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GOHBA News

Embracing Intensification is Part of Growing Up

February 13, 2021

Ottawa has a lot of growing up to do. I’ve repeated this stat often in our updates and I’ll continue to do so – Ottawa is expected to grow by an additional 400,000 people over the next 25 years. This is a 40% increase over our current population of 1 million. All of those people…

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Housing Resolutions for 2021

January 9, 2021

Each year at this time I talk about resolutions for housing in Ottawa for the coming year. For 2021 I would still like to see the public conversation focus more around the contribution homes make to our communities, to our fellow citizens, and to ourselves and our families. Last year the City committed to seeing…

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Let’s Walk the Talk on Intensification

December 12, 2020

Last year GOHBA presented information about the then-forthcoming Official Plan, the intention to accommodate more homes through intensification in existing neighbourhoods and the need for everyone to understand the profound changes Ottawa is going to see as its population grows by 400,000 people to 1.4 million by 2046. Now the draft Official Plan is out…

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Our Commitment to Energy Efficiency

October 17, 2020

On September 22 GOHBA won EnerQuality’s Home Builders’ Association of the Year award, which recognizes “outstanding leadership in high-performance home building by promoting and participating in EnerQuality programs and the high-performance homebuilding construction industry.” GOHBA is the proud voice for excellence in the home building community, and one of the things we’re most proud of…

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How Lumber Supply Affects Housing

September 12, 2020

If you’re building a new home, thinking about one, or have bought lumber for a home renovation project recently, you’ve likely seen media reports about supply constraints and sharp price increases in wood products — specifically pressure-treated wood, plywood and framing lumber. A big part of what you’re seeing now is the lag effect from…

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Renovating for Energy Savings

August 8, 2020

In August 2019 in this space I spoke about improving your home’s energy efficiency through renovating, and how improving the energy efficiency in existing housing is extremely important to our future quality of life in Ottawa. Since that time there have been two important developments: First, the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) certified the first…

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Summer Renovations

June 24, 2020

In the long, warm, sunny days from May to October, you might want to spend as much time outside your home as you can. And that can mean renovating the outdoors, in a manner of speaking. Your professional renovator can provide you with lots of ideas about the things that beautiful summers are made of.…

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Making the Shift to Infill

June 13, 2020

The health and safety of workers and homeowners is the priority while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. This requires an increased focus on health and safety considerations on renovation jobs or warranty work in a new home. The Association has worked with a number of partners, health authorities and regulators to develop protocols for working in…

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Communicating for Renovation Success!

June 4, 2020

No matter how badly you want your renovation to go smoothly, and no matter how great the skills of your renovator or design professional, if there’s no communication, the project could be rocky. This is one reason a project’s site supervisor, project manager, foreman or owner is so critical to its success. These people talk…

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