There are
many factors that are holding back the performance of most houses in
Canada. Homes these days are fairly
complex and as a result of living in older, inefficient homes the average
homeowner doesn’t have an understanding of just how great their home could be. Many homeowners likely feel their home is
"good enough" and they don't see a need to change it.
If you had only
ever driven a 30 year old car with a manual transmission and no anti-lock
brakes, then you might not understand what all the fuss is about with “modern”
cars and you probably wouldn’t feel the need to upgrade. However, it’s pretty easy to take a new car
for a test drive to see for yourself what all the hype is about. I personally had thought back up cameras
were an unnecessary gimmick until I recently rented a car for work in
Kelowna. I was impressed with the backup
camera system once I tried it out for a day and I am now looking forward to
upgrading our car at home.
Most
Canadians live in homes that are 30 years old or older. Having never owned, lived in or experienced a
high performance home, most homeowners can’t understand how comfortable, quiet
and energy efficiency a home can potentially be. It’s not exactly easy to just take a high
performance home for a "test drive" or even know where to find them
but here are some ideas to help you experience high performance homes for
yourself.
Show Homes:
There are some very innovated
production builders with show homes that feature a host of high performance
features. Ranging from Passive House to
Net Zero, single family to townhouses, these builders are embracing new ideas and
technologies and testing out high performance home building. Here are some of our favorites:
Landmark Homes – Edmonton (Now
Open)
Alberta’s first CHBA
Net Zero Energy v1 Home, this show home features solar panels, heat pump
technology for space and water heating and high performance building envelope
and windows.
Brookfield Residential
– Calgary (Opening Date: TBA)
Brookfield is setting a new standard
in performance with the most energy efficiency homes constructed by a large
volume builder. As a research project,
this show home is being built to the very stringent Passive House standard from
Europe. Although this show home isn't open quite yet, be sure to stay informed
as this is a home not to be missed and its performance will truly be
unparalleled in the Alberta marketplace.
Informational Events:
There are also many other events
happening around Alberta where you can go to learn more information about
current and future high performance home features and check out some green
homes. Here are some suggestions:
Green
Homes Bike Tour – Calgary (Summer 2018)
For the past three summers, CaGBCEmerging Green Builders and 4 Elements have put
together a bike route tour of some of Calgary’s greenest homes. Using bike paths and the cycle track we enjoy
Calgary's exceptional new bike infrastructure while checking out some cool
houses and projects. Last summer’s tour
featured a LEED Platinum home, William Street SE (LEED Project No. 16644), Alberta’s largest LEED for homes development currently under construction: Raduis by Bucci Developments and a tour of the Green Building Technology Lab & Demonstration Centre located at SAIT.
Green Building Technology Lab & Demonstration Centre located at SAIT |
Eco-Solar Home Tour –
Edmonton (2018 Date: TBA)
This is a great tour hosted every year
by the Eco-Solar Tour organization. The
tour travels around the City of Edmonton by bus and checks out amazing high
performance, solar homes across the city.
Highly attended and well organized this tour is a must to check out.
Alberta
Green Homes Summit – Red Deer (February 13, 2018)
Not a tour per say, but this one day
conference is a great opportunity to hear about all the newest and greatest in
green building residential projects in Alberta.
Along with great networking opportunities, this summit is packed full of
valuable information.
Doors Open YYC – Calgary (2018
Date: TBA)
This open house day often features
great local examples of high performance buildings and other green
infrastructure around the City of Calgary.
Who to Follow:
Additional events are always coming up
and it can be hard to stay up to date.
Here is where we watch to see what tours and events are coming and what
is happening in the Alberta green building industry.
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