Halifax Real Estate Guy

The Globe and Mail recently published a great article on a proposed Green building/Home initiative in BC that could change the way we build homes in the future. The idea is to have some new buildings to be carbon neutral and leave zero foot print as early as 2016. Here is the article, pretty cool I think;

VANCOUVER — British Columbia is escalating its war on greenhouse gases, examining a measure that will require some new buildings to be carbon neutral as early as 2016 – and every new building to have no carbon footprint by 2020.

The proposal is tucked inside the report from the B.C. Climate Action Team released last week, a document that the government commissioned but is not obliged to accept. But the move to carbon-neutral housing would cause a revolution in how housing stock will be built. In its purest form, it would see housing constructed with built-in power supplies – either solar panels, wind turbines or geothermal sources.

New designs that limit energy requirements, such as shaded windows, and energy-efficient appliances are part of the equation. The proposal to the province also urges the government to build some flexibility into the carbon-neutral requirement by allowing communities to build green energy sources to power individual residences.

In any case, the goal remains the same: to wean households off fossil fuels for home heating and prevent a mass shift to wasteful baseboard units that use power from the electricity grid. Instead, locally produced, renewable energy will provide that power.

“That’s a huge shift. Huge,” a senior government official said.

It could also be an expensive shift. The official estimates that building a carbon-neutral house will cost anywhere from 5 per cent to 20 per cent more than conventional models. With the average house price in Greater Vancouver hovering around $556,000, the added expense could top $100,000.

But environmental advocates say the cost of carbon-neutral housing can be made less painful in several ways. The first is simple economy of scale: If all new construction has to have the new technology, the cost for each household will tumble. Also, the expense for designing an energy-efficient home from scratch is likely to be less than that of retrofitting existing homes.

And home buyers will be able to spread the extra costs over decades, since it will be part of their mortgage payments. Last, the investments will reduce energy costs.

Years before those policies will come into force, one Victoria housing development is already meeting, even beating, those requirements.

The Dockside Green development is billed as “carbon positive,” meaning that it will, on balance, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, largely by selling the clean energy it generates to other parts of Victoria.

Joe Van Belleghem of Windmill West Development Ltd., which is building Dockside Green along with VanCity credit union, said the extra costs of his project (under 2 per cent on a $700-million total) have been largely offset by reduced marketing expenses, and the time saved by having the support of the community.

Energy savings will give Dockside Green a fiscal advantage, said Mr. Van Belleghem, who is part of the climate committee issuing recommendations to the provincial government.

The project (which has no air conditioning), employs passive design techniques such as double-glazed windows and blinds to prevent interior air from heating up. Hallways have LED lights, and heat is drawn out of air and water to minimize electricity use. Much of that technology can be used on individual residences, he said.

“You could definitely build a carbon-neutral house today.”

However, he said it is not likely that an individual homeowner would be able to duplicate a key feature of the project, an energy-efficient, biomass-fuelled generator costing $7.5-million. It’s that generator that allows Dockside Green to boast carbon-positive status.

Ian Bruce, climate-change specialist with the David Suzuki Foundation in Vancouver, lauded the new proposal, but noted that it will not be of great assistance in cutting greenhouse gases before 2020. “It’s a longer-term policy.”

A lighter shade of green

A committee of environmental experts is urging British Columbia to require that all new residences be greenhouse-gas neutral starting in 2020. One development in Victoria, Dockside Green, says it is already beating that target: Its mix of design innovations, and efficient energy systems means the six-hectare development of residences, businesses and light industry will save more greenhouse gases than it produces.

SMOKE-FREE POWER STATION

The biomass heat-generation plant is fuelled with waste wood. Instead of burning the wood, a thermochemical process is used to create a synthetic gas, which is then burned to power a boiler. The system produces hot water for buildings.

Additional natural-gas boilers provide backup and some peak-level support to the main system

EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS

Additional heat will be provided by a sewage heat-recovery system. The heat exchange unit could either tap directly into the municipal trunk line or be located within Dockside Green’s wastewater-treatment plant.

SAVING RESOURCES

Every appliance will be highly energy efficient. Through the use of water-efficient appliances and high-performance fixtures, the potable water consumption is expected to be 65 per cent less than traditional developments.

HEAT EXCHANGE

Heat-recovery ventilation systems pump filtered air directly into each condo suite. Most importantly, they recover heat from the exhausted air to help warm the incoming fresh air.

DESIGN AND MATERIALS

Exterior blinds on west- and south-facing windows will help keep buildings cool. The wood-frame town homes use wood harvested from forests flooded by reservoirs. Concrete for the development includes fly ash (a byproduct of coal-fired power generation and cement production). With fly ash, less cement is needed, less CO_ is emitted and the concrete is stronger.

WASTEWATER-TREATMENT PROCESS

The water enters a collection tank (A) where inorganic solids are removed. In the bioreactor (B), bacteria consume the biodegradable waste. The bioreactor consists of two zones, one with air (aerobic) and one without (anoxic); each zone includes different types of bacteria. The heart of the system is a membrane (C) that physically traps any impurities in the water. The next step is an ultraviolet light or ozone generator (D) that prevents bacterial growth in the treated water. Finally, the treated water is stored in a tank (E) until needed.

1. Wood waste is bottom-fed into the gasifier

2. Combustion air, steam and/or oxygen are introduced into the base of the fuel pile.

3. At 815 to 980 degrees the wood undergoes gaseous decomposition, creating gas and non-combustible ash.

4. The synthetic gas is burned in the oxidizer.

5. The hot flue gas is directed into a hot-water boiler.

6. Flue gas from the boiler is cleaned of particulates by an electrostatic precipitator before being released.

RICHARD PALMER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCES: DOCKSIDE GREEN ANNUAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2007

WWW.DOCKSIDEGREEN.COM, NEXTERRA ENERGY CORP.

Source – The Globe and Mail

It would be great to see more projects like those take place in Nova Scotia.  Brule point in Tatamagoughe is ahead of the curve. They are building homes that will be green and run geo thermal heating units which is by far the best way to heat and cool your home. This is just the start of the Green shift that is happening in the Real Estate Industry. As Real Estate Professionals, we need to be up to date on the latest trends and intiatives in Green Real Estate and educate our clients on how to become Green Friendly. To do my part, I offer my clients an Energuide Energy Audit when they purchase a new home. This can save them thousands of dollars on renovations and heating costs. Let’s face it the cost of oil is not going down anytime soon. So if you have a question about Green Real Estate contact me.  I would be happy to answer those for you. In the meantime, if you are looking to buy or sell Halifax Real Estate, call me 488-0012.

Andrew Perkins

Your Halifax Real Estate Expert

Member of National Association of Green Realtors and Brokers