At a glance: Empire Custom Homes is a Calgary-based luxury custom home builder and renovation company, founded in 2003, building in Calgary and the Rocky Mountain communities of Canmore, Banff, Invermere, Fernie, Golden and Revelstoke. We build to our own RESIDE Healthy Standard, have built Built Green certified homes, and in 2020 completed the first home outside Japan certified under GREENGUARD 3036. This guide explains the four standards Western Canadian homeowners can use to build a healthier home.
Four programs can help you build, measure and prove a healthier home: GREENGUARD, Built Green, WELL for residential, and our own RESIDE Healthy Standard. Each looks at health from a different angle, and understanding the difference helps you decide what matters most for your family.
We spend most of our lives indoors, and most of that time at home. Today’s homes are built tighter than ever to save energy. That is a real achievement, but a tightly sealed home also holds on to whatever is released inside it: chemicals off-gassing from cabinets and finishes, cooking by-products, moisture and soil gases like radon.
Here in Western Canada, local conditions make indoor air especially important. Much of Alberta and British Columbia has elevated radon in the soil. Wildfire smoke now arrives most summers. Long, dry winters keep homes sealed for months, and mountain homes face wide swings in temperature and humidity. A healthy home is designed for all of it.
A healthy home manages all of these on purpose. The standards below give homeowners and builders a way to measure that effort, so you are not relying on promises alone. Some certify individual products and some certify the whole home. Each covers part of the picture. The last, our own RESIDE Healthy Standard, brings the best of them together in a single build, so read on to see how they fit.
STANDARD 01
GREENGUARD: certifying what goes into your home
Low-emitting products, independently tested
GREENGUARD certifies that individual products release very low levels of chemicals into the air. It is run by UL Solutions, an independent testing organization.
Products such as cabinetry, flooring, paint, adhesives, insulation, furniture and mattresses are tested in sealed chambers. The test measures the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) they give off, including formaldehyde. Only products below strict emission limits earn the label. There are two tiers:
- GREENGUARD Certification sets limits for general indoor spaces.
- GREENGUARD Gold sets tighter limits designed for sensitive people, such as children and older adults. This is the level to look for in a home.
Why it matters to you: the cleanest air starts with materials that don’t pollute it. That “new home smell” is largely chemical off-gassing, and choosing GREENGUARD Gold products prevents much of it at the source.
What to ask for: the GREENGUARD Gold mark on cabinets, flooring, finishes, sealants and furnishings.
GREENGUARD Certification for Homes: the whole house, tested
Product certification tells you a cabinet or a can of paint is low-emitting. GREENGUARD Certification for Homes went further: it tested the indoor air of the finished home itself.
UL issued the world’s first certification for homes in Japan in 2016. The program screened the home’s air for more than 300 VOCs and set an upper limit on total VOCs (TVOC). That limit caught unregulated and unknown chemicals that individual product standards can miss.
In 2020, Empire became the first builder outside of Japan to achieve this whole-home certification, on our Pure Serenity custom home. It was awarded under GREENGUARD 3036, the standard in place at the time. UL no longer offers it.
The owners asked us to build the healthiest luxury home possible. We vetted every material, from lumber and adhesives to paint, flooring, cabinetry and furnishings, and paired them with advanced HVAC and air purification. The certification proved the result.
STANDARD 02
Built Green: a whole-home benchmark, born in Alberta
Sustainability, performance and indoor air, verified
Built Green certifies the whole home for building to a higher environmental standard than code. Built Green Canada is a not-for-profit, industry-driven organization with its roots in Alberta. Builders work through a detailed checklist covering six areas: energy efficiency, materials and methods, indoor air quality and ventilation, waste management, water conservation, and business practices.
An independent third party verifies each home, and an EnerGuide evaluation confirms its energy performance. Homes are rated Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum, and there are also pathways for net zero and renovation projects.
