This section guides you in purchasing, building, or renovating your home. If you own a home, start with an environmental audit to give you an idea of where the energy leaks (and thus money leaks) are in your home. Then choose a Go Green Guide below and follow the steps.
Begin With an Environmental Audit
So you'd like to green your home but don't know where to start or how much it will cost? Begin with an environmental audit. This will provide you with an overview of where you could most easily save energy and save money too. Start with an online interactive audit by using the link below.
Then contact your local city recycling centre or municipality for referrals to home auditors. Many cities in Canada have non-profit organisations or companies who will come and do a detailed on-site assessment of your home's energy and water use. They'll:
•· provide you with a detailed list of recommended actions and retrofits that will improve your home's energy efficiency,
•· advise you on which retrofits qualify for government grants and subsidies, and,
•· inform you on how much it will cost to make the changes.
The best part is you'll learn how much money you can save on your electricity, heating, and water bills by doing so.
Interactive Home Audit Tools
Sudbury's Online Interactive Home Audit
http://www.city.greatersudbury.on.ca/cms/index.cfm?app=div_earthcare&lang=en&currID=5668&parID=0
Government Grants
The Federal Government Eco-Energy Programhttp://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/retrofit-homes/retrofit-qualify-grant.cfm
Home Audit Services
In Vancouver contact the Sustainable Building Centre on Granville Island. Call or email them with your questions. They even have a "Home Spa" service. For a very reasonable fee they'll do an initial assessment of your home or give you advice on renovations.
http://www.sustainablebuildingcentre.com/home_services
GreenSaver: a not-for-profit society in Toronto
http://www.greensaver.org/audit_energy.html
Home Audits in Banff, AB
http://www.banff.ca/locals-residents/environment/energy-efficiency/home-audit-rebate-program.htm
A home auditing company covering BC and Ontario
http://www.homeperformance.com/en/library/grants_rebates.html
The How To Green Your Home Guides: Pick one and go for it!
Making your home more environmentally friendly can save you money and boost your resale value. Pick one of the step-by-step greening your home guides below and start today.
Why Save Energy?
How to Green Your Lighting
How to Green Your Electricity
How to Green Your Heating
How To Green Your Electronics
General Guides:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/green_home/
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/HomeGarden/
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/take-action/greentips
http://thegreencity.ca/en/All_The_Time_67.html
Saving Energy in Your Home
http://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/index.cfm?text=N&printview=N
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/BC/Action.asp
Appliances
Choose appliances that are easy on the earth and on your wallet.
look for "Energy Star" label for appliances?
•· Choosing Eco-friendly appliances: what to look for
•· Where to Find Eco-Friendly Appliances
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Economy/EFR/Switch_Green.asp
http://www.inhabitat.com/2006/08/30/green-building-101-appliances-and-daily-energy-use/
How to Green Your Dishwasher
How to Green Your Cleaning
Water:
Do Your Part to Protect Our Precious Water Resources
Green Gardening Tips
Composting
a) How to compost:
http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/recycling-and-garbage/composting.htm
http://www.compostguide.com/
http://www.marquisproject.com/composting101/howcomp.html
http://www.gnb.ca/0009/0372/0003/0001-e.asp
http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/udo/paydirt.html
b) How to Vermicompost, or vermiculture - composting using worms
http://www.compost.bc.ca/
http://www.vermiculture.ca/
http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html
http://earth911.org/blog/2007/04/02/composting-with-worms/
Ask An Expert
Are you considering doing some home renovations? Before you start, get some sound green building advice from professionals .
http://www.greenhomenyc.org/page/ask
The Lighthouse Building Centre
http://www.sustainablebuildingcentre.com/
This local nonprofit centre will provide you with:
•· Workshops on green renovating
•· A home renovating advisory service
•· Referrals to green builders and green products
Designing and Building Your Own Home
•· Finding an Architect
•· L'OEUF
•· http://www.loeuf.com/en/index.php
•· Overview from website:
•· "L'OEUF (L'Office de l'eclectisme urbain et fonctionnel) founded in 1992, is a firm with a broad and diversified architectural practice. Operating at the forefront of mainstream architectural practice and sensitive to political and ecological issues that are often excluded from professional concerns, L'OEUF has developed a reputation for sustainable architecture."
•· Development
•· reSource Rethinking Building Inc.
•· http://www.rethinkingbuilding.com/
•· Overview from the website:
•· "reSource Rethinking Building is a Vancouver based development and green building consulting company that specializes in implementable green building solutions. As consultants we provide the following services: development management, green building strategies, and guideline development."
