David Morrow P. Eng.   Hydraft Development Services
November 9, 2011 7-8:30pm

As ratepayers we have an increasing number of choices on the road to energy autonomy – super insulation, solar electric systems, waste water heat recovery, solar hot water, geothermal system,, wood pellet stoves, cogeneration units, green power purchasing, etc.  What are the best design choices and how can they be optimized to work together? Am I better off putting in a solar hot water system or a solar electric system?  How thick should my insulation be?  Is triple pane glass worth it?

From residences on up to commercial buildings, looking through an economic lens, engineer David Morrow loves to find the low hanging energy fruit in the many projects he analyses.  He will share his process and his wisdom on how to navigate through what is available and what is coming.

Location: Grant MacEwan University CN Theatre Rm 5-142 in the 105 St. building
Cost: free and no registration necessary
Contact: (780) 378-6178 office@solaralberta.ca

Zero Carbon Retrofits
The Edmonton C Returns ROI Model
Godo Stoyke and Shanthu Mano of Carbon Busters
October 26, 2011 7-8:30pm

Coming to Edmonton! A great new programme to upgrade existing homes.
C Returns is a one stop shop to green your home: an extensive energy and carbon audit, a comprehensive plan, the actual installation and the financing. Turn key operation with installation of small measures with high returns all the way to major long term investments, including renewable energy options. Modeled after a successful program in Seattle. Providing cash, carbon and community return on investment strategies for homes and community owned buildings. www.creturns.com This evening presentation describes the types of retrofits targeted by C Returns, including an analysis of the costs and benefits of moving towards zero-carbon, net- zero and PassivHaus standards.

Location: Grant MacEwan University CN Theatre Rm 5-142 in the 105 St. building
Cost: free and no registration necessary
Contact: (780) 378-6178 office@solaralberta.ca
For further information see the attached flyer.

WHEN: Wednesday, August 17, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

WHERE: McKernan Community League Hall, 11341-78 Avenue

COST: Pay What You Can

DESCRIPTION: Sustainable Living 101 provides an introduction to some of the key concepts of climate science as well as some of the alarming observations and implications that you need to know about.  Learn about the Greenhouse Effect and how rising levels of Carbon Dioxide put increasing pressure on already stressed and weakened forests and oceans around the World. Each week there has been a story about extreme weather, learn how this affects you, the city and our way of life.

The workshop also provides you with 7-Step strategy that you can use every day to design a more sustainable lifestyle.  Learn how to complete your own personal inventory and use it to create powerful goals that transition your life to the next level of sustainable living!

It also means taking action! At Eco Evolver we are dedicated to engaging people from all over Edmonton so they can step up their game, and get involved in community projects and city-wide initiatives that are transitioning Edmonton away from fossil fuels towards sustainable and resilient communities.  Discover how Eco Evolvers from around Edmonton are transforming their life, one green step at a time!

You may have noticed that things look a little different around here! The Raising Spaces team has been itching to update our online look and is pleased to roll out our new site.

We apologize if you’ve been searching for something during the transition. Please bear with us as we continue to make the updates and changes necessary to raise our new site. In the meantime, here are some quick links.

To find our Green Building Professionals Directory ‘Green Pros’ go to http://greenpros.ca

For our online store, see http://shop.raisingspaces.com

This weekend marks the NetZero Home tour.  Last year a couple friends and I went on an exciting bike tour to see the different styles and design elements of each gorgeous home.  This weekend, Raising Spaces will be showcasing some fantastic products and materials at 7615 111 st.  The Belgravia Homes, as seen in the Raising Spaces “Building the Ultimate Green Effect Homes” will also be a part of the tour, so if you missed the construction tour, now’s the chance to check out sustainable home building at its finest.  Click Here for details on tour information.

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Imagine the ultimate dream home.  A home that produces its own heat and electricity, perfectly designed to generate as much energy as it needs to function annually.  A home with a tangible monetary payback.  Dreams of this perfect home are no longer dreams at all.  As our perspectives on sustainability rapidly adapt with fantastic innovation through design, it is becoming more evident that green design will save the world.  The dynamic Edmonton Net Zero home projects are transforming those dreams into reality, and they’re doing it in style.  Typical home design can find itself lost in a cookie cutter labyrinth lacking both efficiency and creativity. The Net zero home projects in Edmonton are anything but typical.  Effect Home Builders are changing the way we see the home  from the inside out. Each innovative design has a specific function that is carried out with delicate precision and glorious teamwork.  This coming weekend, join the Effect Home builders on an informative construction tour to learn more about the projects.

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Shift Your Habit: Easy Ways to Save Money, Simplify Your Life, and Save the Planet by Elizabeth Rogers. Three Rivers Press, 2010.

When persuading reluctant family members and friends to a “green” lifestyle, we usually encounter two big objections: money and time. The evidence in the store is that the green option is more expensive and that acting conscientiously, by either making your own, recycling or making a lifestyle change, is a big hassle.

Elizabeth Rogers, the author of Shift Your Habit, disagrees and she has found the evidence to prove it. Shift Your Habit suggests hundreds of simple changes, from opening your blinds and using sunlight to get work done during the day, to bigger changes, such as holding swap parties for clothing and entertainment items like video games. Each of the suggestions is environmentally-friendly and frugal, which overcomes the “it’s too expensive” objection to making a green lifestyle change and some of the tips include a “Good For You” section, meaning that it improves your health or saves time.

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Ever since I was a young lass I’ve cringed at the idea of waste and landfills. To this day if you show me a product born from the scrap material of another time and place, you’re sure to win my heart. Add the eco features of ‘Canadian-made’ and ‘Produces renewable energy’ and you can’t go wrong!

Made from recycled pop cans, Cansolair’s solar heater is a unique product out of Newfoundland that blows extra solar heat into your home on less energy than a refrigerator lightbulb! With heating season on the horizon, I’d say the Cansolair solution sure beats plugging in an electric space heater and paying for dirty grid energy.

If you can get past the initial purchase of the unit for roughly $2500, have it shipped to your home, and installed, Cansolair estimates that the energy savings will pay you back in eight years or less! The company has also calculated that through the use of their solar heating panel you’ll prevent 13,000 LBS of emissions from being released, depending on where you live and the electrical grid you rely on of course.

Visit Cansolair’s web site to find a dealer in your area.

Resources

http://dailyhomerenotips.com/2008/10/24/solar-air-space-heating-part-1-another-type-of-solar-energy/