By Steve Hubrecht
A Columbia Valley company’s homebuilding prowess was recently recognized with a Georgie Award.
The company — Invermere-based thinkBright Custom Homes — won the Georgie for the best custom-built home in the $1 million to $1.5 million range in British Columbia, earning the accolade for a home it constructed near the shore of Taynton Bay in Invermere’s Kpokl Road neighbourhood.
The home, dubbed Sandcastle, is beautiful in photos, but also incorporates plenty of sustainable design elements, including energy efficiency; wildfire resilient and non-combustible cladding; a super-airtight building enclosure; a super-insulated, low carbon foundation, roof, and high-performance wall assemblies; locally prefabricated components; a ductless heat pump and in-floor heat; and a right-sized ventilation system to maintain clean air, even during wildfire smoke season.
Sandcastle won the Georgie in part for combined top-notch construction with sustainable design, explained thinkBright co-owner Meredith Hamstead.
The Georgie Awards are given out annually by the Canadian Home Builders Association of British Columbia and are the province’s biggest home building honours.
“We’re thrilled. The Georgies are a pretty big deal in Canada,” Hamstead told the Pioneer. “There are some really good builders out there, we are proud to be recognized as one of them.”
Winning the award with Sandcastle is “proof that incorporating energy efficiency into home design is not rocket science. It’s not being ‘fancy’. It means solid building that will stand the test of time,” she said.
Another thinkBright home — called FieldHouse — was a finalist in the custom home under $1 million category. It too incorporates sustainable design principles and is built to BC Energy Code Step 5 standards.
Hamstead explained thinkBright applies this approach to all of its projects, be they higher-end homes, entry level homes, affordable houses, or retrofits on already-built homes.
“They (sustainable design principles) are not speciality items. This is simply how homes should be built,” she said. “We do this because there is only one planet. We are in a climate crisis. If we can build homes that are lighter on the planet, then we should do it.”
Hamstead extended a thank you to the crew that thinkBright employs, saying the award would not have been possible without them.
In fact, with Hamstead and her life and business partner Paul Denchuk unable to attend the awards ceremony in Vancouver, thinkBright crew leader Ray Vowels and his partner Natalie Forrest went to accept the award on the company’s behalf.
Ray Vowels (right) receives the award from the presenter. PHOTO SUBMITTED
