My dad

So I came across my dad's thesis in our storage locker last week. "Towards an architectural co-existence with the sun". I'm guessing this was around 1977 (?). He was always ahead of his time. Writing about passive principles and solar voltaics. 

He was a strong voice. One could argue, the father of green building in Canada, as we know it today. One of his first employees, Oliver, worked on the Saskatchewan House, renown in Passive House circles. In the early 90s, he was responsible for Ottawa's Minto-built Innova House, one of the country's first R-2000 houses and the first that contributed electricity back to the grid with its solar panels. He also brought the Energy Star program up to Canada and wrote the first iteration of the program. These programs, and their ease of adoption for developers have had large-scale impact on the quality and energy efficiency of the housing industry overall. One off homes, like ours, are great, but if we want real impact, it's made through existing channels and large developers, like Minto. 

When you're a kid, your parents are just your parents. What, they had lives before you came around? Only later in life were we getting glimpses at who my dad was before we came along and what he actually did 9 to 5. I'm so proud. Sure wish he was around to see us through our build. Miss you dad.