Workshop Descriptions

All workshops are at the College of the Rockies Campus in Kimberley, 1850 Warren Avenue, on Saturday, January 30. 

For the full conference schedule, click HERE.

Green Renovation Design

Brian Leeb and Kevin D Brown, 8:15 - 10:15 AM

Are you considering renovating? Are you interested in green building techniques but don't know how to apply them to your home? Are you unsure how far you have to go in order to retain what you love about the home? Then there is a way out of your conundrum, and it doesn't mean bringing in the bulldozer.

Green Renovation Design will develop a set of green renovation options, with a real home in Kimberley to be used as a case study. Through exercises and a design charette format, participants will gain valuable experience in thinking about their renovations.

The Business Case for Green Building

James Penner and Craig Hillman, 8:45 - 10:15 AM

Green building makes sense ethically, but can it make sense economically? This session explores the benefits of green building for the builder and the owner/client. See how green builders can capture niche markets, capitalize on the green premium, and stay out front of the curve of evolving building practices. See how the economic benefits of environmental building technologies can provide paybacks from Day 1.

Green Site Design and Planting

Michael E Keefer, 8:45 - 10:15 AM

The East Kootenay is blessed with a highly diverse flora which forms the basis of this presentation on how native plants can be incorporated into our living landscapes around our homes and other buildings. Techniques to take advantage of the unique microsites on our land include xeriscaping to conserve water, careful planting to provide summer cooling and winter light, incorporating native species so that wildlife populations may be sustained in our communities. This presentation will provide an overview on our plant diversity and how it fits into our contemporary landscapes and green building. Participants will leave the workshop inspired with possibilities for greening the landscapes around their buildings and beyond.

Green Energy Systems

Jori Adank and Jennifer Stephenson, 10:30 AM - Noon

Solar! Wind! Water! How can you use natural resources to energize your home? Learn about currently available technology options, financial realities, and other people’s experiences. A focus on solar hot water, the technology our governments are now supporting with $$$, will follow.

Green Building Design: Whole Systems for New Construction

Tang Lee, 10:30 AM - Noon

Green building design for new construction treats the whole building as a system that provides space, light, heat, energy, comfort and delight. This workshop will deal with the fundamentals of green design for residential, institutional and small commercial spaces. Lessons learned from the Solar Decathlon house competition will be discussed as well as practical solar systems that work.

Introduction to Natural Building

Evan Little, 10:30 AM - Noon

Kimberley's Natural Building School, offered by COTR, has generated significant interest in the techniques and materials used in this very green field of building practice. Opportunities and challenges for homebuilders and commercial builders will be explored, as well as the many forms of natural building.

Green Building Certification: LEED and the Living Building Challenge

Robin Urquhart, 1:00 - 2:30 PM

Certification systems for green buildings provide designers and builders with a way of evaluating design alternatives, and provide a way of measuring how a building is performing. Third party certification also provides buyers verifiable data on construction and performance. Different certification systems (with emphasis on Built Green BC, LEED and the Living Building Challenge) and their application will be discussed.

Green Materials: Nature and Technology

Kevin D Brown, Paula Kiss and Craig Hillman, 1:00 - 2:00 PM

Green materials for the green building are available right here in the East Kootenay, and through imports. Criteria for choosing green materials – what makes materials green – will be discussed, followed by the different types of natural and industrial materials. This workshop will outline criteria for choosing green materials, types, applications and sources.

Green Heritage: Adapting and Renovating Heritage Buildings

Jennifer Iredale and Kenton Preston, 3:00 - 4:30 PM

Why do we recycle newsprint, bottles and cans while we are still throwing away buildings and their parts? Why not repair, retrofit and rehabilitate existing buildings, the 3R's of heritage? Green renovations save the embodied energy and durability of older and historic buildings. Respectful retrofits reduce the operating energy of a building, making home retrofits one of the most direct climate actions an owner can take. This workshop will look at strategies for retrofitting and updating buildings while retaining their heritage character.

From House to Hood: Green Communities

Ellen Pond, 3:00 - 4:30 PM

Global targets for greenhouse gas emissions require us to move our buildings and communities off fossil fuels over the next few decades.  Beyond individual green buildings, what are the opportunities at the neighbourhood and community-scale that exist to radically reduce energy use and GHG emissions?  What are possible implications for community design? This workshop will cover energy footprints in relation to building form, explore neighbourhood options for community energy systems, and ask critical questions about the links between neighbourhood design and transportation emissions.