FAQ: Building a High-Performance Home in Ontario

Plan for roughly 12 to 18 months from first design meeting to move-in. Design and permitting usually take a few months, and construction on a typical custom home runs 8 to 12 more, depending on size, site conditions, and how quickly municipal approvals come back. Locking in the lot, plan, and envelope spec early keeps the back half of that schedule predictable.

One team carries the project end to end: discovery and vision, schematic design, design development and permits, construction, then handover with a final blower-door test and full performance documentation. Because the designers and the builders sit in the same room, performance decisions get made on paper, where changes are cheap, instead of on site, where they aren't.

No. We build on your lot anywhere in the London region, and we also have lots available at the Ausable Bluffs Enclave in Ailsa Craig, on Sheldabren Street and Queen Street. If you're still lot-hunting, talk to us before you buy — orientation, soil, and servicing all affect what a high-performance home will cost on a given site.

Yes. The 12 plans are starting points: layouts, elevations, and finishes can all be tailored to how you live. The one thing that stays fixed is the performance spec — continuous insulation, triple-glazed windows, ERV ventilation, and a verified airtightness result on every home.

A NetZero home is designed and built so it can produce as much energy as it consumes over a year, usually with the addition of solar panels. The envelope does most of the work: airtight construction, continuous insulation, and efficient mechanicals shrink the energy load until renewables can cover it. Starlit is a CHBA NetZero Certified builder.

Building science is the study of how heat, air, and moisture move through a home. It matters because most construction failures — mould, drafts, condensation, high bills — are physics problems, not workmanship problems. A builder who designs for those forces up front delivers a home that stays durable and comfortable for decades.

Lower is tighter. The Ontario Building Code allows roughly 3.5 ACH50 for new homes; a strong high-performance result is under 1.5. We guarantee 1.5 ACH50 or better on every home, and our portfolio average is 0.85 — every result verified by a blower-door test before handover.

Health Canada recommends every home be tested for radon, and parts of Southwestern Ontario do see elevated levels. Rather than wait for a test result, we install an active sub-slab radon mitigation system as standard on every build, then verify it with 90-day post-occupancy testing.

Yes — every home, every window. Triple glazing cuts heat loss through the glass, keeps interior surfaces warm enough to prevent condensation, and noticeably quiets road and wind noise. Paired with continuous R-30+ exterior insulation, it's a large part of why our homes feel even-tempered in January.

Every home is covered by Ontario's Tarion new-home warranty programme, which protects your deposit and covers workmanship, systems, and major structural items over a multi-year schedule. We're a Tarion-registered builder, and the warranty paperwork is part of every handover package.

Handover includes your blower-door result and full performance documentation, and the radon system gets its 90-day post-occupancy test. After that, Tarion coverage continues on its statutory schedule, and we're a phone call away — 519-852-8603 — if anything in the home isn't behaving the way it should.