Ted is looking to build his own home and wants to know if he can get a book that will give him the specs for an R-2000 home. He wants to do it right!
The answer is Yes and No, Ted. There is a publication that illustrates many of the techniques used in R-2000 homes, in fact there is a new edition that just came out in September 2001. That can be purchased from the Canadian Home Builder's Association, whether you are a builder or not. But to fully answer your question you need to understand exactly what is the process of building an R-2000 home. You see, to have an officially registered R-2000 home, that allows you to identify it as such for re-sale, it must be built by a registered R-2000 builder who has gone through the special process of planning, testing and registering this house. That is exactly what makes R-2000 so special compared to any other house. You can build a fine house, that performs just as good as an R-2000 house, but you just have an individual builder's word on all of that. When it is R-2000 registered, you have a house that has passed a computer simulation test to see if it will use less energy that a specific criteria for your climate, you have a house that has been field tested to assure it meets a very high standard for air tightness, you have a house that has a complete whole house ventilation system that has been tested to be sure that it in fact delivers exactly the quantity of air that is needed to each room of the house, and gets rid of exactly the necessary quantity of stale air -- assuring you both good indoor air quality and energy efficiency.
To do this, contractors take detailed courses. I used to teach those courses in Quebec, but my French instructor's manuals probably wouldn't do you much good Ted. Builder's also go to regular upgrading courses to keep up on new developments.
The real bottom line to understand about R-2000 houses is that they are not built to a specific standard, although there are a lot of very stringent minimum requirements. It is built to a performance standard. That is, the R-2000 program does not tell people how the house must be built, but what it must accomplish in terms of energy efficiency and indoor air quality. Then the builder has to find a way to accomplish that. Much of the time in the courses are spent just helping builders work through details that work and that don't work. Then they choose how to build their own style R-2000 house. For more information on the R-2000 training, contact your local Home Builder's Association. So many of you have asked. so I managed to get the R-2000 Builder's Manual into my on-line store. But remember, an R-2000 house is more than just what is presented in this essential manual. It is computer energy simulations during the planning stages and third party testing during construction to assure R-2000 performance once you move in.