On this page, you’ll find an evolving list of all the suppliers and contractors we are using, with some comments where we think it is appropriate and fair:
Architecture and Design:
- Hughes Downey Architects, Kingston. *Following the retirement of Bruce Downey, Hughes Downey is no longer operating, but our architect, Mikaela Hughes, is definitely still working and has taken further qualifications in Passive House design since working on our place. Anyone wanting to contact her, please get in touch with us.
- Construction Maison Passive Inc.
- Stich Consulting and Design
Building and General Contracting:
Site Preparation and Landscaping:
- Mel from IsLandscapes
Trenching, Excavation, Septic and Cistern supply and installation:
Equipment Hire:
Foundation:
- Styrorail Expanded Polystyrene Insulating Panels *responded very quickly to everything we wanted
- MA Cement
- Kimco Steel
Structure:
- Merk Leno Cross-Laminated Timber by Züblin.
- Just about everything else in the house is FSC-certified pine and spruce from Ontario through Glen Supply, Kingston *very quick, thorough and almost always had just what we needed.
Insulation & Air-Sealing
- Wood Fibre Insulation Boards by Schneiderholz
- Tapes by SIGA via Hermann’s Timber Frame Homes *another really excellent Ontario company
- Tyvek HouseWrap by Dupont
- Pro-Clima Solitex Plus roof membrane
Windows and Doors
- Passivhaus-certified windows from Optiwin, a network of window and door manufacturers based in Austria.
- Passivhaus-certified front door from Tarredo, also based in Austria, via Optiwin.
- Interior doors from Millette, via De La Fontaine of Kingston, Ontario.
Water:
- Logix24 Water Storage Tank and KA88/2002 Flat Plate solar thermal Collector panels, supplied by Power Strength & Energy Solutions of Nova Scotia. * NOW CLOSED – We don’t know of any other supplier in Canada*
Energy:
- Bobolink Solar. We are working with this small, forward-looking solar energy company from Perth, Ontario, on a number of energy issues, including solar PV.
Ventilation:
- Zehnder Comfoair 200 Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system, supplied by Hans from Pinwheel Building Supplies, passive house specialists from St Catherines in South-West Ontario. *We had a good experience with Hans and Pinwheel but they are no longer the Ontario dealer for Zehnder. We are not sure who is.
- Engineering and installation by TBC Mechanical Design Ltd, Kingston.
Roofing:
Siding:
Floors:
- Hardwood floors from Gaylord Hardwood Flooring’s factory outlet in Kingston *a great local company, and if you want to laugh at their name, watch this…
- Olympia Tiles from MC Decor in Kingston
Built-in shelving and cupboards
- Bookshelves and cupboards by Jeremy Balint, Wolfe Island.
Paints, Stains and Finishes
- Ecological exterior and interior wood finishes from Sansin. *This company has been really excellent at responding to questions and their products are great.
- We didn’t use much paint, but what we did was ecological, zero-VOC paint from excellent Ontario company, Homestead House, except for colours they couldn’t do, which we got from Benjamin Moore’s Natura range.
- Silk wallpaper from Ubushina in Japan.
Bathrooms:
- Proficiency N7721 Ultra HIgh Efficiency Toilets by Water Matrix (via Home Hardware)
- Kohler Greek 4′ Japanese-style soaking tub
- Kohler 5’x5′ shower pan
- Mirolin 60″ framed sliding shower door (all in the Lowe’s sale)
- All sinks and sink units from Ikea
- All faucets from Moen
- Bricor B110 Low-Flow Shower – *this really works if you have low pressures and / or want to reduce water use.
Kitchen & Pantry:
- Ikea kitchen cabinets and matt white ‘Voxtorp’ fronts, ‘Ivar’ pantry shelving
- FSC-certified countertops by Paperstone (from their budget / surplus site, Green Counterops Direct – *great products at a better price, but if you are in Canada, ordering is a chore because you have to arrange all the delivery and customs clearance yourself.
- 36″ Induction cooktop by GE Café (in the Sears sale)
- 28″ single bowl steel undercounter sink (in Lowe’s sale)
- All other appliances reused from current kitchen
Electrical & Lighting:
- Rough-in and installation by Leduc Electrical of Kingston
- All light fittings use dimmable LED bulbs, mostly by Ikea
- Some shades from Japanese designer, Toshiyuki Tani, a whole variety of vintage Danish and Dutch shades, mainly sourced via Vintg.com (formerly Retrostart), and the rest from Ikea.
Japanese Room
- Japanese room built by Joe Calnan, Wolfe Island.
- Shoji sliding screens and tatami mats from Lilin Tatami in Vancouver, BC. They supply real tatami mats (the grass-filled ones, not the ones that have a foam core and a tatami outer layer – although they can do those too) and both standard and custom sliding doors and frames. *Excellent service and very quick and easy to deal with.
Wolfe Island Passive House Project 