•· Smart Growth BC
•· http://www.smartgrowth.bc.ca/
•· Overview from the website:
•· "Smart growth is a collection of land use and development principles that aim to enhance our quality of life, preserve the natural environment, and save money over time. Smart growth principles ensure that growth is fiscally, environmentally and socially responsible and recognizes the connections between development and quality of life. Smart growth enhances and completes communities by placing priority on infill, redevelopment, and densification strategies."
•· Smart Growth on the Ground
•· http://www.sgog.bc.ca/
•· Overview from the website:
•· "Smart Growth on the Ground is an innovative program to change the way that development is done in BC, by creating real, built examples of smart growth.
•· This unique program helps BC communities to prepare more sustainable neighbourhood plans - including land use, transportation, urban design, and building design plans. Extensive follow-up ensures that the plans become reality."
•· The Construction Guide
•· http://www.the-construction-guide.com/s/green_construction
•· This website has links to topics such as: green building materials, greening your home, sustainable construction, energy conservation. It also contains many other links that are related to construction.
•· Ecocite Developments
•· http://www.ecocite.ca/home.html
•· Overview from the website:
•· "ECOCITÉ is the result of the dynamic partnership of Cheryl Gladu and Christopher Sweetnam-Holmes. Together these young eco-entrepreneurs are setting the standard for urban housing, with aggressively green, innovatively designed, urban homes.
•· Far ahead of the rest of the real estate industry, Christopher built a prototype EcoCondo project in Montreal (Habitat 1). He and Cheryl have since joined with other partners and investors to develop EcoCité into a national eco-development and consulting group, encouraging others to adopt a greener, healthier approach to building."
•· Interior Design
•· http://www.alloyhomes.com/
•· Company based in Calgary, Alberta who provides environmentally friendly design/build services.
•· Sustainable Building Resources:
•· Better Buildings for Greater Vancouver
Initiated by the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and its partners, this site acts as a one-stop resource to retrofitting buildings to perform at higher efficiency. It provides resources for municipal sector, institutional, commercial and industrial building types. Included in this website are resources for financing, various initiatives, supports and case studies.
•· EBN: Environmental Building News
A monthly newsletter and web site covering all aspects of green building design in North America. Go here to access articles from past issues of Environmental Building News; summaries of EBNs current issue feature articles; product reviews, and article-related links. They also publish GreenSpec, Green Building Advisor software, and co-sponsors excellent listservs on green homes and commercial buildings.
•· Greener Building
The resource for environmentally responsible building development is a free, Web-based resource to help companies of all sizes and sectors understand and address building design, construction, and operation in a way that aligns environmental responsibility with business success.
•· Oikos
Oikos is a World Wide Web site devoted to serving professionals whose work promotes sustainable design and construction. That's a broad goal, but then environmental sustainability touches virtually every aspect of a building.
•· Smart Growth on the Ground
Smart Growth on the Ground is an innovative program to change the way that development is done in BC, by creating real, built examples of smart growth.
This unique program helps BC communities to prepare more sustainable neighbourhood plans - including land use, transportation, urban design, and building design plans. Extensive follow-up ensures that the plans become reality.
•· EcoDesign Resource Society (EDRS)
The EcoDesign Resource Society (EDRS) is a not-for-profit organization which promotes environmentally responsible ('green') design, planning and development practices through research, education and communication. In the main, EDRS acts as a resource and forum for discussion on green design. As a non-profit, non-political, professionally-oriented group, it has been instrumental in promoting more environmentally-responsible development practices in B.C. EDRS is solely supported by membership fees and grants from foundations for specific projects.
•· BuildSmart: Greater Vancouver's source for sustainable building information
CaGBC (Canada Green Building Council)
The Canada Green Building Council is being formed to accelerate the design and construction of Green Buildings across Canada. The Council is a broad-based inclusive coalition of representatives from different segments of the design and building industry
•· Light House Sustainable Building Centre
Light House Sustainable Building Centre is an enterprising non-profit society dedicated to advancing and catalyzing sustainability in British Columbia's built environment. We offer a range of free and fee-based programs and services out of our 1,300 square foot office, resource and display centre on Granville Island.
•· Real Estate:
•· Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
•· Mac Green This is a link to the new program that Macdonald Realty to make your real estate transaction green by allowing you to get carbon credits for buying or selling real estate. Check it out for more information.
•· Multiple Listings Services
•· Canadian Real Estate Association
•· Real Estate Council of British Columbia
•· Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia
•· Real Estate Institute of British Columbia
•· Real Estate Institute of Canada
•· BC Residential Tenancy Office
•· City Halls
