Workshop Descriptions

Friday January 28th, 2011

*All Workshops are 1.5 hours unless otherwise noted

Healthy Homes | Tang Lee (full day course)

“Without your health, nothing else really matters. Since we spend over 90% of the time indoors, we must provide a healthier indoor environment. Indoor air contaminates such as moulds, dust, chemicals, scented products, use of electronic devices, and a variety of other environmental conditions affect occupant health and well-being. We will examine many of these conditions, how they are generated, impact on human health, and how to minimize the effects. The workshop will culminate in developing strategies for the design or modification of homes to be healthier. This seminar will appeal to designers, builders, and the general public who care about their health.

Healthy homes - Without your health, nothing else really matters.

Increasing cancer rates, aggravating respiratory problems, emerging tropical diseases and other illness are interlinked to the environment.

Since we spend over 90% of the time indoors, we must provide a healthier indoor environment.

Indoor air contaminates such as moulds, dust, chemicals, scented lotions, candles, etc. affect occupant health and well-being. Other environmental conditions include vibrations, sound, lighting, as well as increasing use of wireless communications devices such as Internet, cell phones, etc. are also found to have some negative health effects. Even cleaning equipment such as vacuum cleaners and chemicals can be detrimental to health.

We will examine many of these conditions, how they are generated, its impact on human health, and measures to minimizes its effects. The workshop will culminate in developing strategies for the design or modification of homes to be healthier.

Community Solar Energy | Nitya Harris and Bill Swan

Join Bill Swan of Greenman Sustainable Solutions for his presentation about the design and purpose of The Community Greenhouse located in Invermere, B.C. The Community Greenhouse employs a different structural design than most conventional greenhouses, utilizes solar thermal and PV systems, captures rainwater, and features the use of an annualized geo-solar (AGS) system that uses solar heated air from the facility to create an underground heat sink for the greenhouse heating requirement in colder months. Strong partnerships between the Community Greenhouse, David Thompson Secondary School and community groups continues to grow along with the fully organic food production at the facility. Participants will find principles and practices used in the Community Greenhouse are adaptable to their home, business or greenhouse.

Nitya Harris, the Executive Director of SolarBC will speak about Solar Communities. Kimberley is one of 32 designated BC Solar Communities and Nitya will explore the role and obligations of a Solar Community. She will describe what other Solar Communities are doing to be solar role models in their communities and provide information on Community Power and how this infrastructure can be used to deploy locally owned alternative energy projects.

Case Study of a 1960s Dormitory LEED Renovation | Paula Kiss

Target: municipal staff, politicians, councilors, planners, bureaucrats, college management, housing experts, contractors, engineers.

Appeal for registrants: obtain insight and knowledge about how to deal with large existing building stock, LEED concepts and awareness.

Presentation focus: Discuss process of renovating a large old building, LEED targets (site, materials, water use, energy, etc).

It's Not Easy Being Green: The Greening of the BC Building Code | Murray Frank (half day course)

British Columbia has taken sustainable and energy efficient home construction seriously. In 2006 the Province published its Climate Action Plan and began the process of embracing the plan. Released as the Greening of the BC Building Code, it was declared as the first step of an ongoing commitment. BC is now learning about the anticipated next steps slated for an effective date as soon as October of 2011. With less than a year to go it is clear that the code provisions relating to energy efficiency are going to be very significant and will impact the way homes are designed and constructed from the ground up. This workshop will highlight important considerations moving forward so that the changes will result in greater sustainability.

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

*All Workshops are 1.5 hours

Integrated Design | Thomas Elpel

Learn to build the high-efficiency house of your Dreams on a shoestring budget with Thomas J. Elpel, author of Living Homes: Stone Masonry, Log, and Strawbale Construction. Discover how to save tens of thousands of dollars in upfront costs and long-term maintenance through thoughtful planning and design. Learn the secrets of finding and using free or low-cost, natural or recycled building materials. And most importantly, learn how to avoid a mortgage and find the freedom to live all of your dreams in life.

The Darfield Earthship | Sandra Burkholder

Join Chris Newton and Sandra Burkholder as they discuss the construction process to date. Learn about different aspects of earthships: passive heating and cooling, auxiliary heat (rocket mass heater) greywater systems, food production, rainwater harvesting, renewable energy and affordability. Learn more about general and technical resources they accessed and how they have involved their children, family, strangers and volunteers in their house construction project.

