Construction of high energy-efficient housing
Eligibility criteria for the Novoclimat program
Any individual or legal person acting as the applicant may participate in the program.
To be eligible for Novoclimat, the home must:
- Be a new home built by a Novoclimat certified contractor or a Novoclimat Select certified contractor;
- Be registered in the program before the construction begins;
- Be located in Québec, south of the 51st parallel;
- Be intended for residential use under one of the following categories:
- Single-family house;
- Intergenerational house;
- Single-family house with an attached dwelling (detached, semi-detached or row house);
- Be primarily heated with electricity or residual forest biomass Read the content of the note 1 .
In addition, heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) (PDF 415 Kb) (in French only) and their control devices (PDF 319 Kb) (in French only) must meet the Novoclimat program criteria.
Eligibility of a factory-built home
A factory-built home may receive Novoclimat certification if it is entirely constructed by a Novoclimat certified company and meets all the program’s criteria.
The contractor must take responsibility for the following:
- Foundations;
- Assembly of all materials;
- Insulation;
- Ventilation;
- Installation of a heating system.
Ventilation system
The installation of the ventilation system in a home must be carried out by a Novoclimat certified ventilation specialist, whether the home is factory-built or not.
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Footer note number 1Residual forest biomass comes from harvesting activities (branches and treetops, non-commercial parts of trees, twigs and foliage), as well as from primary or secondary processing activities (bark, planer shavings, sawdust and chips), and includes compressed wood pellets and logs. Back to the reference of the note 1
Last update: December 19, 2025