1. Reduce your waste water – Toilets and showers use up 30-40% of our domestic water. By installing high efficiency or low-flow toilets and showerheads you could your family could save over 30,000 liters of water a year
2. Save rain water with a rain barrel – save water and your plants by using a rain barrel to save water for when you need it and your plants will love you for it
3. Plants can help save money, too – think strategic when choosing the plants around your home; deciduous trees on the east and west side of your house provide shade in the summer and sunlight in the winter
4. Solar energy – summer is here and a perfect time to consider installing inexpensive Blue Planet Solar Power panel that pays itself off in no time
5. Smart lighting with LED – did you know: LED lighting lasts 40x longer than incandescent bulbs and uses less electricity for the same brightness and is free of hazardous material such as mercury
6. Installing smart power strips – stop electronic devices from drawing on your electricity even when they are turned off
7. Seal off air leaks in your home – reduce your cooling and heating expenses through measures of caulking, insulation and/or weather stripping
8. Dress up your hot water tank – why not prepare for winter in advance: a good hot water tank cover and thorough insulation for your water pipes are essential and will help reduce energy costs

… follow some of these tips and help save money and reduce your carbon footprint. Let Klondike Contracting help you with these tips. Contact us today or Request a Quote and we can help get you started on a greener home or office.

Downtown Robert Lee YMCA Project – March 30th: The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has started a brown bag lunch lecture series featuring different revitalization projects around city of Vancouver. Architect Alan Endall MAIBC of Endall Elliot Associates will describe how the redevelopment of the downtown YMCA brought an aging structure to 21st Century standards while creating a downtown gathering place while  maintaining a significant grouping of heritage buildings along Vancouver’s Burrard Street. It will be held on Wednesday, March 30, 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. at the British Columbia institute of Technology’s Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street. The cost is $12. To sign up, visit Vancouver Heritage Foundation Events page for more information.

Living Future Unconference 2011-April 27th-29th: Living Future is the forum for leading minds in the green building movement seeking solutions to the most daunting global issues of our time.  This conference has created an out-of-the-ordinary learning and networking format providing innovative design strategies, cutting-edge technical information, and the inspiration needed to achieve significant progress toward a truly living future. Living Future Unconference 2011 features tours of restorative architectural design of Simon Fraser, UBC and VanDusen Botanical Gardens. Unconference’s workshops including: “Understanding the Living Building Challenge”, “Sustainability in Action” and “Backyard Biomimicry among others. Check out the Unconference 2011 website for more information on the list of key note speakers and registration.

Visit our Services Homepage for information on how we can help you on your next home project in Vancouver.  Check-out Klondike’s Request A Quote Form for an estimate on your upcoming Design, Construction, Renovation or Maintenance project. Visit our Residential Renovation Portfolio to view our stunning projects.

Build Green is a voluntary program that offers building standards, mandatory builder training and third-party testing, inspections and audits.  It encourages homebuilders to use technologies, products and practices that will provide greater energy efficiency and reduce pollution; provide healthier indoor air; reduce water usage; preserve natural resources; and improve durability and reduce maintenance.  Certified builder select items from a checklist of green criteria posted on the Built Green Canada website to meet Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum achievement levels.  These criterias are based on eight checklist categories: operational systems, building materials, exterior and interior finishes, indoor air quality, ventilation, waste management, water conservation and business practices.

In Oakville, Ontario, Habitat for Humanity Halton will build two homes (starting in June) with high environmental standards thanks to the involvement of Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Build Green Canada.  These homes will be the first in Ontario certified to Built Green Canada standards.

“Oakville, like other communities, has its share of low-income households looking for decent housing,” said Anne Swarbrick, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Halton.  ”The SFI and Built Green programs are helping us make home ownership possible for two families – with the added bonus that the homes will have a lighter environmental footprint.”

Klondike supports Habitat for Humanity and is a member of Built Green Canada so we are very proud to see these organizations continue to set higher standards when it comes to green building practices.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 3:25pm, Greg Elzinga wrote to Eric Schapira:

Of all the HPO seminars I have been to over the years, this one was the most exciting; and exciting not just for the future of our industry, but also for the future of residential green building! The instructor, Murray Frank is an excellent, professional trainer. If you see him teaching a seminar, sign up for it!

The BC government’s “Climate Change Action Plan” & goal of being energy independent by 2016 is mandating some sweeping changes to Part 10 of 2011 BC Building Code (released Oct 2010 & enforced Oct 2011) that will apply to all Part 3 (multi-family & commercial) & Part 9 (single-family) structures. The most exciting is the application of the EnerGuide system to all homes.

None of the items have been officially confirmed as it still needs to be dove-tailed with the National Building Code (there is no Part 10, only in BC & Ontario; though Alberta, Saskatchewan & Quebec are actively looking at adopting BC’s model). Also, the Ministry of Housing is still consulting with industry stakeholders. The information provided to us at this time is to be considered ‘expectations’ for the 2011 BC Building Code.

To sell a new BC home in 2011 it must comply (this is certain) with a minimum EnerGuide 80 rating (80% efficiency), likely upping to 85 for the 2016 BC Building Code & 90 rating by 2021. All resale homes must also be rated (this is confirmed); anticipating that an average home built from the 1950 to 1975 will achieve an EnerGuide 50 rating or marginally better. The BC Real Estate Association endorses this program as it applies to all homes for sale, thus a level playing field.

