Barbara Roden
Free Press
A home-grown 100 Mile House success story is about to take the B.C. Home and Garden Show by storm.
Trinity Post and Panel, owned by Ken Harper, manufactures pre-built, pre-insulated houses, and one of the company’s houses is the featured exhibit at this year’s show.
Harper says Gregg Borsos, a member of the firm, was down in Vancouver doing a presentation about the company. The presentation was attended by the Home and Garden Show manager, whose reaction was: “We need to have that house at the show.”
A show home had already been arranged, but the company pulled out unexpectedly, leaving an opening, Borsos explains.
“We told them we had a construction process that was fast, and that we could build them a show home.”
It took a month to construct the house in the yard at 100 Mile House, and then five days to put the house together at B.C. Place for the show.
Borsos says that the post-and-beam frame with pre-inflated wall panels has insulation that will withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 C.
“The houses are very fire-resistant, and soundproof. The insulation cuts up to 60 per cent off the cost of heating and cooling.”
A 2,500-square-foot Trinity house can be heated with a 30,000 BTU furnace; a same-sized traditional home would need a 100,000 to 120,000 BTU furnace, he explains.
“There’s little air exchange or drafts. Our houses average 1.97 air exchanges per hour; most homes average five.”
Harper says he’s been working on the project since 2009, and it’s just starting to take off. The firm received two patents in 2015, which means they can really start to pursue opportunities.
“It’s all coming together.”
When asked what his goals are, coming out of the Home Show, he says, “I’m hoping to come back with sales. I want to put 100 Mile to work. Our goal is to create jobs here.”
