The Rising Trend in Building Green
by Liz Kelly, SolarBC
Across from the scenic aquamarine shoreline of Green Lake, on the left hand side of the Sea to Sky Highway in Whistler BC, is the new housing development known as the Glacier Duplex’s. Even from the road you can see what sets these homes apart – with their solar hot water systems standing tall along the roofs and soaking up the last of the day’s rays. According to Eric Prall, of Glacier Creek Contracting Ltd., the decision to install the systems was based in large part to consumer interest in alternative heat sources.
"The purchasers want it," he says. "They know it is the right thing to do for our environment and they save significantly on their monthly utilities." Prall adds that his construction company wanted to offer solar as a further upgrade to their base package, which has also increased the EnerGuide rating for the homes from 80 to as high as 84. In 2011 all new homes being built in BC are going to be required to meet an EnerGuide rating of at least 80 (currently the rating required is 77).
"A solar hot water system is a great way to increase a home’s rating and help builders reach that requirement," says Scott Fleenor, of Terratek Energy Solutions. The SolarBC Registered Installers carried out the SHW installations for Glacier Creek to provide the $2000 SolarBC incentive per new build. Fleenor agrees with Prall that solar hot water doesn’t just help ratings, but more importantly reduces a home’s operating costs: "That’s an attractive feature for any future homeowner."
And the implementation of solar hot water on new homes doesn’t stop with developers and installers – it’s only the beginning. In Vancouver, the city’s Solar Homes Strategy is currently offering $3500 toward the cost of installing a solar hot water system to 50 new houses on a first-come, first-served basis (providing a SolarBC Registered Installer carries out the work). This program, in partnership with SolarBC, Terasen and Offsetters, follows on the heels of Vancouver's 2008 Green Homes Program which requires all new houses to be 'solar ready'.
The solar hot water program is in its early stage where we’re still testing the opportunities to best grow these efforts and produce more renewable energy in the city," said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a previous interview about the incentive program. "We need to broaden our overall ambition to produce and conserve energy in homes and buildings."
While the city continues to develop and implement strategies to green homes and improve energy efficiency during construction, local companies are taking advantage of the Solar Homes Strategy, including Oliver Young, with Homeworx. The Vancouver based builder of new homes has installed solar hot water on three recent projects.
"We are hoping that the installations will add to the attractiveness of the homes in the market place," says Young. He adds that the houses will go on the market in the early fall and that it is too soon to tell if the installations will prove to be a selling feature. "We also hope buyers are paying more attention to the green aspect of the SHW," he says.
Prall believes that buyers are doing just that and says his Glacier Creek Contracting has already started to include them on more developments as well as making other new builds solar ready.
Original Story on SolarBC