Green Architecture - Design Concepts | Christine Ross

The idea of the workshop is to explore the ways of creating green architecture where the building design itself creates a building which is responsive to climate, site and energy conservation considerations as well as all the requirements that go in to making a building the best possible working solution for the client. Examples of issues which will be addressed are site planning and building orientation, building planning concepts and 3 dimensional building concepts. It will also be looking at bringing Green Building - Design Concepts in to mainstream architecture and in to the issues of balancing commercial concerns with green building concerns.

NetZero Energy Housing on the Northern Prairies; Lessons Learned So Far | Peter Amerongen

The Riverdale NetZero Project is the most northerly of 12 net zero energy residential projects built in conjunction with CMHC’s EQuilibrium Housing Initiative. Habitat Studio has incorporated the early lessons from the Riverdale Project into four other net zero energy houses. (these are buildings that over the course of a year produce, on site, as much energy as is consumed for everything: heating, domestic hot water and lighting and appliances). This is a daunting challenge on the northern prairies where it can be minus 40C on winter days with less than 8 hours of daylight. Achieving net zero energy in this context requires a combination of aggressive conservation and a multi faceted exploitation of solar energy. Lessons learned offer valuable evidence based guidance to anyone involved in the planning or building of projects, new or retrofit, that aim to substantially reduce their environmental impact.

Build It or Permit? Which comes first? | Andy Christie, Kris Belanger and Troy Pollock

Understanding the permitting process…Planning a new building or renovation project? Wondering if your latest idea will comply with zoning or building code requirements? Like any new adventure, it is wise to plan ahead and understand the key steps along the way. Attend this interactive session where City of Kimberley Planning and Building Inspection staff will present an overview of the building permit and inspection process and answer all of your questions to ensure a successful application and a code-compliant project.

Green Materials– choice and application | Paula Kiss

This workshop is a must for home owners, owner builders, renovators, designers, contractors who would like to get a handle on real choices to be made during the renovating or construction period. There will be discussion on various available ‘green’ materials, pitfalls and cons, selection criteria, merits, costs, implications of use – and ‘free’ consultation.

Paula will provide tactile samples, with plenty of time for Q&A.

Ultra-Energy Efficient Retrofits: Lessons from CMHC’s EQuilibrium Initiative | Lance Jakubec

While improving the performance of new homes is important, the stock of over 12 million existing homes in Canada offers the perhaps greatest potential for reducing energy use, particularly for those homes built before energy conservation was a concern. Lance will examine the lessons learned from a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) initiative that involved a net zero energy retrofit a 1940s house (the Now House), along with an application of these lessons to five similar homes (the Windsor 5) that highlight practical and cost-effective strategies for energy efficient renovations.

Deep Thoughts about Deep Energy Retrofits | Murray Frank

Deep energy retrofits to existing construction require significant effort and the results can vary from very effective to disappointing. This workshop will quickly review some of the current major strategies but will then drift towards some of the more esoteric issues including consumer perspectives, regulatory challenges and the real cost of energy efficiency over a buildings' life. The final thoughts will discuss some of the contemplated regulatory initiatives intended to create a balanced environment that will encourage energy efficiency changes in both new and existing homes.

Greening our landscape, walls and roofs with native plants | Mike Keefer

This workshop will focus on the art and science of keeping nature thriving around our built landscape through native plant landscaping on the ground with ideas for our walls and roofs.

Cold climates, year round food; is it possible, using biobased energy? | Edward Beggs

This workshop will feature a presentation of the concept of year round food production system for cold climates, based on combination of solar/LEDs and biobased energy. The focus will be on smaller scale operations and energy from locally derived plants and wastes. Examples provided will include a geodesic dome greenhouse and a shipping container combined with cogeneration (combined heat and power via diesel generator fueled by locally derived used cooking oil or oil from sustainably grown local oilseeds and biogas from various wastes or oilseed "presscake").

Permaculture Design for the Land | Gregoire Lamoureux

Permaculture is the design & implementation of sustainable & ecological human habitat. It is based on the observation of natural system and uses ecological principles to increase diversity and productivity of local human ecosystems, and can be used both in urban and rural areas. Learn the basic principles & techniques of permaculture design and apply some of those ideas in your own backyard or on your land.

Subterranean heat storage for greenhouses – The Invermere experience | Dale Wilker

The work shop will include a power point presentation describing the AGS concept and how we used it in our greenhouse, show you how we built the 3000 sq ft facility with volunteers and donations, and describe other options we investigated for creating a year round greenhouse that does not use fossil fuels. A question and answer period will follow.

