Saturday Workshops: Building Sustainability

Robin Urquhart, Nelson, BC

Robin has a Masters in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies from the University of Northern British Columbia. He has worked on issues of sustainability for various NGOs, including the International Institute for Sustainable Development, University of the Arctic and Arctic Athabaskan Council. From cob houses in Costa Rica to tree houses in the Yukon, Robin is a passionate and active participant in green building and conventional building alternatives.

Currently, Robin is a design consultant and assistant manager for The Building Tree, a design and supply business located in Nelson,BC that supports and promotes green building initiatives. He is also the coordinator for the Kootenays/Rockies leaf of the Cascadia Regional Green Building Council.

Ellen Pond, MLA, Vancouver, BC

Ellen Pond currently works with the Collaborative for Landscape Planning, UBC, on climate change planning for local communities. Research interests include site adaptive and systems-based climate change mitigation, neighbourhood design, and urban agriculture. She received her Master’s of Landscape Architecture from UBC in 2008, producing an award-winning graduate project on retrofitting existing residential neighbourhoods for 80% greenhouse gas reductions across the housing, transportation and food sectors. She is the 2008 UBC Olmsted Scholar, and a North American Olmsted Scholar finalist. She is also a ticketed Journeyperson Carpenter, a Board Member of the inter-disciplinary performance company Miscellaneous Productions that works with inner-city youth, and a Board Member of the non-profit landscape architecture organization Community Studio. She has roots in the West Kootenays.

Jennifer Iredale, Victoria, BC

Jennifer Iredale has been working in the field of historic preservation in British Columbia for over 30 years. Trained in history, museum studies and with a Master’s of Science in Historic Preservation from Columbia University, she has been the Curator for Provincial historic sites such as Barkerville and Emily Carr House. From 2002 to 2008 she focused on heritage policy work in the areas of tourism, green building & climate action, youth engagement and training & education. She sat on the inter-ministry committee advising on the greening of the BC Building Code and was Co-coordinator with Mona Lemoine, BC Director of the Cascadia Green Building Council in 2008 organizing a series of 3 workshops on green rehabilitation and the application of the LEED rating system to heritage buildings. Recent work includes overseeing research on appropriate energy retrofits for heritage and traditionally constructed homes, from which have been developed Fact Sheets for homeowners that are posted on the City Green and Heritage Branch website. Currently she is Acting Director with the Heritage Branch, Ministry of Tourism Culture and the Arts, Province of B.C.

Paula Kiss, B.Sc. (Civil Engineering), Nelson, BC
The Building Tree

Following 8 years of work as an Engineering project manager in Canada and abroad, Paula settled in Nelson to focus on a career in Green Building. She began to develop The Building Tree after interviews with local residents and professionals indicated that, in order to increase local adoption of green building practices, there was a need for a place where eco-minded people could find appropriate materials, designers, consultants and trades. She is now in her 3rd year of continued effort – and increasing success - towards making the Building Tree a viable green construction hub. The business works primarily to source improved materials, consult on projects, and provide shared office space and support for independent eco-minded businesses.

Jennifer Stephenson, Castlegar, BC

Jennifer Stephenson has been providing solar and micro hydro solutions to Kootenay residents for 5 years. After moving off grid and installing her own solar electric and solar/wood stove hot water systems, she decided to help others do the same. Building on her MBA, and 12 years of doing technical marketing and project consulting for IBM, she immersed herself in renewable energy education and found some mentors to help her get started. She specializes in identifying how a client’s geography, building structure, values, budget and current technology can meet to make the most effective solution for each client.

Kenton Preston CEA, LEED AP, Vancouver, BC

Kenton is an Energy Advisor certified by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) with City Green Solutions a non-profit provider of the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program.

He is also a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional registered with the Canada Green Building Council. He honed his practical renovation skills at an early age while assisting with his father’s home renovation business - straightening nails and insulating attics – which led him to later work as a trainer & manager with the big box home improvement retailers.

As a student of building science he keeps current on the newest green building technologies and is able to provide knowledgeable advice to home owners wanting to make their homes as healthy and energy efficient as possible.

Jöri Adank, Kimberley, B

Managing director of Kootenay Solar and A&A Electric with 40 years in construction, management and sales experience, Jöri studied designs of Earth Sheltered Homes in the early 70's. He worked for ARRTS SOLAR in Sacramento, California during 1985/87 in design, fabrication and installation of solar thermal & photo-voltaic systems.

Retrofitting his own home with a solar thermal (hot water) system in 2008, he believes that this is the most efficient and cost effective way to take advantage of this free energy. Jöri is now convinced that you can have a net energy free home.

