By David Dodge & Scott Rollans
Ever heard of the Eco-Solar Home Tour? Believe it or not, it’s in its 19th year. Each spring, Edmontonians get a chance to visit some of the most interesting solar-powered, super energy efficient homes and businesses in town.
Andrew Mills, Eco-Solar Home Tour
This year’s tour runs June 2 and 3, from noon until 4:30 pm. There are 21 sites this year, with 10 sites open on Saturday and 11 sites on Sunday. You can visit homes, businesses, and even a combination church and social housing project.
Eco-Solar Home Tour boss Andrew Mills likens the event to a show-and-tell for people who have incorporated solar and other cool energy efficiency features into their buildings. Some people just talk a good game, but these folks have taken exciting and meaningful action. After an earlier tour, Mills was inspired to tackle his own 1949 home—adding a geothermal heating system, rooftop solar panels, and upgraded insulation. The following year, he added his home to the tour.
Net-zero is becoming focus of tour
Mills thinks this year’s tour may be among the best. “One of my all-time favorites is on the tour this year, and that’s the net-zero church and apartments in North Glenora,” he says.
See the first net-zero church and housing project in Canada on the Eco-Solar Home Tour.
The net-zero Westmount Presbyterian Church and Right at Home housing project, built by Peter Amerongen and Habitat Studio, is the first net-zero church and housing project of its kind in Canada. It’s solar powered, geothermal heated and super energy efficient.
One tour stop, Evansdale Community League, is also hosting a Family Solar Fun Day (on Sunday, June 3), complete with jumpy castle and activities for kids. The league boasts a 26-kilowatt solar system and has completed an energy efficiency retrofit.
Landmark’s Kewsick net-zero home
Another highlight on this year’s tour is the advent of the truly affordable net-zero production home. Landmark Homes has two houses on the tour this year, and one of them sells for under $400,000—including GST and garage.
Mills says Landmark has made it easy to go net-zero, by offering three levels of efficiency—with option C being fully net-zero. “That’s a real breakthrough.”
What the heck is net-zero?
A net-zero energy home will generate as much energy as it consumes when averaged over the course of a year. “That’s pretty tricky in a place called Edmonton, Alberta,” says Mills. Step one is keeping the heat in with insulation and a tight air seal. Then, says Mills everything needs to be energy efficient, from appliances to shower heads. Then you need an efficient heat source, says Mills. Most solar powered net-zero homes are using efficient air source heat pumps for furnaces. These homes are connected only to the electricity grid and save all of the fixed and administrative costs associated with having a gas line since there is no gas line.
Click to see site descriptions for each site on the 2018 Eco-Solar Home Tour.
Speaking of gas lines, several homes on this year’s tour are sticking with gas using combined heat and power (CHP) units to generate electricity and heat homes.
Back at the turn of the century, when solar guru Gordon Howell and five other solar-power aficionados organized the first tour, there was no such thing as a net-zero home. Even compact fluorescent bulbs and low-flush toilets were exotic curiosities. “Now, that’s just normal stuff,” says Mills. Mills enjoys the idea that this year’s novelties can become next year’s common practice. The other founding members of the tour were Simon Knight, Paul Dusseault and Tom Yohemas.
In the tour’s early days, solar-power systems were much more costly—and, connecting them to the grid was an administrative nightmare. Gordon Howell installed the first solar system on a home and was treated like an industrial-scale power producer, says Mills: “He had to sign a 45-page massive contract.”
Thankfully, that changed in 2009, with the implementation of Alberta’s Microgeneration Regulation. Now, Albertans can easily hook their home systems to the grid with a simple one-page contract.
With 21 sites on this year’s tour, you’ll want to plan your weekend carefully. Visit ecotour.ca, select the projects that interest you most, and map out your own route and schedule.
Who is the Eco-Solar Home Tour for?
It’s for anyone curious about solar or interested in seeing the latest energy efficiency technologies up close and in action—including air-source heat-pump furnaces, energy-efficient wall systems, on-demand water heaters, heat-pump water heaters, super-energy-efficient air-exchange systems, and more.
Gallery of cool buildings on the Eco-Solar Home Tour 2018
