Building for Better Density
The pandemic has redefined how we think about many things. One of the biggest is our living spaces and local neighbourhoods. Over the past two years, the rooms in our homes have doubled as offices, gyms, and even classrooms. And between lockdowns and social distancing, it felt like our world shrunk to the blocks that we can walk around in our own neighbourhoods.
Practical Steps to Housing for All
For many North Americans, the idyllic image of a cosy home surrounded by a white-painted picket fence is far from reality. How are we dealing with the housing crisis that’s affecting more people than statistics show?
Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS)
The Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS) is dedicated to educating rental property owners and advocating for their rights in its province. The association was founded in 1978, a time in the province’s housing history that its executive director Kevin Russell remembers as much different than today. Back then, the main driver behind the association beginning its operations was rent control, established in the province in 1973.
Northumberland Properties
Andrew Cameron, Vice-President of Northumberland Properties, is a man on a mission. He believes that everyone – especially seniors – should have access to affordable and accessible housing wherever they live and should not have to trek to urban areas to find it.
Canadian Home Builders’ Association
Over the months leading up the release of Canada’s latest federal budget, A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable, there was speculation over what recommendations the 304-page document would contain about the nation’s housing crisis. Highlighted as a priority for all levels of government, the dearth of all kinds of housing, from single-family homes to condominiums, townhomes to rental units, is a threat to our future.
Building Knowledge Canada
There is a well-worn cliché that we have all heard a thousand times: “They sure don’t build them like they used to.” It is usually a complaint about how, in the modern world, we have chosen to trade quality for convenience or to save a little money. In the homebuilding field, one company is forever changing the way homes are built, with a focus on energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and climate resiliency—and without sacrificing affordability.
Elviano Homes Ltd.
There’s no place like home, especially when that home is created with a client’s particular vision in mind. With a sterling 16-year reputation in Toronto’s high-end construction sector, Elviano Homes Ltd. recognizes the importance of expert design, quality materials, and experienced trades, along with enduring, open and consistent communication in order to create “forever homes” for valued customers.
Karwood Contracting Limited
Karwood Contracting Limited offers an integrated suite of construction, land development, real estate, and design services. Using advanced tools, low-carbon wood, and a nimble approach, Karwood builds attractive, energy-efficient residences.
Azora Group
Some residential developers create cookie-cutter housing projects, then leave as soon as the work is done. The opposite is true of Azora Group, which builds communities. While Azora’s design-oriented multi-family and single-family dwellings are of exceptional quality and value, Azora also designs them for real family life.
Fusioncorp Developments
Developing a passion for the building industry at an early age, Nick Ainis remembers setting up a make-believe office in the family garage with his cousin and future partner Jim Ainis. “We were pretending to sell real estate,” says Nick.
Modern Skyline
Modern Skyline is a luxury development company that focuses on modern design and functionality while embracing the latest in technology and sustainability. Jean-Sebastien Leroux and Matthew Tautt “founded the company with the objective of bringing something a little bit more modern to the marketplace—something modern but classic,” Leroux says.
STAR Inc.
Sealcoating on asphalt or concrete surfaces isn’t decorative; it’s highly functional and protects considerable investment. Sealcoating safeguards home driveways, gas stations, parking lots, even airport surfaces from wear and tear, oil and gasoline spillages, water, snow, wind, rain, and hail.
Cimline
For more than half a century, Cimline, Inc. has been helping preserve the pavement, asphalt, and roadwork network across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Cimline designs and manufactures equipment to preserve roadways throughout the world. With a drive for performance and innovation, Cimline continues to offer cutting edge technology through its worldwide network of distributors. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with manufacturing plants in Minnesota and Mississippi.
Accu-Temp
Dave Voll and his nephew Chris Voll founded Accu-Temp in 1982. Both licensed tradesmen, the entrepreneurs launched the company to service commercial heating and cooling ventilation systems in Ontario’s Kitchener Waterloo area. “At that time it was running out of the basement,” Vice President of Business Development Scott Ward says of the humble start-up.
Delphi Plumbing & Heating
Delphi Plumbing & Heating is a leading industrial, institutional, and commercial contractor, providing essential services that keep 8.8 million New Yorkers healthy and safe.
The HIDI Group
When he became Chief Executive Officer of The HIDI Group last November, Dario Di Carlo was prepared to face COVID challenges impacting the building industry, work through them, and welcome the future. Now, past the midway mark of 2022, staff are returning to the office, “and rebuilding the corporate culture we had before COVID,” says Di Carlo.
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Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC)
Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) provides a depth and breadth of services, programs, and opportunities for manufacturers. Headquartered in Owen Sound, Ontario, with a national presence, EMC also encourages young people to enter the manufacturing workforce and is always looking for ways to enhance the sector.
Facing Up to What’s Facing Construction
When you think of the world’s largest industry, perhaps agriculture or energy come to mind—but it turns out they’re not the biggest.
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
After profiling the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) sustainability efforts in previous articles, Construction in Focus caught up with the organization once again, this time to learn about an exciting new report. State of Decarbonization: Progress in U.S. Commercial Buildings 2023 discusses the sector’s progress, the current status of data availability, and mechanisms available to reduce the carbon emissions of commercial buildings in the United States—the first report to compile all of this information into a single source.
Cushing Terrell
There is a quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky that you have likely seen in PowerPoint presentations. It is the one about skating to where the puck is going, rather than where it is. In hockey, Gretzky seemed to have a preternatural ability to anticipate the best place to be. In business, Cushing Terrell has that same knack.
Animal Arts Design Studios
When thinking about architecture and building design, we know much time and thought goes into creating sound, healthy, and attractive structures for people, but what about housing for our animal friends? Animal Arts Design Studios specializes exclusively in animal care design, including animal shelters and veterinary hospitals, with a proven track record of success with more than 1,500 projects in 40 U.S. states, Canada, and overseas, ranging in size from 600 to 110,000 square feet.
Enercare
Coming together to address a vital energy need in the market, Enercare and Subterra Renewables are working to decarbonize living in the way we interact in our homes, transitioning away from fossil fuel powered systems to renewable geothermal energy. Finalized in Q4 2023, the partnership of these two Canadian companies represents a first-of-a-kind industry relationship aimed at providing quality products, service, and results to clients, all while helping to reduce our carbon footprints.
