Bill Semple, "Designing A Northern Sustainable House"

Bill Semple, Senior Northern Housing Researcher with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Summary: Mr. Semple discussed the process of getting rural communities involved in the design of sustainable northern structures that looked at traditional design, the needs of elders, cultural and family needs and what is needed to get the best use out of a home. The design process ended with a list of housing preferences that were incorporated into a Northern Sustainable House design.

Mr. Semple discussed the process of northern design charettes and workshops that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) held in Gameti in the North West Territory and other communities throughout the Canadian North. The process begins by working with the elders and start with a traditional ceremony. They acknowledge the knowledge of the elders by encouraging them to work towards a vision of their own for sustainable development and cultural continuity and how housing designs will add to their culture, not take away from it. Two things they found that elders didn’t like about modern housing was that 1) being built on stilts, it is too far off the ground, and 2) there is nothing for them to do (they used to chop wood, haul water, etc.) It was interesting to him because he had worked in Tibet and Nepal and assisted on a project moving nomads into a community. They were forced into permanent structures to provide education for their children as required by law,. The nomadic elders also identified two complaints about modern houses: 1) the houses removed them from the herds, and 2) there is nothing for them to do.

In a community developing a design for a sustainable Dogrib house (a traditional open structure used for sharing stories and learning new skills and where the hearth was the center of family activity) the village chief said, “If we are to remain a strong people we must educate our children and grandchildren in both the white and the Tlicho ways. They must be strong like two people.” This became the metaphor driving the charette process in this community – that housing incorporates both cultures so they can be “strong like two people.” CMHC wanted to design houses that were 50% better than standard code compliance. An elder in Arviat advised them to learn from the different styles and usages of igloos. These simple structures were more elaborate than what we think and often several different sized, different shaped igloos were strung together to make “the house”. They were flexible – you could add another room as needed. There would be a small narrow igloo with a tunnel going down and then up into the living chamber that was connected to the cooking chamber (cone shaped with an opening on top) connected to a large sleeping chamber. The elders weren’t advising them to build snow igloos but rather to learn from traditional Inuit culture; how it survived in the harsh Arctic environment and to use those concepts in modern design.

As the communities went through the design charette process, what was supposed to be a one day event turned into a three day event as technical ideas kept coming up. When that happened, they would set those aside so that people were free to relax and come up with ideas. They held special sessions just for women to get their input. The Arviat design charette came up with the following housing needs that culminated in a Northern Sustainable housing design:

In conclusion, Mr. Semple said that CMHC incorporated these ideas into the design along with R66 roofs, R45 walls, solar ready and south facing, large south windows for natural light and small windows on other sides. Keep the design simple, easy to build, and invest more money in a well built, well insulated envelope.

back to top