Build Back Better
We’ve seen more than a few natural disasters strike where we live and work in 4 Element’s 15 years of business. Working with homeowners and builders to improve the efficiency, comfort, and sustainability of homes, we’ve been around to witness everything from floods and hail damage in Calgary to this year’s devastating fire in Jasper. With these disasters increasing in frequency and magnitude, more Albertans are faced with the daunting task of fixing or rebuilding their homes.
While the insurance industry underlines the idea of replacing “like for like” on a claim, rebuilding offers a chance to improve efficiency and resiliency to the changing climate. Often these improvements come at very little increased cost. Unfortunately, all too often we feel the pressure to rebuild quickly, and face shortages of supplies and labour. This results in homeowners getting stuck with new construction that only meets the minimum standards of the building code.
While changes are underway to improve the durability of Canada’s homes through enhancements to the National Building Code, these changes are slow, working through years of review followed by a transition period while they are rolled out by the provinces. Changes underway today may not be mandated in Alberta until 2030 or 2035. We can’t rely on the building code minimum standards to set best practices. Instead, we look to voluntary programs like LEED, ENERGY STAR, and Net Zero Energy to provide guidance on best practices that look ahead to the needs of the future. There are many builders, designers, and energy advisors who are experienced in building better than code, producing homes that are far more comfortable and energy efficient than the minimum standards require. Simply incentivizing higher levels of performance with rebates or bonds can be highly effective as, for example, employed by the Town of Canmore.
Major disasters such as the Jasper fire create opportunities to rebuild with the future-proof housing that is needed, rather than copying what previously existed. This includes adding family housing for the “missing middle”; for example safe and legal secondary suites and modest increases in density. There are opportunities to add ventilation for wildfire smoke and improved indoor air quality, to add cooling systems for health and comfort in our increasingly hot summers, and to create communities that use less energy and water.
For those faced with the emotional loss and grief of rebuilding:
- Remember to breathe; not all is lost and there is a whole community around you willing to help you recover.
- Embrace the change that may come and remember what is most important to you.
- Don’t rush. Take the time to plan your rebuild, looking at all options and opportunities knowing that this may be a long process.
In 2013 my parents lost their home in the floods in Southern Alberta. Suddenly faced with an RV filled with everything they could save, and no home to come back to, the change was abrupt and disorienting; but a new home was found that our family has come to love, and many advantages and opportunities have been found in the years since.
While fighting the Jasper fires with the Canadian Forces Army Reserves, I saw firsthand the loss that the people of Jasper are going back to this week, and my heart goes out to them. Each morning as we drove into the forests around Jasper to put out hotspots and check for dangerous trees, I noticed the new growth in previously charred areas — the grasses and trees coming up and thriving in the burnt areas of the last few years, and I was hopeful again for the future.