Why it matters to you: Built Green gives a well-rounded picture of a home that is comfortable, efficient and responsibly built. Indoor air quality is one important pillar of a broader sustainability rating.
Built Green at Empire
We have built Built Green certified homes and can build any new home to the program’s requirements. Empire is a member of the Alberta New Home Warranty program, the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) and the Alberta Home Builders’ Association. Learn more at builtgreencanada.ca.
STANDARD 03
WELL for residential: a home designed around the people in it
From the International WELL Building Institute
WELL for residential certifies homes designed to support the health and well-being of the people who live there. It comes from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), creator of the globally recognized WELL Building Standard. The program applies to single-family homes and multifamily residences, is evidence-based and third-party verified, and offers more than 100 strategies organized around ten WELL concepts:
| Concept | What it addresses in a home |
| Air | Ventilation, filtration and pollutant control |
| Water | Quality and access to clean drinking water |
| Nourishment | Spaces that support healthy eating |
| Light | Daylight and lighting that support natural sleep cycles |
| Movement | Design that encourages everyday activity |
| Thermal Comfort | Stable, controllable temperature and humidity |
| Sound | Acoustic privacy and reduced noise |
| Materials | Less exposure to hazardous chemicals |
| Mind | Restorative spaces and connection to nature |
| Community | Connection, accessibility and resilience |
Why it matters to you: where other programs lead with energy or materials, WELL leads with the occupant. It looks at how your home affects sleep, mood, comfort and long-term health, as well as how much energy it uses.
WELL at Empire
WELL for residential has only recently expanded to single-family homes, and we have not yet certified a home under it. Many of its concepts, especially air, light, thermal comfort and materials, overlap with our RESIDE pillars, and we can design toward WELL criteria for clients who want them. Learn more at wellcertified.com.
STANDARD 04
RESIDE Healthy Standard: bringing it all together in your home
Empire Custom Homes’ own framework
The RESIDE Healthy Standard is Empire Custom Homes’ own framework for designing and building healthier homes. It turns years of research into a clear, repeatable process we can apply to any custom build or renovation.
It began as a personal mission. After the 2013 Calgary flood, I developed an acute chemical sensitivity. We had to rethink our own new office, cutting out the material toxins the industry had grown used to, just so I could come to work. That experience became RESIDE, built on six pillars, one for each letter:
| Pillar | What we do |
| R Reduction | Source materials with the lowest possible VOC content |
| E Elimination | Eliminate VOCs wherever possible, and use air-cleaning technology to remove them from the air when needed |
| S Selection | Research every material and select products that meet or exceed recognized air quality standards |
| I Indoor Ventilation | Design ventilation systems to dilute and remove what can’t be eliminated at the source |
| D Design | Consider location, views, lighting, air quality, colour, texture and pattern, each of which shapes a healthy home |
| E Environment | Support long-term health while reducing environmental impact through sustainable choices, waste recycling, regional materials and innovative construction practices |
How RESIDE builds on the other standards
Each of the programs above covers one part of a healthy home. RESIDE’s pillars draw on all of them:
| RESIDE pillars | Build on | What that means in your home |
| Reduction, Elimination, Selection | GREENGUARD | Low-emitting materials, verified by independent testing |
| Indoor Ventilation, Design | WELL for residential | Clean air, natural light and comfort designed around the people who live there |
| Environment | Built Green | Sustainable choices, less construction waste and regionally sourced materials |
The certification programs set the benchmarks. RESIDE is how we meet them, together, in your home.
A standard tailored to you
RESIDE is fully customizable. Some clients make a few mindful material choices. Others build wellness into every part of the home. We guide you through the options, design a solution that fits your priorities, and hold our trades to the same standard, insisting on alternative materials where needed.
Backed by independent certification
RESIDE is our own standard, and we back it with third-party testing:
- Avant cabinetry: our Avant cabinet line, built by Empire Kitchen & Bath, achieved GREENGUARD Gold certification in 2020. It is one of very few cabinet lines worldwide to earn it.
