Frontenac House

Architect: Solares Architecture
Completion Date: 2016

This low-profile compact home is nestled into an outcropping of Canadian Shield granite overlooking a lake in eastern Ontario. Its design incorporates aging in place principals and has no stairs or basement. Its building envelope includes triple glazed, airtight windows and doors, Zip System exterior sealed panels with breathable mineral wool exterior insulation. The insulation under its permanent wood floor and in its unvented roof system has been upgraded to ensure that it is as comfortable as it is beautiful.  With airtightness tested at 0.59 ACH, it exceeds the Passive House standard.

The home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a Great Room with a freestanding fireplace, and an attached garage which is at the same level as the floor in the house. The heating and cooling is provided by an air to air heat pump and its water heater incorporates a second air to air heat pump for domestic hot water. It also uses a condensing dryer and an energy recovery ventilator from Germany. The solar array on its roof was installed as part of Ontario’s MicroFit program and produces more energy than the house consumes making it qualify as a Net Zero Energy house. In all, it is a highly energy efficient package with an extremely low cost of ownership.