Kimberley Sustainable Building and Living Conference

News & Action Alerts

Workshop Descriptions

Friday January 28th, 2011

Saturday, January 29th, 2011


Kimberley Sustainable Building and Living Conference 2011 Sustainable Building and Living Conference Conference Schedule Workshop Descriptions Presenter Bios Friday opening event: 'Onstage at McKim' Sustainable Building and Living Showcase SIMPLE and Sustainable Networking Accommodations About Wildsight Our Programs Local Branches News & Events What you can do News & Action Alerts
	Workshop Descriptions Friday January 28th, 2011 All Workshops are 1.5 hours unless otherwise noted Healthy Homes \| Tang Lee* (full day course) “Without your health, nothing else really matters. Since we spend over 90% of the time indoors, we must provide a healthier indoor environment. Indoor air contaminates such as moulds, dust, chemicals, scented products, use of electronic devices, and a variety of other environmental conditions affect occupant health and well-being. We will examine many of these conditions, how they are generated, impact on human health, and how to minimize the effects. The workshop will culminate in developing strategies for the design or modification of homes to be healthier. This seminar will appeal to designers, builders, and the general public who care about their health. Healthy homes - Without your health, nothing else really matters. Increasing cancer rates, aggravating respiratory problems, emerging tropical diseases and other illness are interlinked to the environment. Since we spend over 90% of the time indoors, we must provide a healthier indoor environment. Indoor air contaminates such as moulds, dust, chemicals, scented lotions, candles, etc. affect occupant health and well-being. Other environmental conditions include vibrations, sound, lighting, as well as increasing use of wireless communications devices such as Internet, cell phones, etc. are also found to have some negative health effects. Even cleaning equipment such as vacuum cleaners and chemicals can be detrimental to health. We will examine many of these conditions, how they are generated, its impact on human health, and measures to minimizes its effects. The workshop will culminate in developing strategies for the design or modification of homes to be healthier. Community Solar Energy \| Nitya Harris and Bill Swan Join Bill Swan of Greenman Sustainable Solutions for his presentation about the design and purpose of The Community Greenhouse located in Invermere, B.C. The Community Greenhouse employs a different structural design than most conventional greenhouses, utilizes solar thermal and PV systems, captures rainwater, and features the use of an annualized geo-solar (AGS) system that uses solar heated air from the facility to create an underground heat sink for the greenhouse heating requirement in colder months. Strong partnerships between the Community Greenhouse, David Thompson Secondary School and community groups continues to grow along with the fully organic food production at the facility. Participants will find principles and practices used in the Community Greenhouse are adaptable to their home, business or greenhouse. Nitya Harris, the Executive Director of SolarBC will speak about Solar Communities. Kimberley is one of 32 designated BC Solar Communities and Nitya will explore the role and obligations of a Solar Community. She will describe what other Solar Communities are doing to be solar role models in their communities and provide information on Community Power and how this infrastructure can be used to deploy locally owned alternative energy projects. Case Study of a 1960s Dormitory LEED Renovation \| Paula Kiss Target: municipal staff, politicians, councilors, planners, bureaucrats, college management, housing experts, contractors, engineers. Appeal for registrants: obtain insight and knowledge about how to deal with large existing building stock, LEED concepts and awareness. Presentation focus: Discuss process of renovating a large old building, LEED targets (site, materials, water use, energy, etc). It's Not Easy Being Green: The Greening of the BC Building Code \| Murray Frank (half day course) British Columbia has taken sustainable and energy efficient home construction seriously. In 2006 the Province published its Climate Action Plan and began the process of embracing the plan. Released as the Greening of the BC Building Code, it was declared as the first step of an ongoing commitment. BC is now learning about the anticipated next steps slated for an effective date as soon as October of 2011. With less than a year to go it is clear that the code provisions relating to energy efficiency are going to be very significant and will impact the way homes are designed and constructed from the ground up. This workshop will highlight important considerations moving forward so that the changes will result in greater sustainability. Saturday, January 29th, 2011 All Workshops are 1.5 hours Integrated Design \| Thomas Elpel* Learn to build the high-efficiency house of your Dreams on a shoestring budget with Thomas J. Elpel, author of Living Homes: Stone Masonry, Log, and Strawbale Construction. Discover how to save tens of thousands of dollars in upfront costs and long-term maintenance through thoughtful planning and design. Learn the secrets of finding and using free or low-cost, natural or recycled building materials. And most importantly, learn how to avoid a mortgage and find the freedom to live all of your dreams in life. The Darfield Earthship \| Sandra Burkholder Join Chris Newton and Sandra Burkholder as they discuss the construction process to date. Learn about different aspects of earthships: passive heating and cooling, auxiliary heat (rocket mass heater) greywater systems, food production, rainwater harvesting, renewable energy and affordability. Learn more about general and technical resources they accessed and how they have involved their children, family, strangers