Building back better

“We didn’t think we were going to be eligible.”

That’s what Owen Collings said of federal government grants for wildfire survivors in his village — people who had lost their homes to the Lytton Creek Fire in 2021.

Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers rebuilt a house for Collings and his wife Patsy Gessey in Lytton, British Columbia, last year. It was unlike any house MDS volunteers had built in Canada before. Volunteers worked with a customized house plan and upgraded building materials to meet an updated local building code and to construct the new home in a “spirit of fire resiliency,” a commitment made by the couple and MDS Response Coordinators.

Collings and Gessey wanted to apply for government grants through the Lytton Homeowner Resilient Rebuild Program. The couple covered building material costs for their new home. They hoped government grants would offset some of those expenses and enable them to purchase solar panels. Gessey carefully researched the grant program’s standards for fire resiliency and net zero emissions.

Of fire-resilient homes, the Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) website notes that fire-resilient construction helps prevent damage to homes and belongings, buying valuable time for evacuation in the event of a fire. Successful applications for a fire-resilient grant must meet a list of fire-resilient measures, such as non-combustible metal roofing.

The site states, “net zero homes produce as much clean energy as they consume and rely on renewable energy systems such as solar panels. Net zero ready homes are built to the same standards… but without a renewable energy system installed.”

Mark Rempel and Gerald Dyck, Lytton Response Coordinators, attended online information sessions related to this grant program. Following collective efforts of the homeowners and Response Coordinators, the four determined that a volunteer team would not meet the program’s requirements.

Mark Rempel, Lytton Response Coordinator, oversees construction of Owen Collings and Patsy Gessey’s house in May 2024. MDS photo/Nikki Hamm Gwala

But the team set out to build the house as fire resilient as possible anyway. The homeowners purchased building materials based on Gessey’s research and the advice of architect Jesse Reimer, who designed an energy efficient house plan. Key materials included metal roofing and flashings, cement siding, semi-rigid mineral wool batt insulation, a heat pump, electric hot water on demand, and triple glazed windows with a tempered glass, outer pane. Because of volunteer connections within the province, the recommended insulation was sourced within weeks when supply shortages otherwise would have meant months of delay.

The house was complete by the first week of July, a deadline that was driven by Lytton’s formidable summer heat. After construction wrapped up, the project’s energy advisor attended the home to conduct a final test. The report sent to Collings and Gessey in follow-up indicated that the house met PacifiCan’s net zero ready standards.

On hearing the news, Rempel recalls being “pleasantly surprised.” The report and subsequent meetings with government officials were “very affirming” of the work volunteers put into the build.

Collings and Gessey shared in the surprise. Collings reflected on the training volunteers needed to install new, fire-resilient materials. “MDS was amazingly adaptable considering. And they really caught a hold of it.”

An MDS volunteer installs energy efficient windows into Owen Collings and Patsy Gessey’s house in Lytton, British Columbia, three years after wildfire destroyed their home. MDS photo/Nikki Hamm Gwala

Because of the energy advisor’s findings, the couple applied for the Lytton Homeowner Resilient Rebuild Program after the build was complete.

Government officials conducted a home visit in late October and confirmed that the house met both fire-resilient and net zero ready standards. Lucas Coletta, a project leader in Local Energy Efficient Partnerships with Natural Resources Canada, stated that Collings and Gessey’s house will be “one of the first fire-resilient, net zero new homes in Canada.”

Coletta hopes Collings and Gessey’s house design will serve as an inspiration for “the highest level of wildfire resilient housing that can be constructed in the Jasper rebuild” — referring to the Alberta town’s recovery from last July’s wildfire, the largest to hit Jasper National Park in a century.

Collings and Gessey received their first grant payment, approximately CAN $66,000, in mid-January. A week later, they signed a contract for solar panels, to be installed in March.

“It all happened so fast, and it’s all just wonderful,” said Gessey. “Thank you, MDS… we’re really happy in our house.”

“I love walking into Patsy and Owen’s house now because it’s all full of colour,” reciprocated Rempel. “They feel comfortable, but I also think they feel safe.”

A home dedication was held at Owen Collings and Patsy Gessey’s volunteer built house on July 7, 2024. Photo courtesy of MDS volunteers

Takeaways

Several weeks after the house’s status was confirmed, Rempel reflected on a collaborative accomplishment. “We’re a bunch of volunteers, but we actually got some really key people involved,” he said. “[Collings and Gessey] did a lot of research… and we benefitted from that, and we continue to benefit from that.”

Collings added, “It’s been a leap and definitely a positive move… this was a good exercise for everybody.”

An exercise that Rempel and Dyck hope to repeat soon. Plans for the second MDS Lytton build are already underway. Excavation for a family home was completed last November, with the foundation to be poured in spring.

The Response Coordinators will approach the house construction similarly and draw on their acquired knowledge and experience with a fire-resilient, net zero ready home. Rempel is encouraging the Coghlans, a homeowner family of four, to apply for the same grants.

And Collings is already passing on what he and Gessey learned to the Coghlans, who live just across the alley. At age 76, he plans to volunteer his time and skills with MDS in the spring, helping to rebuild his neighbours’ house whenever he has a moment to spare.

Nikki Hamm Gwala, MDS Canada Communications