Albertans - and Canadians from across the country - opened their hearts and wallets after the disaster to help the victims of the Slave Lake fires. Help was instant and appreciated.
Now, a couple of months after the disaster, Slave Lake is starting to rebuild - and the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), the Alberta Chapter, CaGBC and Edmonton-based Ecological Homes have teamed up to offer some good news for Slave Lake residents.
The CaGBC is picking up the tab for any Slave Lake rebuild project to register for LEED certification - and Ecological Homes is paying for LEED certification for all Slave Lake fire rebuilding projects until August 31, 2012.
"A lot of businesses have been stepping up to plate to help Slave Lake, and we want to do our part as well," said Les Hagen, president of Ecological Homes, which provides affordable green building solutions for help designing and building green homes.
Tanya Doran, Alberta Chapter Executive Director, is busy making local arrangements for Slave Lake residents who want to pursue the option of a sustainable home. "The community is literally rebuilding from the foundations, up. Out of their nightmare comes an opportunity for Slave Lake to reap the benefits of sustainable homes," she said. "With the Canada Green Building Council and builders such as Ecological Homes assuming the costs of LEED registration and certification we are opening the doors to a world of new options for the community."
Now, a couple of months after the disaster, Slave Lake is starting to rebuild - and the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), the Alberta Chapter, CaGBC and Edmonton-based Ecological Homes have teamed up to offer some good news for Slave Lake residents.
The CaGBC is picking up the tab for any Slave Lake rebuild project to register for LEED certification - and Ecological Homes is paying for LEED certification for all Slave Lake fire rebuilding projects until August 31, 2012.
"A lot of businesses have been stepping up to plate to help Slave Lake, and we want to do our part as well," said Les Hagen, president of Ecological Homes, which provides affordable green building solutions for help designing and building green homes.
Tanya Doran, Alberta Chapter Executive Director, is busy making local arrangements for Slave Lake residents who want to pursue the option of a sustainable home. "The community is literally rebuilding from the foundations, up. Out of their nightmare comes an opportunity for Slave Lake to reap the benefits of sustainable homes," she said. "With the Canada Green Building Council and builders such as Ecological Homes assuming the costs of LEED registration and certification we are opening the doors to a world of new options for the community."
Perspectives had prepared an article for the May 2011 edition featuring the Slave Lake home of Reg Carr and Cathy Shultz. The home, which received only minor damage in the fires, is scheduled for completion in August. Because of the disaster, Perspectives chose not to run the feature, but Slave Lake's newspaper, the Lakeside Leader published it on June 22. Below is the original article.
Gold Rush in the North
Don't you just love it when people put their money where their mouths are - especially when their actions have a happy ending?
Reg Carr and Cathy Shultz of Canyon Creek on Lesser Slave Lake are, indeed, happy with their decision to build a new home that stays true to their environmental principles. And their beautiful, soon-to-be-completed 1,700-square-foot-home is going for LEED Gold certification!
Reg and Cathy approached Les Hagen, president of Ecological Homes, an Edmonton-based company that provides affordable green building solutions for help designing and building their green dream home.
"The Carr-Shultz residence is our flagship project," says Les. "This home is an opportunity to demonstrate our ability to deliver a high-quality, energy-efficient - and yet affordable - ecological home."The two-storey home, located beside Alberta's largest self-contained lake, includes loads of energy-efficient features. "We modelled the house with HOT2000 software, which provides a detailed snapshot of energy performance and cost implications of various design options. Reg and Cathy wanted a custom design so we were able to consider the impact of each decision on energy efficiency."
The home includes:
Les says a standard new house rates anywhere from 66 to 74 on the EnerGuide scale, with a typical energy-efficient new house rating between 75 and 79. The EnerGuide rating system describes a house rating above 80 as "excellent," with substantially reduced energy consumption.
Cost is the second important pillar of the ecological home. "Affordable green building is what we're all about. A green home shouldn't put you in the red," notes Les.
He says the Slave Lake home will be completed in the $400,000 range, which is definitely on the lower end of the affordability scale of highly efficient LEED homes.
"We work with the homeowner from the design stage forward to control costs. A lot of the decision making is in the hands of the homeowner, and a major factor in the final cost is finding ways such as using panelized and pre-fab building materials to reduce labour costs."
Les sees good potential for the costs of green homes and solar energy to decrease over time. "Today, there is an exponential cost curve to green building. Above a certain threshold, costs skyrocket. We're trying to land on the knee of that curve and to produce a cost-efficient and energy-efficient home."
The home is expected to be completed by late June.
Reg Carr and Cathy Shultz of Canyon Creek on Lesser Slave Lake are, indeed, happy with their decision to build a new home that stays true to their environmental principles. And their beautiful, soon-to-be-completed 1,700-square-foot-home is going for LEED Gold certification!
Reg and Cathy approached Les Hagen, president of Ecological Homes, an Edmonton-based company that provides affordable green building solutions for help designing and building their green dream home.
"The Carr-Shultz residence is our flagship project," says Les. "This home is an opportunity to demonstrate our ability to deliver a high-quality, energy-efficient - and yet affordable - ecological home."The two-storey home, located beside Alberta's largest self-contained lake, includes loads of energy-efficient features. "We modelled the house with HOT2000 software, which provides a detailed snapshot of energy performance and cost implications of various design options. Reg and Cathy wanted a custom design so we were able to consider the impact of each decision on energy efficiency."
The home includes:
- structural insulated panel walls with R28 rating,
- R60-rated attic ceiling insulation,
- a solar thermal hot water system,
- passive solar heating using south-facing windows with triple-pane fibreglass frames,
- doors and windows that are rated for Energy Star® Zone D performance,
- high-efficiency furnace and heat recovery ventilator,
- building products such as Hardie Plank composite siding, fibreglass shingles and durable composite decking that have a minimum 50-year life cycle, and
- ecologically friendly interior materials including a bamboo floor, recycled content tiling, and doors and cabinets made from FSC® wood.
Les says a standard new house rates anywhere from 66 to 74 on the EnerGuide scale, with a typical energy-efficient new house rating between 75 and 79. The EnerGuide rating system describes a house rating above 80 as "excellent," with substantially reduced energy consumption.
Cost is the second important pillar of the ecological home. "Affordable green building is what we're all about. A green home shouldn't put you in the red," notes Les.
He says the Slave Lake home will be completed in the $400,000 range, which is definitely on the lower end of the affordability scale of highly efficient LEED homes.
"We work with the homeowner from the design stage forward to control costs. A lot of the decision making is in the hands of the homeowner, and a major factor in the final cost is finding ways such as using panelized and pre-fab building materials to reduce labour costs."
Les sees good potential for the costs of green homes and solar energy to decrease over time. "Today, there is an exponential cost curve to green building. Above a certain threshold, costs skyrocket. We're trying to land on the knee of that curve and to produce a cost-efficient and energy-efficient home."
The home is expected to be completed by late June.
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