After that we had to apply these goals to some elements in the building process we could not change. These were location or building site, both at the PNE and at Pender Harbour, the fact that the house has to be moved (I like to think of it as a giant house trailer) and it had to have the ability to tour a thousand people per hour through it during the Fair.

Once we got past the basic philosophy of the design, we decided there were some other items we wanted to address. As Canadians, we build housing that sets a world standard for durability, comfort, and energy efficiency. In my research on how to improve our company's building technology knowledge, I attended seminars given by CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) that outlined the benefits of providing housing that was affordable, environmentally responsible, energy and resource efficient and healthy to live in.

I also found out about a project sponsored by CMHC called Home 2000, which, through specific design, demonstrated the concepts of healthy housing, energy efficiency and flexible housing. The decision was made with the 2001 PNE Prize home to show that these concepts did not require a specific home or design style to incorporate them, but could be transparently integrated into any home. With all the difficulties in merging divergent construction styles, the restrictions of building envelope, the requirement for exciting and innovative design, and the fact the house ends up in a spectacular but remote location shows that if we could incorporate these concepts into this house it could be done with any house.

After making the decision to incorporate these concepts into the PNE Prize home, now our job was to implement the philosophy, adjust our design to accommodate them and then search out products with which we could demonstrate how we applied this philosophy into reality.

As you visit the many pages that make up the construction section of this site, you will be able to see how the construction process proceeded, learn why we chose the products that we did and understand the benefits of these products. As we highlight the various products, and if you wish more information on a specific product, you will find links to that company's website.