Common Construction Questions

Let’s start with a site visit, we can tell you what’s doable, then we can connect you with an architect (or design in-house, scope dependent). We can provide a rough idea of the cost on a first visit, and then hone in on what you specifically need.

Loaded question! This is something we can answer in approximate numbers, but it really is heavily influenced by the scope of work, design choices and structural work.

Simple answer. We stand behind our work. The more complicated answer is that we abide by the New Home Warranty as set out by BC Housing. Contact us for more details or visit bchousing.org and havan.ca.

Green building offers a comprehensive set of best practices to help us design and construct efficient, healthy homes that benefit the community, the environment, and your budget. There are nine “elements” that are (literally) your green building blocks:

• Site Planning & Design – This element involves designing to fit into the surrounding neighbourhood and working with natural features to provide safe play spaces, shade your building, and naturally control stormwater runoff. Minimize site impacts by shrinking the physical footprint of a development with more compact building and by taking care of trees and soil conditions during construction.

• Community – Successful and sustainable green building involves residents and community members from the planning stage all the way through to operation and maintenance.

• Indoor Air Quality – Indoor air quality significantly impacts resident health and comfort. Achieving a high-quality indoor environment requires careful design, construction, and materials choices and, thus, strong coordination among the building team.

• Energy – Energy efficiency is the key to making a home a finely-tuned, lean, green machine. Using energy modelling software early in the design process can take advantage of the sun and wind to heat, light, and cool a home affordably. Renewable energy, where feasible, is the next step.

• Materials – Recycled content and pre-fabricated products reduce material use, cut costs, and often perform better than traditional alternatives.

• Waste – Reduce, reuse, and recycle construction and demolition waste to cut costs and improve building quality. Design for efficient use of materials and for durability, avoiding future waste. With the right setup, over 70% of waste materials on a construction site can be recycled.

• Water – Conserve finite freshwater resources and reduce utility bills by installing water-efficient appliances and plumbing fixtures, landscaping with drought-resistant plants and efficient irrigation, and putting rainwater and greywater to use.

• Commissioning – Commissioning is the process of making sure that a building works. By systematically evaluating and adjusting building systems to function together as designed, commissioning optimizes efficiency, health, and comfort.

• Marketability – By treating green design as an art, not just a science, we can elevate economic, aesthetic, community, and ecological values to serve future generations.