INUVIK - Construction on the NWT Housing Corp.'s first energy-efficient home above the Arctic Circle was supposed to be completed in Inuvik in March but will now start sometime this summer, said spokesman Stephen Pretty.

Pretty, manager of Strategic Planning and Communication for the NWT Housing Corporation, said the organization's engineering department is still trying to fine tune the house's design. This month officials from the corporation will visit communities across the NWT to get design input from residents, but the communities haven't been decided yet.

Vince Sharpe stands in front of his energy efficient home last October. He said the NWT Housing Corp. doesn't need to delay construction of its first energy efficient home in Inuvik to conduct more consultations on the design because making a building energy-efficient is simple. - NNSL file photo

"We've always said we want this to be by Northerners and for Northerners," said Pretty.

The housing corp. is now gunning to have the home in Inuvik completed at some point in 2011.

The project is a joint initiative by the NWT Housing Corporation and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Officials from both groups held a public forum in Inuvik last June where they unveiled a duplex design featuring thickly insulated walls, quadruple-paned windows and a roof with solar panels that would be built in Inuvik and is intended to set the standard for public housing in communities across the North.

The team chose to build the house in Inuvik because of the town's location north of the Arctic Circle, as well as its cultural mix and the availability of local builders.

However Vince Sharpe, a contractor and Inuvik councillor, said the housing corp. is making the process more complicated than he thinks it should be.

"They have a bunch of engineers in Yellowknife who have to come up with something needlessly complicated to justify their jobs," he said.

Last August Arctic Energy Alliance completed an energy efficiency evaluation report on Sharpe's Shell Lake home, which he built last year. The house earned an EnerGuide Rating of 82, just one point below the most energy efficient home possible, according to the group.

He said his home took only three months to build, adding he didn't try to get too fancy with its design.

"I used the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) principle," he said.

Instead of building his walls with standard 2x6 inch lumber he opted for 2x12 inch. He also installed triple pane thermal windows as well as a 97 per cent energy-efficient in-floor heating system. He estimates he spent an extra $40,000 making his home energy efficient.

He said during the coldest months of the winter he uses only about $150 a month in fuel, coupled with a small amount of wood he burns in his specially-made stove that has a granite covering that retains heat and slowly releases it after the fire has gone out.

Sharpe said the corporation should just go ahead and start building new homes with the technology that's readily available.

"The housing corp. needs to stop building these nicky, nacky boxes and start building more quality, energy-efficient homes. They can build them now just by using proven conventional methods."