July 16, 2009, Calgary, Alberta — SAIT Polytechnic’s campus is buzzing with the construction of Calgary’s first net-zero home – a home that will produce as much energy as it consumes. The Discovery 4 home, a project of SAIT’s Green Building Technologies program and Avalon Master Builder, is designed to be a high-performance house that will help define a net-zero residential envelope energy standard.

“We are pursuing higher standards of energy efficiency,” says Alex Zahavich, SAIT’s Director of Applied Research and Innovation Services. “The Discovery 4 home is expected to help increase the EnerGuide energy-efficiency rating for an average new home from 70 to 100 and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7.5 to 15 tonnes per year.”

The single-family dwelling will include the biggest array of solar electric panels on any residential home in Calgary, an advanced form of wall insulation, a balcony railing that generates all space heating within the home, solar thermal window shutters that produces the heat for domestic hot water, recycled hardwood floors and indoor air quality better than the average home.

“Building Discovery 4 is an exciting step for us and for those interested in having energy efficient homes,” says Ryan Scott, President of Avalon Master Builder. “We have worked closely with SAIT on applied research for more than three years and now we are constructing a home that will meet the Architecture 2030 challenge as well as the ultimate EnerGuide 100+ standard.”

The Discovery 4 home is located on a corner of SAIT’s main campus and faces 16 Avenue and 14 Street NW. Construction of the home is scheduled for completion this fall.

The Discovery 4 project is a shared-cost partnership, with funding from C3 EnviroTech: Western Economic Diversification Canada, Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, SAIT Polytechnic and industry partners.

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SAIT Polytechnic is one of Canada’s most exciting destinations for post-secondary education, offering more than 100 career programs that position people for success in technology, trades and business. A leader in innovation, SAIT also collaborates with industry on applied research and delivers corporate training worldwide. SAIT is a member of Polytechnics Canada and one of Alberta’s Top 50 Employers for 2011.

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About Avalon Master Builder

Avalon Master Builder has been in business for 26 years and builds both single and multi family homes in Calgary and surrounding area. Avalon Master Builder is a forward thinking home building company that puts people first, builds quality homes at a reasonable price and believes what’s good for the environment is also good for their customers.

Recently, Avalon Master Builder announced a new housing division, Emerge Homes, which is developing, 40 single family homes in Calgary with the option of using renewable solar and geo-thermal systems providing exceptional energy efficiency with almost no green house gas emissions, and also meeting the highest Built Green™ standards of water conservation and sustainable building practices. The Discovery 4 House is part of the Emerge home series.

Avalon's vision is to build net-zero homes at no additional cost to the consumer by 2015.

More information about Avalon Master Builder and their green vision can be found on their website.