Building for the future: Celebrating Guelph’s greenest community

Incorporating sustainable and eco-friendly practices into our environmentally conscious building philosophies has been our priority for over two decades. Pushing the green envelope in the homes that we build has become standard practice for us and knowing that we are building for a better future is what motivates us to continue doing so.

We’re proud to live and build in a city such as Guelph, one that supports our mission to help our homeowners use less energy, reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.  Did you know that Guelph’s Community Energy Initiative’s main goal is for the city to become a Net Zero Carbon community by 2050?

We believe it is our responsibility to capitalize on renewable energy and the construction of healthier buildings to help our community meet its climate targets. Net Zero energy buildings, buildings that create as much energy as they consume; and Net Zero Ready buildings, those that are designed to be Net Zero in the future, will create sustainable neighbourhoods and communities that protect generations to come.

Our latest community at Hart Village in Guelph’s south end is the City’s first and only completely Net Zero Ready neighbourhood. Once complete, the community will consist of 118 single-detached family homes in addition to a mix of townhomes and mid-rise condominiums. Each home will be capable of off-setting its energy consumption through renewables and will be recognized with the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) Qualified Net Zero Accreditation.

We could think of no better way to celebrate the transformation of our first Net Zero Ready to fully Net-Zero home in Hart Village than with a solar topping-off ceremony.

In partnership with Bluewater Energy, we were delighted to host industry partners and stakeholders, our incredible homeowners, incumbent MP Lloyd Longfield, MPP Mike Schreiner, Mayor Cam Guthrie and Ward 6 Councillor Dominique O’Rourke on October 1st, 2019, at the site of Hart Village’s first Net Zero home.

A “greener” take on traditional topping-off ceremonies that entail securing the last beam or banner of a building into place, this solar topping-off ceremony saw the last solar panel be installed to dub the home as completely Net Zero. Our audience heard from Terra View Homes’ President David Brix, Bluewater Energy President and Founder Wil Beardmore, MPP Mike Schreiner and Mayor Guthrie — who all spoke on the importance of building better, healthier homes to help support our climate obligations.

The ceremony represented a significant milestone as our city’s long awaited, most environmentally responsible neighbourhood was brought to life.

In 2006, Terra View Homes embraced the Energy Star® program — becoming one of the first area home builders to build exclusively Energy Star® homes. We have never built a home that hasn’t been at least Energy Star® accredited since. Looking ahead to today, we are proud to be building all homes to a Net Zero standard — because what we live in is just as important as how we live in it.

For more information on Terra View Homes and our commitment to environmentally conscious building, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin or visit our website. For more information on Hart Village and its incentives — or to find your dream home, click here.