- Pure Serenity: this RESIDE home earned GREENGUARD 3036 whole-home certification in 2020, the first outside of Japan, under the standard in place at the time.
Why it matters to you: RESIDE brings the principles behind every program in this article into the everyday decisions of your build: the cabinets, finishes, ventilation and design you will live with every day.
How the four standards work together
These programs complement each other. A single home can use GREENGUARD Gold products, be built to the RESIDE standard, and pursue Built Green or WELL certification for the home as a whole.
| Standard | What it certifies | Run by | Best understood as | Empire’s experience |
| GREENGUARD | Individual products and materials | UL Solutions | Proof that what goes into the home is low-emitting | Avant cabinetry is GREENGUARD Gold. First GREENGUARD 3036 home outside Japan (2020) |
| Built Green | The whole home | Built Green Canada | A broad sustainability and performance benchmark | Built Green certified homes built |
| WELL for residential | The whole home | International WELL Building Institute | A wellness-first, evidence-based framework | Can design toward WELL criteria on request |
| RESIDE Healthy Standard | Our design and build process for the whole home | Empire Custom Homes | Six healthy-home pillars, tailored to each build and verified by GREENGUARD testing | Our own standard, offered on every custom home and renovation |
Which standard is right for your home?
The right mix depends on your priorities:
- Allergies, asthma or chemical sensitivities in the family: focus on material emissions, through GREENGUARD Gold products and the RESIDE standard.
- Energy performance and sustainability: Built Green offers the broadest environmental benchmark.
- Overall wellness, including light, sound, sleep and comfort: WELL for residential takes the most holistic view.
- Documented proof for resale: third-party certification gives future buyers a verified record of what was built.
If you are planning a new home or renovation in Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Invermere, Fernie, Golden, Revelstoke or elsewhere in Western Canada, we would be happy to walk you through how each of these standards could apply to your project.
Program details are current as of October 2026 and may change. Confirm current requirements with each certifying organization.
Common questions
What is the healthiest home certification in Canada?
There is no single “healthiest” certification. Each covers a different part of a healthy home. GREENGUARD Gold verifies low-emitting products, Built Green Canada certifies whole homes for sustainability including indoor air quality, and WELL for residential focuses on occupant health. In Calgary, Empire Custom Homes combines them through its RESIDE Healthy Standard.
Can a whole home be GREENGUARD certified in Canada?
In 2020, Empire’s Pure Serenity home became the first outside Japan certified under GREENGUARD 3036, UL’s whole-home standard at the time. UL no longer offers that standard. Homeowners can still specify GREENGUARD Gold certified materials and pair them with good ventilation and design.
Which builders in Calgary build healthy homes?
Empire Custom Homes is a Calgary luxury custom home builder that specializes in healthy homes. It created the RESIDE Healthy Standard, built the first GREENGUARD 3036 home outside Japan, and has built Built Green certified homes in Alberta. Whichever builder you choose, ask what certifications they hold and how they verify the results.
Is Built Green available in Alberta and British Columbia?
Yes. Built Green Canada began in Alberta and certifies homes across Western Canada. Empire has built Built Green certified homes and can build any new home to the program.
Do healthy homes cost more to build?
Some upgrades add cost, such as premium filtration, energy or heat recovery ventilators, certified cabinetry and certification fees. Others cost little or nothing extra, since many low-VOC products are priced similarly to conventional ones. Because most of our projects are built on a cost-plus basis, clients see exactly what each healthy-home choice costs.
Why do healthy homes matter in Western Canada?
Alberta and B.C. homes face elevated radon, wildfire smoke and long, dry heating seasons when homes stay sealed. Low-emitting materials, radon protection, filtration and balanced ventilation address all of these.
Can the RESIDE Healthy Standard be used in a renovation?
Yes. RESIDE is fully customizable and can be applied to custom homes and whole-home renovations, from a few material choices to wellness in every room.
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