and volunteers in their house construction project. Green Architecture - Design Concepts \| Christine Ross The idea of the workshop is to explore the ways of creating green architecture where the building design itself creates a building which is responsive to climate, site and energy conservation considerations as well as all the requirements that go in to making a building the best possible working solution for the client. Examples of issues which will be addressed are site planning and building orientation, building planning concepts and 3 dimensional building concepts. It will also be looking at bringing Green Building - Design Concepts in to mainstream architecture and in to the issues of balancing commercial concerns with green building concerns. NetZero Energy Housing on the Northern Prairies; Lessons Learned So Far \| Peter Amerongen The Riverdale NetZero Project is the most northerly of 12 net zero energy residential projects built in conjunction with CMHC’s EQuilibrium Housing Initiative. Habitat Studio has incorporated the early lessons from the Riverdale Project into four other net zero energy houses. (these are buildings that over the course of a year produce, on site, as much energy as is consumed for everything: heating, domestic hot water and lighting and appliances). This is a daunting challenge on the northern prairies where it can be minus 40C on winter days with less than 8 hours of daylight. Achieving net zero energy in this context requires a combination of aggressive conservation and a multi faceted exploitation of solar energy. Lessons learned offer valuable evidence based guidance to anyone involved in the planning or building of projects, new or retrofit, that aim to substantially reduce their environmental impact. Build It or Permit? Which comes first? \| Andy Christie, Kris Belanger and Troy Pollock Understanding the permitting process…Planning a new building or renovation project? Wondering if your latest idea will comply with zoning or building code requirements? Like any new adventure, it is wise to plan ahead and understand the key steps along the way. Attend this interactive session where City of Kimberley Planning and Building Inspection staff will present an overview of the building permit and inspection process and answer all of your questions to ensure a successful application and a code-compliant project. Green Materials– choice and application \| Paula Kiss This workshop is a must for home owners, owner builders, renovators, designers, contractors who would like to get a handle on real choices to be made during the renovating or construction period. There will be discussion on various available ‘green’ materials, pitfalls and cons, selection criteria, merits, costs, implications of use – and ‘free’ consultation. Paula will provide tactile samples, with plenty of time for Q&A. Ultra-Energy Efficient Retrofits: Lessons from CMHC’s EQuilibrium Initiative \| Lance Jakubec While improving the performance of new homes is important, the stock of over 12 million existing homes in Canada offers the perhaps greatest potential for reducing energy use, particularly for those homes built before energy conservation was a concern. Lance will examine the lessons learned from a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) initiative that involved a net zero energy retrofit a 1940s house (the Now House), along with an application of these lessons to five similar homes (the Windsor 5) that highlight practical and cost-effective strategies for energy efficient renovations. Deep Thoughts about Deep Energy Retrofits \| Murray Frank Deep energy retrofits to existing construction require significant effort and the results can vary from very effective to disappointing. This workshop will quickly review some of the current major strategies but will then drift towards some of the more esoteric issues including consumer perspectives, regulatory challenges and the real cost of energy efficiency over a buildings' life. The final thoughts will discuss some of the contemplated regulatory initiatives intended to create a balanced environment that will encourage energy efficiency changes in both new and existing homes. Greening our landscape, walls and roofs with native plants \| Mike Keefer This workshop will focus on the art and science of keeping nature thriving around our built landscape through native plant landscaping on the ground with ideas for our walls and roofs. Cold climates, year round food; is it possible, using biobased energy? \| Edward Beggs This workshop will feature a presentation of the concept of year round food production system for cold climates, based on combination of solar/LEDs and biobased energy. The focus will be on smaller scale operations and energy from locally derived plants and wastes. Examples provided will include a geodesic dome greenhouse and a shipping container combined with cogeneration (combined heat and power via diesel generator fueled by locally derived used cooking oil or oil from sustainably grown local oilseeds and biogas from various wastes or oilseed "presscake"). Permaculture Design for the Land \| Gregoire Lamoureux Permaculture is the design & implementation of sustainable & ecological human habitat. It is based on the observation of natural system and uses ecological principles to increase diversity and productivity of local human ecosystems, and can be used both in urban and rural areas. Learn the basic principles & techniques of permaculture design and apply some of those ideas in your own backyard or on your land. Subterranean heat storage for greenhouses – The Invermere experience \| Dale Wilker The work shop will include a power point presentation describing the AGS concept and how we used it in our greenhouse, show you how we built the 3000 sq ft facility with volunteers and donations, and describe other options we investigated for creating a year round greenhouse that does not use fossil fuels. A question and answer period will follow.