Dabrro wins 2006 SAM Award for Energy Efficiency and 2006 Cement Association of Canada Award for Design Excellence 

Edmonton builder uses Plasti-Fab’s Advantage ICF System® for maximum energy efficiency and comfort

“You can feel the difference in a home using the Advantage ICF construction.
You feel secure in the home. It’s more comfortable, you walk in on a hot day and it’s cool, or you close the door and the noise disappears. It makes your home truly a place where you can escape.”

Les Wold
Dabrro Marketing Manager

Dabrro Homes has won two major awards this year for an Edmonton home that uses Plasti-Fab’s Advantage ICF System® for maximum energy efficiency. Combining ICF (insulating concrete form) construction plus a high efficiency furnace and an efficient heat recovery ventilation system were features that helped net Dabrro the 2006 Energy Efficiency SAM Award in Edmonton last March. This is the first time an energy efficiency award has been given out at the SAM Awards. The winning Dabrro home consumes about half of the heating fuel to heat as compared to a traditional wood frame construction, and cuts heating bills in one-half.

“The SAM Award is very important because it is given out by the Edmonton Region Home Builders Association, and it is encouraging to see home builders focusing on energy efficiency. The SAM award means a lot to us,” says Darren Graff, Director of Sales for Dabrro Homes, which builds exclusively with the Plasti-Fab ICF system, from the footings to the rafters.

Criteria for the Energy Efficiency Award included curb appeal, layout and design of the home, energy efficiency, environmental considerations & innovation, marketability, and value per square foot.

The winning Dabrro home was a show home in Edmonton’s historic Old Glenora area that nicely retained the character of the neighbourhood. The two-storey colonial style home (see website www.dabrro.com) combined insulating concrete forms filled with concrete for high performing soundproof, energy efficient walls. The addition of a beautiful design also garnered Dabrro the Cement Association of Canada Design Excellence Award Honorable Mention.

Indeed, Dabrro put special work into integrating the infill design into the neighbourhood, and the winning show home drew great interest. Consumers were able to see that a concrete home can be attractive, warm and inviting. Says Wold: “You feel a secure in the home. It’s more comfortable, you walk in on a hot day and it’s cool, or you close the door and the noise disappears. It makes your home truly a place where you can escape.”

The overall comfort of the home also helped attract considerable interest. The silence inside the home was a very noticeable feature. The insulating concrete walls reduce sound transmission by 60%, virtually eliminating outside noises. Visitors were excited at the prospect of shutting out barking dogs and street noise. The home also holds a much more constant temperature due to concrete’s air tightness and the continuous R-Value provided by the Advantage ICF System’s EPS insulation, making it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. The enhanced comfort greatly assisted in the marketability of the home.
This home consumes about half of the fuel to heat as compared to a traditional wood frame construction.

Dabrro’s winning home sold on first week of completion, and within two months of completion four new clients committed to nearly identical in-fill projects and numerous others expressed interest to building similar homes in the near future.

Dabrro buys its Advantage ICF System® product from Killam Home Hardware Building Centre in Killam, Alberta. Owner Dwayne Leedholm says Plasti-Fab makes carrying Advantage Block easy and customer support is good. “Our business is increasing and the Plasti-Fab sales staff is always available to answer our questions or the questions of the clients.”

Contacts
Les Wold
Dabrro Homes Ltd.
(780).231-3681 (cell)
(780) 485-0393
les.wold@dabrro.com
www.dabrro.com