely tidy organized site, always a good sign in our experience. Once we met Mike Van Capelle the owner and understood his passion for Passive housing and ultra efficient building processes we undertook to build the first single family occupancy passive house in Squamish with Bluewater concepts.
“If you want to work with a great team of people who represent the owners clear philosophy for honesty, integrity, incredible attention to detail and a responsible approach to the environment then Bluewater are a great fit. So many contractors in our experience under-estimate jobs in order to secure a client. What follows is a continuous process of renegotiation throughout the build creating stress and a breakdown of trust. Mikes honesty and integrity don’t allow him to do that so although the initial quote may seem higher than the competition it is in fact absolutely not and importantly helps him maintain very healthy working relationships with clients. The build was complex but Mike came in on budget not even allowing Covid to compromise his promises. We are extremely happy with the quality and design of our Passive house and know we were very lucky to have worked with Bluewater Concepts.”
– David Simmonds, Passive House client
Energy Efficient Construction FAQs
What are common features of energy-efficient houses?
Energy-efficient houses contain features that are designed to minimize energy use and/or reduce energy waste. Some common features of energy-efficient buildings include:
- Airtight construction
- High-performance windows and doors (triple pane)
- Super insulated walls, floors and ceilings
- Thermal bridge free construction
- Simple overall form/shape
- Energy-efficient appliances and fixtures
- Use of a heat recovery ventilator (HRV)
Is it expensive to build an energy-efficient house?
Typically speaking, the upfront costs of building an energy-efficient home tend to be higher than building a code minimum home, only because the level of planning and modeling is considerably more. When designing a high-performance or energy-efficient home, the level of detailing required to ensure the building will perform the way it is meant to and that the team building it will deliver it as designed, is considerably more. The materials used are not typically that different in cost, with the exception of extra insulation and a much better window and door package than what you would normally see. If you choose to work with an experienced team they can help bring the overall “premium” down to a point where the investment will result in cost savings over the long run. You have to keep in mind the long-term financial benefits, like lower operation costs, lower energy bills, lower maintenance costs, tax breaks, and improved overall health of the occupants living in the home.
Why Choose Blue Water Concepts
At Blue Water Concepts, we’re not your typical construction company: we’ve built a full-service team of licensed and experienced professionals, making us an all-in-one solution for your home construction needs. By taking care of every step from design to construction, we’re able to ensure quality and consistency throughout every stage of your project. We’ll work closely with you to establish your vision, and offer our expertise and innovative thinking to build a home that is beautiful, functional, and energy efficient. Our team will put together realistic project costing right from the beginning and our professional project managers will ensure your project is delivered on time and on budget with as little stress as possible. We have a robust in house team of skilled carpenters who self perform much of our work, which allows us to control the quality and schedule much more than most companies can.