Winners from the first-ever Built Green BC Awards were announced last weekend and among them was a home from Tofino.
The Eco Rain Forest Retreat, which is also the first Timberframe to get a LEED platinum certificate in Canada, won the “Highest Rated Built Green BC” award. Seven awards were presented to the companies who demonstrated leadership in building environmentally sustainable homes, and John Yap, minister of state for climate change, provided the gala’s welcoming address.
The Tofino home was built by Alpine Timberframe & Design, which is based out of Brackendale, B.C. (between Vancouver and Whistler). The house is about three kilometres from Tofino, near Chesterman Beach. It features low-e argon windows, high efficiency lighting features, an air-tight building envelope and a highly insulated roof system.
Other features include geothermal heating, programmable thermostats, a heat recovery ventilator and the roof harvests 75 per cent of the rainwater and stores up to 1,600 gallons for toilet, laundry, outdoor shower and irrigation use.
The roof also has a conduit and wiring for solar panels and has low volatile organic compounds paint for its solid surface flooring. With all of the sustainable upgrades to the home, it has achieved an 86 Energuide energy rating system score.
Built Green is a voluntary program within the industry promoting environmental and sustainable initiatives. There are 300 registered Built Green BC builders in the province with 1,200 within the program.
Since Built Green has been around, about 3,000 homes have been enrolled with a combined reduction in 7,400 tonnes of greenhouse gases each year, or an equivalent of taking 2,200 cars off the road.
For more information about Built Green visit www.builtgreencanada.ca.
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