British Columbia’s first LEED® Platinum home

Scott Kemp is a practicing architect and, therefore, no stranger to sustainable design. Kemp primarily works with Canada’s First Nations, and encourages his clients to build green on all their projects. This includes everything from a single home to a large interpretive center. When it came time to build a new home for his family, Kemp decided to design and build the first home in British Columbia to reach the rigorous LEED® Platinum standard for green building.

“It is a house for my family, but also a way to demonstrate sustainability and a new, inventive way of building,” said Kemp.

One of the key aspects of the LEED® for Homes rating system is energy efficiency. That is why Kemp chose the Insulspan® Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) System for the walls and roof of the home. “The reason to use the SIP system is twofold,” explained Kemp. “First is the performance of the SIP itself, with excellent insulating quality and airtightness; second is that SIPs receive points under LEED® for Homes.”

“It is a house for my family, but also a way to demonstrate sustainability and a new, inventive way of building.” – Scott Kemp, architect

Insulspan SIPs provided a well insulated and airtight building enclosure, subsequently reducing the heating load to the point where it could be handled solely by a geothermal heat pump. Kemp designed the home with a calculated solar orientation and an 8” thick concrete floor. This allows passive solar heating that does not require any fossil fuels.

Insulspan’s Ready-To-Assemble system was combined with a cedar timber frame that was crafted from downed trees on nearby Vancouver Island. Despite the complicated timber frame structure, Kemp was able to dry-in his home in just two and a half weeks.

“As an architect, those are the type of suppliers you like to have.” – Scott Kemp, architect

“The SIPs are fantastic and they went up really fast,” said Kemp. “They arrived prefabricated, the tolerances were great, and everything just slid into place without any issue. I’ve been very impressed with Insulspan. As an architect, those are the type of suppliers you like to have: they are very dependable and when the product gets on site, it fits perfectly.”

Interested in pursuing LEED® Platinum, Gold, or Silver certification for your home or commercial building? Contact us.