Sponsored by
The Way We Green
Habitat Studio
Clark Ecoscience and Sustainability
Pictures from the 2013 Eco-Solar Home Tour
Allendale Ginger Duplex
A nice energy efficient duplex. Featured enhanced insulation and some nice energy efficiency features.
Large open concept kitchen.
Checking out the kitchen.
This duplex is ready to move in.
Belgravia Green Net Zero
Belgravia Green is a show home that features some interesting features that take this home to full net zero energy status.
Tour founder Gordon on the deck showing the large solar array.
The show home living room (2012 picture)
This home uses passive solar features to gather heat and then the solar array to offset energy use. A very interesting home.
Blackmud Creek Energy Efficient
A large home in south Edmonton that used many energy efficient features including geothermal heat.
Randy, the builder, from Celebration homes showing the insulated concrete forms used for the basement.
Holyrood Near Net Zero
This home is a rebuild after a fire and included many interesting features. It is near net zero as there is not enough south facing access to generate enough power for full net zero. It uses wood for additional heat.
Here is the large open concept kitchen. Picture taken during our volunteer orientation night which was held at Holyrood.
Most interesting feature is an intergrated wood stove and solar collection system that heats hot water which is then used to heat the house (2012 pic).
Larch Park Lottery Net Zero Home
For the first time ever one of the lottery homes was a net zero home. Beautiful home with stellar energy efficiency.
They were showing the blower door test on tour day. This house has an outstanding 0.4 air changes per hour.
As a show home the furniture and finishes are exquisite.
There is lots of solar on this house and here are the inverters that convert the power (pre-tour picture).
In the past couple of years heat pump powered hot water tanks have become cost effective. In this picture you can see the hot water heater, the drain water heat recovery coil (copper coil center), and the heat recovery ventillator (right - pre-tour picture).
Larch Park Net Zero Townhomes
14 townhomes are all being built as net zero energy homes here in Larch Park (pre-tour picture).
These homes have the structural panels built in the factory. All these homes went up in a matter of days from prefabricated panels.
Spray-foam is used to insulate and prevent vapour migration.
In this picture you can see the Larch Park townhomes being built on the left and the solar panels on the Larch Park lottery home on the right (pre-tour picture).
McKernan Combined Heat and Power
This duplex in McKernan has a lot of thoughtful energy efficient choices. The duplex houses the couple's parent next door, they have edible landscaping, and there is significant passive solar features on the home.
The main attaction in this house is the engine in the garage that heats the entire house. When the engine is running is also generates all their electricity as well.
On tour day there was a bike tour organized and we ran into them at this McKernan home.
McKernan Energy Efficient
Right around the corner from McKernan CHP was this McKernan energy efficient home. The homeowners tore down their old house and built a new one on the same lot. In doing so they added a basement suite and improved the energy efficiency.
The builder, Heiko (left), explaining the features of the house to some visitors.
It is always interesting to have a house on the tour that is under construction. This house let people see the details that go into making a home energy efficient.
Riverdale Concrete Net Zero Home
In Riverdale this duplex is being developed by Habitat For Humanity and a number of sponsors to show some interesting new construction techniques. The main feature is the insulated concrete construction.
The view from out back. Here you can see the two duplexes clearly.
Concrete is used throughout the home. Here the staircase is made from precast concrete.
The construction of this house generated a lot of interest.
In this picture you can see the thickness of the insulated concrete panels in the windowsills.
The basement mechanical room showed the geothermal heat pump and how the solar electric power came into the house.
This is me at the end of the day.
Westmount Energy Efficient
We did not get to see this house on tour day as we ran out of time (pre-tour picture).
Westmount Eco-Office
The Westmount Eco-Office was a retrofit of an old house to make it into commercial office space. Very nice reno with many energy efficient features (pre-your picture).
Owner Daniel explaining the solar monitoring station that he has set up in the office.
The downstairs area is nicely renovated into meeting and kitchen space.
Rennovating a house reduces waste compared to tearing it down and starting over. This is a good example of an energy efficient retrofit.
Whitemud Leased Solar
One of the major utilities is leasing solar panels as a way to get into solar without spending a lot of money up front. This particular owner took advantage of a solar lease to purchase plan that was supported by his company as well as the utility. They added 6 solar modules to the roof (pre-tour picture).
On tour day they also put out some posters showing some of the other energy efficient ideas they had incorporated into their home.