Stephanie Ripley of the Municipal Climate Change Action Center gives us a tour of a climate-ready model home display demonstrating the four steps to saving money and getting your home on the pathway to net-zero.
Lewis Lix loved the oil industry but he grew weary of the boom and bust cycles and being away from his family all the time. After one false start and a great deal of discussion with his family, he eventually enrolled in the 2-year NAIT Alternative Energy Program in Edmonton, Alberta. This is the story of his long and winding journey through energy transition.
Darren and Darcy Crichton started their DIY home retrofit on their 1969 bungalow 20 years ago. Their goals were modest – to cut drafts and increase comfort. But with careful research, they did the right renovations in the right order and today they live in a very comfortable solar-powered, net-zero home. This is their story.
The consultants said it wasn’t affordable–it couldn’t be done. But Salvation Army architect Michaela Jones pushed back hard requoting their 175-unit supportive living complex as net-zero-ready at the last minute. Now this amazing solar powered, geothermal heated and cooled, energy-efficient building will save Sally Ann $6 million.
How does a heat pump work and how can it help me heat and cool my home and save money? Expert Jean-Marie Robert takes us on a Heat Pumps 101 Magical Mystery Tour.
Geothermal heating isn’t new, but we predict the 400% efficient heating and 700% efficient cooling system is the ultimate system of the future for our homes, buildings and entire neighbourhoods. Here’s why.
Carbon Busters is building the first net-zero homes in Blatchford, the largest carbon-neutral community in Canada. Solar-powered and geothermal heated and cooled these homes require 94% less energy for heating.
In 2019 Time Magazine named Greta Thunberg “person of the year” and climate change was the news story of the year as chosen by Canadian Press. At Green Energy Futures we documented a number of firsts: the first net-zero church and social housing project, the first passive house car dealership and the inspiring story on students in the EcoVision Club at Lacombe Composite High School who changed their school by taking action.
The amazing story of a church in crisis that took stock of their assets and wound up building the first solar-powered, net-zero church and social housing project in Canada. They saved the church, saved the school, built 16 new homes for refugee families and created an amazing community of sustainability.
Building on a teacher’s maxim “Words without actions are meaningless,” students at Lacombe High School formed the EcoVision club, took on a dozen projects and became the Greenest School in Canada.
Edmontonians have already been recognized as pioneers of net-zero homes, and now they are building the largest carbon-neutral community in the country: Blatchford.
Jacob Komar is shaking up the energy efficient building world by resorting to an age-old technology: geothermal energy. He says you can save lots of money and use much less insulation and get to net-zero for half the price if you use geothermal to heat and cool your home or building.
His friends said he was crazy, but when Derek Leahy came to Alberta to start Rural Routes to Climate Solutions he found fertile ground for this ground-breaking project. He says engaging Alberta farmers in farm solutions that are climate solutions has been “a walk in the park.”
Geothermal energy could be harvested from tens of thousands of spent oil wells in Alberta––enough to support a revolution in agriculture. So says Dr. Johnathan Banks of the UofA in this co-production between Green Energy Futures and Rural Routes to Climate Change.
Solar played a starring role in every single one of our favorite Green Energy Futures stories from 2018. It’s the leading clean technology in terms of global investment and it’s playing a pivotal role is zero emissions homes, stores, colleges and grids.
Just seven short years ago NAIT’s Alternative Energy program seemed ahead of its time. Today this innovative 2-year program is training the leaders of the clean energy revolution in Alberta. We talk to program chair Dr. Jim Sandercock about the evolution of the program.
Ever wondered about going net-zero with your home? Curious about solar, heat pumps or geothermal systems? The 19th Annual Edmonton Eco-Solar Home Tour is your chance to see the latest solar and energy efficiency technologies and talk to the owners who installed them.
La Maison Simons just opened the first net-zero major retail store in Canada. It’s solar powered, geothermal heated and cooled and energy efficient.
Brian Scott and Leigh Bond want to see Property Assessed Clean Energy financing come to Alberta. They say PACE has generated $3.4 billion investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the U.S. and that little else would do more to spur on a boom in Alberta.
From super-cooled rocks to free transit, learn what cities across Canada and Europe are doing to be greener.
More than 100 hundred episodes after our first episode on geothermal we circle back for a follow up.
Earth tubes are a simple, passive geothermal system that takes advantage of the earth’s constant temperature below the frost line. By drawing fresh air for your building through an earth tube you pre-heat or pre-cool your air depending on your needs. This saves you a ton of money, according to architect Tang Lee an earth tube system can save you up to half of your ventilation heating costs. At the Epcor Tower it saves the building $50,000 a year.
This four-story, 60,000 square feet structure is practically a living thing. It’s a $37-million laboratory that aims to achieve LEED Platinum status, but more than that, they’re also pursuing a Living Building Challenge certification. This certification is so hard to get, there are only three certified living buildings in the world.
Join us as we dive into our archives and give you our favourite clips and behind the scenes moments from 2012. From nearly falling into the Bay of Fundy to angry anti-wind protesters we go coast to coast to coast to give you best.
If you own a fridge you own the same technology used in a geothermal heating system. It’s called a heat pump and its job is to pump heat from one place to another. In the fridge’s case it pumps the heat out of the fridge to keep it cool. In a ground source heat pump’s case it pumps the latent heat in the ground into your home.
Get a more detailed explanation and check out both a residential and a commercial scale example of this energy efficient technology that takes advantage of the Earth’s constant temperature.
Les Wold is a part of this second wave of net-zero home builders. At 38-years-old he’s a managing partner with Effect Homes, an Edmonton based homebuilder that currently builds about 10 houses a year.
Learn about how these new kinds of homes are getting built and the simple design cues you can take even if you don’t put solar panels on your roof.
NAIT’s Alternative Energy Program is helping meet the increasing demand for professionals to design, build, install and maintain green energy systems. A two-year program, it teaches students the intricacies of solar, wind, geothermal and even fuel cell systems.
Meet the students and instructors who are helping to create the next generation of skilled green energy workers.
The award winning Hat Smart program in Medicine Hat, Alberta provides incentives and rebates for renewable energy and energy efficiency and has really captured the imagination of residents of this Southern Alberta City of 61,000 people. In this week’s episode Alderman Ted Clugston explains how success depends on a sexy program, a solar powered dentist shows his stuff and a home builder explains how building an EnerGuide 89 geothermal heated home is helping him build better, greener homes.
