Investment in solar, wind and other distributed forms of energy is booming, but it wasn’t back when Decentralized Energy Canada set up shop. We talk to DEC president and founder Anouk Kendall about how her organization has gone from the fringe to mainstream in just 20 years.
Red Deer’s popular Renewable Energy Fairs put on by ReThink Red Deer was “deep-sixed” by COVID, but the good news is it’s being reincarnated as the Energy Innovation Fair and it’s back live on October 21 at Red Deer Polytechnic.
Alberta’s is betting big on hydrogen, but can hydrogen, blue, green or otherwise help us get to a zero-emissions future? We take a deep dive to find out how and where hydrogen can decarbonize energy use.
The Tufts had a choice: bulldoze their 1953 bungalow and start over or do a deep energy retrofit to net-zero. They chose the cheaper option in this amazing story of renewal.
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.
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.
Jim Sandercock transformed his 1951 home to #netzero by undertaking an EnergieSprong Deep Energy Retrofit, one of the first in Canada. The home was literally reskinned with new walls over the old ones.
So much has changed in the 15 years since net-zero homes came onto the landscape. We now have heat pumps good to -35, streamlined building strategies and it now makes more economic sense than ever to build a net-zero home, eliminate your gas utility bill and produce your own energy.
Canada’s proposed Clean Energy Regulation could help transition its national electricity grid to net-zero, if loopholes are avoided, and if we focus on renewable energy says Stephen Thomas, co-author of Shifting Power.
A river runs through it – Zibi is a carbon-neutral community right on the Ottawa River. It gets electricity from run-of-river, heat from district energy, and represents a new climate-resilient form of urban design.
Buildings are responsible for 30-40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Edmonton builder Peter Amerongen is tackling this head-on by piloting the Dutch idea called EnergieSprong. New walls and roofs are built in a factory and craned onto old energy-inefficient homes transforming them all the way to net-zero. It’s the largest project of its kind in North America as 59 homes are being transformed to net-zero energy.
Alberta’s electricity was 81% coal-fired in 1981. By 2023 it will reach 0%. Now for the hard part – getting to net-zero. Green Energy Futures talks to economist Dr. Blake Shaffer about how to go the distance and reach net-zero emissions.
2021 was the year of net-zero. Nations, cities, companies, and even home builders are involved in making pledges. We look at net-zero the goal and three innovations from the journey to net-zero including an inspiring net-zero passive house, the world’s most efficient windows, and an innovative smart home energy system.
Solar, wind, and energy storage are the most economical solutions to use for Canada to decarbonize the grid and help Canada reach its net-zero goals says a new report entitled Powering Canada’s Journey to Net-Zero.
Net-Zero and passive houses may have 16-inch thick walls and R50 insulation, but what to do about the windows? After years of development, Greg Clarahan says he has the answer – super windows with unheard-of R22 insulation values. This could be a game-changer for green homes.
Passive House 101 – This amazing net-zero passive house has no furnace and is designed to withstand the northern Canadian winter where temperatures reach near -40 Celsius. We present the anatomy of a passive home that is 90% more efficient, is super-insulated, has no concrete foundation walls and that uses a 450% efficient heat pump water heater not only to provide hot water but also to provide supplementary heat in the cold depths of winter
This Canadian home builder now builds only net-zero ready and net-zero homes and the best part is – the homes are selling like crazy!
Permaculturalist Kenton Zerbin is living large in his super-efficient tiny home. Join us as we take a tour of this amazing tiny home with big features.
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.
Climate change may be the Canadian Press story of the year in 2019, but when we cast our eyes back on the year that was we find inspiring stories of people working on solutions to climate change. From the largest carbon-neutral community in the world to the largest solar project in Canadian history it was a year of firsts.
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.
How the University of Calgary transformed their ‘60s-era brutalist MacKimmie Library into a building designed to reach net-zero energy.
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.
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.
The Canadian Home Builders Association now has a net-zero labeling program. We talk to Sonja Winkelmann about the program designed to help consumers and builders understand and embrace super energy efficient, solar-powered net-zero homes.
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.
It’s called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. Alberta introduced a PACE bill and some believe if passed, it could drive a surge of investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy in Alberta homes and businesses.
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.
With very little money in the bank and an old church they could no longer afford to heat, the Westmount Presbyterian Church was on the brink of failure. Then, they hatched a plan to build Canada’s first net-zero church and social housing project.
Edmonton is getting set to host the first international conference on Cities and Climate Change Science. We talk to Seth Schultz from C40 about Edmonton, climate change and the action thats required. Schultz is an organizer and director with a global organization of 90 megacities helping mayors and cities taken action on climate change.
SMART HOMES PART 2 – Have you ever dreamed of living in a net-zero home? According to Peter Darlington, that dream may be closer than you think. In fact, you might already be living in your future net-zero home. We present Peter’s four steps to making your home net-zero.
SMART HOMES PART 1 – Is your water heater kaput? Want to discover the best option for high efficiency water heaters? Look no further! We check out tankless, electric heat pump and power vented conventional high efficiency water heaters. Is one of them right for you? Read on and find out.
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.
Edmonton-based builder Landmark Homes has launched one of the most affordable net-zero homes we’ve seen in Canada.
Tom Jackman of Simple Solar shows us the benefits of solar thermal technology.
How does a passive solar heated Earthship fare in the long cold Canadian winter. This week we return to a familiar place, the Kinney Family Earthship, to see how it holds up in the middle of a cold Canadian prairie winter.
The era of net-zero homes is upon us. These super-efficient homes use rooftop solar energy production and smaller, electric powered heating systems such as air source heat pumps to produce as much energy as they consume. But the real secret is insulation. Peter Amerongen shows us Habitat Studio’s unique formula for insulating the heck out of a home.
Canada’s latest batch of net-zero homes is being built in Guelph, Ontario. We head to the build site to check them out up close.
Echohaven is a different kind of suburban development. It preserves natural landscapes, mandates energy efficient homes and guarantees solar access.
Landmark Homes is planning to have all of their homes be net-zero by 2015. Learn how net-zero is transitioning from small custom home builders to large scale companies.
In 10 years net-zero homes have gone from government pilot project to mass production. Shafraaz Kaba’s near net-zero home is an excellent example of how we got there.
We look at making energy efficient, infill homes that are beautiful and also at how the location of your home can have a dramatic effect on your energy footprint.
The first episode of our four-part series Chasing Net-Zero. We dive into the history of net-zero homes and figure out you can build one of these comfortable, beautiful homes that also doubles as a mini-powerplant.
Passive solar energy and its running buddy thermal mass give you the opportunity to get a significant portion of your home’s heat for free from the sun.