Evan Little, Kimberley, BC

Learning through emersion. Seeing an interest in art, woodwork and our environment, his Father, a cabinetmaker and his Mother, an artist, both supported and instigated his early education; many hours were spent in his father’s workshop. Evan later attended the Alberta Collage of Art and Design as a Sculpture major, graduating with a BFA in 2003. As Shelter was a re-occurring theme in his art and with his extensive background in woodworking it seems a very natural progression that natural building become his dominant focus. Evan’s first experience with straw bale building was in the late 90’s in Bragg Creek AB, helping to infill some bale walls on a house his Father was building a kitchen for.

Working as a carpenter, mentored by Craig Hillman (long time teacher of the Natural Building School), during construction of the first full straw bale home in the city of Kimberley, Evan is convinced that it is a smart way to build and has been an advocate ever since. Evan now works with the Natural Building School of the College of the Rockies as an instructor, after working as a Teachers Assistant for two years in the straw bale workshops. An additional summer working with a local timber framer has increased his knowledge base and his enthusiasm for straw bale construction. Evan has also been researching the use of natural clay plasters and other natural finishes.

Brian Leeb, Kimberley, BC

Brian Leeb is an architectural technologist with over 10 years of design and drafting experience ranging from high rise condo buildings to straw bale sheds. He has taught at the College of the Rockies' Natural Building School and is the current owner/operator of Sustainable Spaces Design and Drafting based out of Kimberley, BC.

Kevin Brown, Kimberley, BC

Kevin D Brown has a varied background in design, heritage building and furniture restoration, residential and commercial construction, education program development, teaching, and habitat restoration. He has a 20 year career in historic sites, starting with furniture restoration, and leading to historic carpentry, and finally to the environmental refits of heritage buildings during their restoration. During this time, Kevin also completed a BA in History and a post-graduate certificate in Restoration of Heritage Buildings

At Haig-Brown House in Campbell River, BC, Kevin restored and presented the former home of a pioneering Canadian conservationist and noted author Roderick Haig-Brown. While managing this BC Heritage Site, Kevin served as the Project and Education program coordinator of the Haig-Brown Kingfisher Creek salmon habitat restoration project. The work on this project, in planning, ecological design and program management, inspired Kevin to obtain a Masters degree in Environmental Design, with a focus on Sustainable Industrial Design. He then worked in residential and commercial construction, building homes and businesses in Alberta and BC. Kevin is now principle of two firms located in Kimberley. Nicol Design is a design firm focusing on opportunities in sustainable industrial design for our region; greenest Homes is a design-build-furnish firm, with an interest in sustainable buildings and furniture.

Kevin has also been grateful for the opportunity to assist with the organization of this conference on behalf of Wildsight.

Craig Hillman, Kimberley, BC

At any given time, Craig Hillman might be a woodworking teacher, strawbale builder, activist, renewable energy consultant, or writer. Craig was the founding instructor of the Natural Building School at the College of the Rockies Kimberley Campus, and taught in the Timber Framing. His own curiosity about living with a smaller ecological footprint pushed him to build his own small off-grid passive solar home in the St. Mary valley. His local projects include the first new construction strawbale home in Kimberley, work on the timber framed Chamber of Commerce building, and a dozen or so small projects using heavy timber construction, straw bale, clay plaster, cob, living roofs, photovoltaic energy, solar hot water, recycled materials and adobe.

James Penner, Kimberley, BC

James is a Kimberley resident who has been involved in the Construction and Design Industries for over 20 years. Taking the Natural Building Program through the COTR expanded his awareness of Green Building, so much so that he is currently undertaking his own green renovation. When he is not occupied with building James enjoys kayaking and snowboarding with his wife.

Michael Keefer, P.Ag, Cranbrook, BC

Since his earliest days, Michael has been a student of nature, he has continued to follow this path though both his educational and career choices. Michael holds a double major BA in Environmental Studies and Geography from UVic and a MSc. in Environmental Management from Royal Roads University. Professionally, Michael has diverse interests ranging from water conservation and other broad environmental issues to his specialty area, ethnobotany, the study of the relation between humans and plants. From 1997-2005, he was the Ktunaxa Nations ethnobotanist. In 2005 he decided it was time to broaden his professional horizons and Keefer Ecological Services (KES) opened for business. KES is a rapidly growing entity and has 5 employees. The main thrust of KES is the research and implementation of projects concerned with ecological and economic sustainability. In 2000, KES has had two major types of projects, ecological restoration and botanical research. The major projects for spring 2009 are site remediation in the drawdown zones of Kinbasket and Arrow Reservoirs. The summer of 2009 will see KES involved in 4 different berry management research projects. Michael is a minority owner of the regions only native plant nursery, Tipi Mountain Native Plants.