The EnerGuide assessment must be completed by a certified auditor using a fan test & verification of  receipts of installed appliances & fixtures. The BC-CHBA enthusiastically supports this as it will go a long way in eliminating the underground construction economy & drive people to use professional services.

Basically every 10 point difference from 50 to 80 represents $1,000/year in energy costs. The instructor detailed there are numerous ways to achieve higher EnerGuide rating more effectively during renovation than just costly insulation retrofit installations. Insulation will still play a significant role but not with batt insulation.

The number one way to gain efficiencies is with air-tightness (not to be confused with vapour barrier). Murray explained how the poly vapour barrier does far more harm & other techniques to achieve high performance vapour using paint & caulking. That Perfect Panel link you showed me & other innovative wall systems similar to those (SIPS: Structural Insulated Panel Systems) are going to rapidly gain market share. The days of traditional wood sheathing & batt insulation are going to be relegated to renovations, only used to match up to existing assemblies.

The most cost-effective, though it requires a larger outlay of cash is installing heat pumps on forced-air systems, ditching the gas-fired furnace & installing 100% efficient electric booster system. In the Lower Mainland a heat pump operates with 300-400% efficiency. It starts to dip to efficiencies around 200% at -30°C. This one change nets the largest amount of EnerGuide points.

The third significant EnerGuide point gain is with solar energy, be it heat recovery or photo-voltaic. The 2011 BC Building Code may be mandating similar construction techniques as the Vancouver Building By-law i.e. 24V connection “rough-in ready” for the electrical panel and/or a shaft for solar heat recovery piping to the mechanical room. It is recognized that solar energy collection will not be optimum for each site but good design in new construction can maximize its potential. Mechanical rooms will be getting larger, with heat recovery ventilator, recovery tanks, on-demand domestic hot water, booster boilers & in the future grey water/purple pipe systems.

The purple pipe system, grey water distribution system, was considered for the 2011 BC Building Code but is was deemed too much for the housing industry & consumer to bear on top of the EnerGuide compliance. Murray Frank’s professional opinion was definitely to anticipate it in the 2016 edition.

One final system of note… Heat Recovery Ventilator. Murray thinks we should be moving to the most value-priced system; a simple, properly sized & balanced heat recovery ventilator installed with a few zone-controlled electric heat coils in key duct locations. It is 100% energy efficient with heat only delivered to where it is required instead of blasting the whole house. For a heating system, it is practically elegant.

As you can see from the length of my email, this seminar was beyond useful & informative!

We, here at Klondike Contracting, are very excited for the new challenges  these anticipated changes will pose because it the means to better and healthier homes for all our clients in the long run!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaZu1YP2jbg]

Due to the many benefits of green roofs, many municipalities offer incentives to make the initial cost of a roof compatible to a conventional roof.  Some examples are:

• Faster approval/construction permitting process
• Reduced stormwater/wastewater system development charges
• Reduced stormwater/wastewater usage fees
• Reduced size of stormwater management ponds or cisterns
• Grants rewarding energy efficiency or economic and environmental objectives
• Density bonus / larger floor area ratio
• Satisfy minimum parkland / green space requirements
• Greenhouse gas emissions trading credits, stemming from energy savings

• GVRD Incentives–A useful list of GVRD Financial Incentives on their BuildSmart site
• EcoEnergy Grants for Residential Property Owners–Government grants for improving the energy efficiency of your home.
  
• LiveSmartBC Energuide Incentive Program–The province of BC will be offering an incentive of $150 towards having an initial D evaluation completed on your home as part of their new LiveSmart program. The incentive will be tied into the current federal ecoENERGY program to encourage home owners to reduce their energy consumption.
• CMHC Mortgage Loan Insurance–A 10% CMHC mortgage loan insurance premium refund may be available when you use CMHC insured financing to purchase an energy-efficient home or make energy-saving renovations.
• BC Hydro Fridge Buy-Back Program–BC Hydro will pickup and recycle your old, inefficient second fridge and give you $30 for it
• Vancity Bright Ideas Loan–Grants range from $3,500-$20,000 at a reduced rate of interest. To qualify, you need to make renovations recommended by an EnerGuide for Houses evaluation of your home.
• Vancity/Real Estate Foundation Green Building Grant–Each year, the program provides one or more grants up to $50,000 each to qualified recipients. Total annual grants are a minimum of $100,000. Applications are accepted from charitable organizations, not-for-profit organizations or co-operatives
• VanCity Cashback–The VanCity credit union provides a cash reward of $170 for energy efficient home renovations recommended by an EnerGuide for Houses evaluation. The renovations must achieve at least a five-point improvement in the EnerGuide for Houses rating. The $170 value is intended to cover the cost of the EnerGuide for Houses evaluation; your renovation must cost $3,500 or above.
• RBC Homeline Plan®–RBC has a green home renovation program offering: a $300 rebate for all new RBC Homeline Plan® clients towards a home energy audit, a chance to win $25,000 towards a home retrofit project, and educational tools to help customers better understand the financial and environmental benefits of an energy retrofit (provided in partnership with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation)