SAIT-designed Waiparous Village home, among world's greenest, awaits coveted certification

Construction is complete on The Confluence, an environmentally friendly home in Waiparous Village, northwest of Calgary (photo: Pavel Hájek)

CALGARY — Construction is complete on a house northwest of Calgary that is expected to be recognized as one of the most environmentally friendly homes in the world.

The Confluence — the result of a partnership between the Southern Alberta Institute of Technologies (SAIT) Green Building Technologies team including students, Woodpecker European Timber Framing and the homeowners, Gerton and Joleen Molenaar — has been constructed in Waiparous Village, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

The 2,238-square foot home was designed to produce more energy than it uses, captures water, incorporates savaged materials, and minimalize construction waste.

Interior of The Confluence in Waiparous Village (photo: Pavel Hájek)

After three years of construction, the home is complete and the partners now await word from officials with the Living Building Challenge on full certification under what is considered to be the most rigorous rating system for green building and sustainable design framework. The certification process takes 12 months.

If The Confluence receives full certification, it's expected to become the fourth home in the world to achieve such stature.

"The Confluence is unlike the three other fully certified LBC projects before it," explained Tracey Chala, SAIT Green Building Technologies principal investigator. "The home is located in a remote hamlet bound by the challenges of a northern climate compared to its suburban, more southerly counterparts. And, where some of those other projects had budgets of several million, this home will be completed for a fraction of that."

The initiative received funding support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alberta Innovates, Environmental Careers Organization Canada, Clean Foundation and United Nations Association of Canada.