Toronto Star
By: Tracy Hanes

Victor Fiume, a tireless and passionate advocate of sustainable new home building, has been honoured with the 2009 EnerQuality Hall of Fame Award.

Fiume, general manager for Durham Custom Homes, was feted at the annual EnerQuality Corp. Awards held Thursday in Collingwood at the Ontario Home Builders' Association Forum.

Mason Homes took three awards as Green Builder of the Year, Energy Star for New Homes Builder of the Year and for Best Green Sales Team.

The Monarch Corp. was recognized for Building Innovation and Excellence and for Best Green Marketing Campaign.

Other award winners included former provincial energy and infrastructure minister George Smitherman and BILD (Building and Land Development Association) as Leaders of the Year, Union Gas as Industry Partner of the Year and Gordon Tobey Developments of Brighton as R2000 Builder of the Year. Mountainview Homes Ltd. was EnerGuide Rating Service Builder of the Year and Ron Salisbury was Evaluator of the Year.

The Hall of Fame Award is industry nominated, recognizing an individual who has made a significant and long-term impact advocating energy efficiency and green building practices.

Under Fiume, Durham Custom Homes adopted Energy Star as a standard three years ago and followed that up by becoming the first GreenHouse builder in Canada. (GreenHouse homes incorporate indoor air quality and water conservation as well as energy efficient features). The company conducts regular consumer education seminars about Energy Star and GreenHouse.

Fiume, a past president of the OHBA, has twice hosted the OHBA lowrise green housing tour, been a guest speaker at the CMHC Industry Leaders Conference for Sustainable Housing and at the City of Oshawa Strategic Planning Committee meeting. He is a member of Technology Roadmap in Sustainable Housing Working Group.

Smitherman was chosen for one of the Leader awards for championing the Green Energy Act and being a dedicated supporter of those who took the initiative in building green.

BILD was recognized for multiple green initiatives it has implemented, such as establishing a Green Committee, introducing Green Builder of the Year awards and sponsoring or supporting projects such as the Archetype Sustainable House at the Kortright Centre, the Sustainable Condo and Habitat for Humanity's first Energy Star build. BILD's Toronto headquarter is powered by Bullfrog Power and have been retrofitted with many energy-efficient features.

Mason Homes builds Energy Star homes in Peterborough and Lindsay and has adopted its own Green for Life program, which is similar to GreenHouse standards.

The Monarch Corp. won for Evergreen, a LEED-H/Energy Star project in Toronto geared to first-time and move-up buyers which incorporates energy and water efficiency features, recycling measures and compact fluorescent lighting.

Gordon Tobey Developments of Brighton was the first R2000 builders in Canada and one of the few builders to build exclusively to R2000