Green Building 101 Resources

This page is under continual development as we add resources and case studies related to our Green Building 101 workshop (click HERE for registration details).

Grants, Incentives, & Rating Systems

• GVRD Incentives--A useful list of GVRD Financial Incentives on their BuildSmart site
• EcoEnergy Grants for Residential Property Owners--Government grants for improving the energy efficiency of your home.
  
• LiveSmartBC Energuide Incentive Program--The province of BC will be offering an incentive of $150 towards having an initial D evaluation completed on your home as part of their new LiveSmart program. The incentive will be tied into the current federal ecoENERGY program to encourage home owners to reduce their energy consumption.
• CMHC Mortgage Loan Insurance--A 10% CMHC mortgage loan insurance premium refund may be available when you use CMHC insured financing to purchase an energy-efficient home or make energy-saving renovations.
• BC Hydro Fridge Buy-Back Program--BC Hydro will pickup and recycle your old, inefficient second fridge and give you $30 for it
• LEED Rating System
• BuiltGreen Rating System
• R-2000 Rating System
• Vancity Bright Ideas Loan--Grants range from $3,500-$20,000 at a reduced rate of interest. To qualify, you need to make renovations recommended by an EnerGuide for Houses evaluation of your home.
• Vancity/Real Estate Foundation Green Building Grant--Each year, the program provides one or more grants up to $50,000 each to qualified recipients. Total annual grants are a minimum of $100,000. Applications are accepted from charitable organizations, not-for-profit organizations or co-operatives
• VanCity Cashback--The VanCity credit union provides a cash reward of $170 for energy efficient home renovations recommended by an EnerGuide for Houses evaluation. The renovations must achieve at least a five-point improvement in the EnerGuide for Houses rating. The $170 value is intended to cover the cost of the EnerGuide for Houses evaluation; your renovation must cost $3,500 or above.
• RBC Homeline Plan®--RBC has a green home renovation program offering: a $300 rebate for all new RBC Homeline Plan® clients towards a home energy audit, a chance to win $25,000 towards a home retrofit project, and educational tools to help customers better understand the financial and environmental benefits of an energy retrofit (provided in partnership with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

Case Studies

• Renovating for Energy Savings: Common Additions
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Pre-WWII Homes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Post War 1 1/2 Storey Homes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Post-60's Two Storey Homes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: 1960s or 70s One-Storey Homes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Split-Level Homes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Split Entry Homes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Mobile Homes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Duplexes and Triplexes
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Row Houses
• Renovating for Energy Savings: Homes without Walkout Basements
• Innovative Buildings: Koo's Korner
• Innovative Buildings: Homes for Tr'ondek Hwech'in Han--Flexhousing in Dawson City
• Low Impact Housing: Irwin House
• Low Impact Housing: Ketchum House
• Low Impact Housing: Homes without Heating Systems (Sweden)
• GVRD Case Study: Silva--Resource, Rethink
• GVRD Case Study: The Hanvey House
• GVRD Case Study: Koo's Corner
• CMHC Case Study: Toronto Healthy House (website)

Fact Sheets and How-to Guides

• An Introduction to PhotoVoltaics
• Energy Star Purchasing Guide
• BC Hydro: Recycling your compact Flourescent Light Bulbs
• Portland's How to Green Your Home Guide
• Identifying the Most Energy Efficient Products
• Light House's Carbon Checklist
• BC Hydro Appliance and Lighting Calculator--The Appliance Calculator can give you a quick and easy rundown of the energy used by your appliances or systems, gas and electric.
• BC Hydro Online Home Analysis--an interactive tool that helps you save money by determining where you can save electricity. It's free to use and only takes about 30 minutes to complete.
• BC Hydro: Powersmart Tips--covers lighting, appliances and home office, water heatig and saving, thermostats and ducts, home heating, AC, and structural information
• BC Hydro Net Metering FAQs--BC Hydro's Net Metering program is designed for customers with small generating facilities, who may sometimes generate more electricity than they require for their own use.
• CMHC Healthy Housing Fact Sheets--Includes information about bathrooms, kitchens, attics, landscapes, basements, mechanicals, exteriors, and interiors
• CMHC Renovation Fact Sheets--Covers aspects from Garden Suites, Canada's Construction System, Hiring a Contractor, renovating your kitchen, bathroom, and more
• CMHC Healthy Highrises Fact Sheets--A comprehensive guide into the innovation, design, and construction of High-Rise residential Buildings
• Learn to Love your CFLs--This article from SHARED-VISION provides some practical tips on how to use CFLs without sacrificing warmth and ambience.

Green Building Links

• Greenworks--Vancouver Green Building Store
• BC Sustainable Energy Association
• GVRD Buildsmart Directory
• David Suzuki Foundation
• Light House's Directory of Service Providers (unavailable - currently being updated)
  
• Helen Goodland's Tips--Light House's Executive Director shares her personal green building ips (Word Doc)
• BEES Software--A free software tool for selecting environmentally preferred, cost-effective building products.
• Green Affordable Housing Coalition--Offers useful resources, tools, incentives and case studies.
• Brighton Earth Ship Information--Earthship Brighton was the Low Carbon Trust's first project and was the first Earthship to be built in England.

Education

SEI (Solar Energy International)

• SEI offers hands-on workshops and online courses which focus on solar, wind and water power and natural building technologies. Please visit: http://www.solarenergy.org for more information.

BCIT

• BCIT offers courses on Green Roofs (GROW 0001, GROW 1000) and a home improvement series which features four courses for those interested in small-scale residential design and improvement (BLDG 0001, BLDG 0004, BLDG 0009, BLDG 1008)

Langara

• Environmental Stewardship--enables participants to evaluate and meaure energy savings, advance energy efficiency and renewable energy in new and exisiting buildings, participate in emerging business opportunities and more.

LEED

• Professional LEED Accredidation--$250 USD for CaGBC members & $350 USD for non-CaGBC members

Doulgas College

• Building Environmental Systems (BES)--training for economic competitiveness, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability. 15 courses to choose from.