PAGE A6 – May 2008 – The GTA Construction Report
Doug Tarry Homes Leading the
Way in Green Building and Design
With more than 50 years of experience in land de- features for their clients. This includes sub-slab in-
velopment and design/build, Doug Tarry Homes is stallation, and the use of passive solar design. The
taking on a leadership role of bringing green building solar design is facing rear yards, giving the home-
and design to the new homes marketplace. owners better control of heat gain throughout the day.
The company builds both production and custom Including Energy Star appliances and better insu-
homes, and builds about 60 homes a year in the St. lation are regular parts of the building design, but
Thomas, Ontario region. Recently, the firm took Tarry said the cost increase in providing all these op-
home three national SAM awards, and was named the tions is actually quite minimal.
Energy Star New Home Builder of the Year for mid- “It really hasn’t been that much more expensive,”
volume homes. he said. “It really was just more attention to detail.”
With a long standing reputation for its quality of With that, Tarry said their success thus far is re-
construction, Doug Tarry Homes fully embraced the
new technologies that are emerging. There is a sig-
nificant amount of pride that goes into the homes, and
what they are able to provide homeowners.
“When Energy Star came out it was a natural fit
for us,” explained Doug Tarry. “We were already
doing a lot on the land development side in terms of
sustainability, and so we slowly brought it in to the
homebuilding side.” workers to sleep during the day,” he said. “Also, with
The result has been an excellent marriage between less draft and more consistent temperature, people can
sustainable design and homebuilding. Doug Tarry get much more enjoyment from their homes.”
Homes has demonstrated through its work that energy While Tarry explained that they don’t generally
efficient features can not only provide cost savings to talk about energy savings from their homes, he did
consumers, but superior comfort and performance add that it usually about 30 per cent better than a stan-
over other homes. dard code-built home. However, he stressed that it is
“I think what we’re finding is that people feel difficult to quantify such things without comparing
good about making the choice of buying an energy two of the same homes.
efficient home,” Tarry said. “But they make the Nevertheless, Doug Tarry Homes has filled an im-
choice for comfort as opposed to saving the planet. portant part of the marketplace, and are giving their
We really don’t stress that much on energy savings, consumers more value for the homebuying dollars.
but rather on the comfort of the home.” Each of their homes is built above Building Code and
Regarding comfort, Tarry explained that home- Energy Star requirements, and Tarry said they are also
buyers can expect more consistent temperatures taking important steps towards what he calls “future-
throughout the house—this is particularly important proofing.”
for people who are finishing their basements—as well “We are making sure that each home we build is
as better sound acoustics, by keeping outdoor sound solar ready,” Tarry said. “It is something we can do is
from coming in. not that expensive, and it makes sure that the home is
“One of the big ones is that the home is much qui- viable for the consumer now, as well as in the future.”
eter than a traditional code built home, allowing shift Tarry added that they also offer a number of other
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