Father-Daughter Team Build A Passive-House Duplex in Cottage Country

Melinda is also the CEO and president of Tooketree Passive Homes, where her dad is now CFO. "Melinda made me aware of how the building industry contributes up to 50 percent of the carbon that's driving climate change," Rick says. "She convinced me that prefab is the way of the future, that stick construction in the rain and snow and heat isn't the best way to do things." Together, father and daughter purchased three lots in Baysville, Ontario, with plans to build and sell homes.

Melinda also inspired Rick to start Tooketree Passive Homes, which constructs panels for panelized prefab home construction. "We decided to build a panel factory and construct environmentally and people-friendly Passive Homes," he says. So, when it was time to build the first home on one of his three lots, Rick and Melinda collaborated. "We grabbed the Passive House baton and said let's build a duplex," he says.

Why a duplex? "Lots of people want a single-family home," he explains, "but a duplex serves a market for families looking after parents, or wanting to keep their adult children close, or who would like to rent one of the units to offset the mortgage." In April, Rick and Melinda's first duplex (with Tooketree panels and built by Fourth Pig) was completed and hit the market. Designed in collaboration with Passive Design Solutions, the duplex features two healthy homes that are also easy on the environment.

Starting with SEEDs 

Fourth Pig and Tooketree constructed the duplex with Tooketree's signature SEED (sustainable, ecological, efficient, durable) panels. The company fabricates these panels in its 7,000-square-foot factory in Muskoka. The wood panels include wood-fiber insulation near the exterior (R-8) and dense-pack cellulose and denim-batt insulation on the interior (R-45.3).

Do More, Doing Good 

"I used to tell my grandchildren that I compost, so I'm doing my bit for the environment," Rick recalls. "They'd said back to me, 'That's not even the beginning!' So, I wanted to do more. I wanted to leave a legacy on their behalf."

"By building a duplex to Passive House standards, and by avoiding materials that emit high levels of greenhouse gasses," he continues, "this project stores more carbon than it releases. While the average home produces 50 tons of carbon, this project sequestered 21 tons during the building process."

The new owners of the light-filled two-unit home will not only enjoy low energy bills and low maintenance. They will also enjoy a quiet home with a consistent temperature and a continuous supply of fresh air. Homes built to Canada's National Building Code use up to 30,400 kWh of electricity every year, for an average cost of around $4,773. This Passive House duplex requires less than half - only about 12,100 kWh annually. This energy usage will approximately translate to an affordable $1,900 in electric bills per year.