Robert Remington National Post
Geothermal energy, once the dream of off-the-grid environmental enthusiasts, has become the new chic among CEOs, doctors and developers -- people with the means to afford expensive geothermal systems in private homes.
"I have a client who put a bar in his mechanical room so he could show off his geothermal system," says Ralph Salm, president of Vernon, B.C.-based Geofurnace International. "I don't know of anyone with a conventional system who gives tours of their furnace rooms."
Geothermal converts like Dick Van Grieken rave not only about lowering their dependence on fossil fuels, but better inside air quality and more efficient summer cooling. Geothermal energy systems transfer heat and cooling from the ground by either recirculating subsurface water or using a fluid circulated through a heat exchanger.
"It's absolutely terrific," says Mr. Van Grieken, a commercial real estate developer from Calgary who installed a geothermal system in his 6,500-squarefoot waterfront home in the Okanagan Valley. He is typical of a number of entrepreneurs who have personally test-driven geothermal systems in their homes to study the feasibility of incorporating the alternative energy system in their business plans.
As energy costs rise, the expensive initial installation of a geothermal system, which can add as much as $15,000 to $20,000 to the cost of a home, has become more attractive not only to individuals, but to developers. A geothermal system is being used to power an entire subdivision, Maple Heath Estates, in Kelowna, B.C., as well as The Rise, a Vernon, B.C., resort development complete with winery and a Fred Couples designed golf course. Geothermal is also powering Spring Creek Mountain Village, a residential and commercial development in the mountain resort town of Canmore, near Banff.
Geothermal, however, is just the tip of an environmental ethic that is creeping into the housing industry in Alberta and British Columbia.
In Lethbridge, an entire neighbourhood, Sunridge, is being developed using Built Green standards, a voluntary initiative started in Alberta that has now spread west.
In the Built Green program, trained and certified builders are awarded points for incorporating energy-savings initiatives in homes. The program also demands that builders reduce construction waste and use products from companies that employ sustainable forest practices. In return, builders get breaks on development permit costs from local governments and a marketing edge among increasingly savvy consumers nervous about rising utility costs.
In the post-Enron world, companies that go green have an edge among consumers concerned about corporate social
responsibility, says David Bengert, president of the Built Green Society of Canada. And, he says, green builders are well positioned to meet the demands of a new wave of home buyers for whom environmentalism is at the top of their generation's agenda.
"Young people absolutely get this," says Mr. Bengert, who began the Built- Green initiative seven years ago as a principal with Calgary's Jayman Masterbuilt Homes. "Consumers in general are much more aware today of environmental impact and the possibility of global warming than they have ever been. That transcends all consumerism. And, certainly, children are much more aware than their parents."
Baby Boomers facing a fixed-income retirement are also looking for homes that are highly energy efficient, says Darren Evans, president of Constructive Concepts Ltd., a builder in Vernon specializing in super energy-efficient homes with R50 walls. The company recently completed a $1.3-million, 7,000- square- foot home with geothermal heating for a retiring Vancouver engineer who wanted security from volatile energy prices.
"His is a typical scenario. You get people realizing a substantial amount of money on their homes in Vancouver or Calgary and once they finish their retirement home and move here, they have no cash coming in other than their pension. They're asking themselves how they can live on a fixed income and enjoy life and not have to worry where energy prices are going over the next 20 years."
Constructive Concepts uses Eco Block, a rigid polystyrene form into which concrete is typically poured for basement construction, leaving the rigid foam in place to insulate the concrete basement.
The company carries the concept above ground for a solid, insulated concrete wall from footing to roof.
But even builders using less extreme green techniques are finding a high demand for their product.
When Lonny Hoy opened a $450,000 super energy-efficient show home in Lethbridge last spring, he didn't know what kind of clientele he'd attract.
"I wasn't sure if it would be people in Volkswagen vans or what," says the president of Cedar Ridge Quality Homes in Lethbridge.
Within days, he had competing offers on the house, which to date has been the highest-rated of any home constructed to Built Green standards.
Mr. Hoy said he jumped at the chance to build in Sunridge, which is billed as the the first entirely Built Green neighbourhood in Canada. In addition to energy- efficient housing, the subdivision captures and recycles storm-water runoff in a series of ponds that are used to irrigate green space in the development.
"We always had an interest in energy-efficient housing, and when this neighbourhood came about we just jumped at the opportunity. We just decided that this was the direction we as a company wanted to go and the response has been fantastic," Mr. Hoy says. "Morally and ethically it is the right thing to do."
Because Built Green homes are tested and certified, Mr. Bengert says their resale value is likely to be enhanced as energy costs rise. To date, 175 builders in Alberta and B.C. have completed Built- Green training, and 3,214 homes have been certified.
Developer Wally Reid of Kelowna isn't Built Green certified, but expects heating and cooling in his geothermal-powered Maple Heath Estates subdivision to run about $35 per month per home, compared with $180 to $250 for natural gas. While strata fees in the development may seem high at $250 per month, they include security and heating costs.
"It's very green, environmentally friendly. We've taken very careful steps to make sure we are not a detriment to the environment," Mr. Reid says.
The development features homes priced at about $500,000, all rancher style, which, Mr. Reid says, is conducive to the radiant floor heat of the geothermal design.
"Pets love it," he says of the warm basement floors, and he says it also discourages insects.
Green neighbourhoods are also being driven by consumers like landscape architect David Spencer of Calgary, one of five people who secured a 2.5-hectare site in the northwest Calgary community of Rocky Ridge to build an environmentally friendly development with rainwater collection and wind and solar power. They are currently working with builders familiar with green concepts to build the two-dozen houses for the site.
"I've been wanting to do this for the last 30 years," Mr. Spencer says.