The next EcoLiving Tour is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, June 9, 2012
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The 2011 EcoLiving Tour was another great success. 25 people saw innovative technology in action. We want to thank Dave Kelly for being our bus expert and all of our site hosts for your hospitality and knowledge. Please watch the website for our next tour.
More photos of the Tour on our Flickr Gallery.
Join us on the bus and learn about sustainable building technologies, alternative energy sources and other environmentally friendly technologies.
For tickets or more information contact Judi at info@ecolivingevents.ca or call 403-874-6046.
2011 EcoLiving Tour
Tour Facilitor Dave Kelly
Tour Coordinator Judi Vandenbrink
9:00am Mountain Equipment Co-op Facilitator: Brad Clute 830 – 10th Avenue SW
Innovation in product design not only ensures high function in our gear but success in our journey towards environmental sustainability. By choosing lower impact materials and production techniques, we are working to reduce our ecological footprint on the planet. We’ve established a set of guidelines to distinguish products that use a significant sustainable initiative. We originally identified MEC-brand gear that fits these criteria. Now we’ve expanded it to include other brand partners who have proven that they follow the same guidelines.
9:45am Jamieson Place
Facilitator: Art Skow
The 38 storey Jamieson Place is based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie style and was named after Calgary’s Alice Jamieson, the first female judiciary in the British Empire in 1914. The building has the LEED Gold certification for Core and Shell representing our commitment to sustainability in a commercial environment.
10:30am Welcome to Calgary’s New Urban Village
Facilitor: Kerry Ross Green T Design kerry@greentdesign.com
The podium level of Tower Two and the adjacent Plus-15 is the site of a recent installation of a demonstration green roof, developed by Willix Developments. The installation consists of 1500 sq ft green roofs which as a display of two different pre-cultivated extensive green roof systems. The project was installed in late August, 2010 and will be evaluated and monitored over a two-three year period.
11:15am Home of Debbie & Bob
Facilitator: Tom Jackman Simple Solar Heating Ltd. tom@simplesolar.ca
When Bob and Debbie built their new home six years ago they included geo-thermal heating system. Unfortunately the geo-thermal system was undersized for their home and they found they were reliant on the back-up electric heating with its high cost and environmental footprint. An extensive upgrade to their home heating was done last year that added solar-thermal heating and a high-efficient gas heater to the geo-thermal system. The Brays also have a greenhouse where they grow their own vegetable
11:45am Child Development Centre
Facilitator: Dave Kelly Sedmek david.kelly@sedmek.com
- The largest LEED Platinum certified building in Canada.
- Highest scoring LEED certified building in Canada with
- 57 points.
- Highest scoring cold climate, LEED certified building in Canada.
- Construction cost – $23 million (Limited Budget)
- The building optimizes all passive and sustainable opportunities afforded it by the site
- The building’s innovative façade systems include radiant cooling panels that are used on the south and west perimeter spaces to offset and solar heat gain through the building envelope and lower the building’s cooling costs and requirements.
- The maximum number of windows are placed on the south wall to maximize solar gain during winter. As minimizing solar gain in the summer was a problem, the grid of photovoltaics that are also present on the south wall was employed and so serve a dual purpose. Apart from producing 65,000-kilowatts of electricity annually, they also serve as a primary shading device and help minimize solar intrusion during summer, thus reducing peak cooling loads.
12:15-12:45 Lunch at Brentwood Mall
1:00pm Jigsaw Homes
Facilitator: Cory Kreiger cory@jigsawhomes.ca
The purpose of this home is to offer a High Performance (in this case a near-zero energy, Energuide 88) home at no additional cost to a conventionally built home in the same neighbourhood. In this case the neighbourhood is Killarney and most new infill homes are selling for between 700 and $750,000.00. Our home is priced at $719,000 and it will qualify for a $10,000 rebate from the Government. While not inexpensive it is one of the first homes (we believe) in Calgary at least to achieve a combination of performance with relative affordability. We are looking to build a similar performing home in Echo Haven at a price point of about $600,000. So we are on the right path.
2:00pm Discovery 4 House Avalon Master Builder
Facilitator: Ryan Scott Ryan@AvalonMasterBuilder.com
Discovery 4 House, our second entirely net-zero house in Calgary and fourth demonstration house, will serve as a blueprint for Avalon Master Builder’s future energy
efficient construction. The Discovery 4 House relies entirely on its own extensive solar and other renewable power systems to produce as much or more energy as needed annually. Many of the green features showcased and tested in our Discovery homes have become part our standard specification package. Emerge Homes, a division of Avalon Master Builder, are truly different. We’ve created a unique environment that offers eco- friendly living, without forsaking the style and imaginative design that you wish for in a new home.
3:00pm Return to Mountain Equipment Co-op
Here are some highlights of the 2010 EcoLiving Tour:
Home Haven Bed & Breakfast 1204 – 29th St. NW
Green reno, high efficiency heating, solar water heating, drain water heat recovery, and solar electric – The ultimate green renovation.
The EchoHaven Demonstration Home Rocky Ridge (completed September 2010)
The EchoHaven Demonstration Home is one of the homes in CMHC’s national EQuilibrium Sustainable Housing initiative . This home will be a net zero home meaning it will produce at least as much energy as it consumes.
Bow River Weir & Constructed Wetlands
The objective is to eliminate the dangerous condition created by the current structure and develop a design that is suitable for downstream passage by small boats and improve fish passage.
Jigsaw Homes SW Calgary (Altadore)
This house is one of Jigsaw’s HIGH PERFORMANCE- ENERGY EFFICIENT homes and has many innovative green features.
The Brama Project SW Calgary (Marda Loop)
Designed to produce more energy than it uses annually, the Brama Project (LEED Platinum targeted home) is an inner-city exercise in resource efficiency.
Climate Change Central
This office space contains: natural lighting, fabrics with no toxic material, low flow toilets and showerhead, certified wood – a renewable resource, eco-efficient carpeting made from recycled materials and installed as tiles so can replace a small area at a time and maple veneer reception desk made from salvaged logs.
View details in the Itinerary (
280 KB) now available for download!
About EcoLiving Tours
The EcoLiving Tour was created in 2002 to showcase practical solutions adopted by creative citizens in order to reduce their engery costs and reliance on the Earth’s precious resources.
Hop on the EcoLiving bus and be transported to various locations in the Calgary area, guided by a knowledgeable facilitator. A host will greet you at each location to show the technology in use and will answer any question you have. Each tour will travel to different locations.
You might see: Alternative engery sources such as solar, geothermal or wind; green building technologies: water saving devices; water wise gardens; and other useful ideas to help you make positive changes to your homes and businesses.
Witness these unique technologies in a working setting and learn how the investment has paid off for the owner. The Tour is a great opportunity to address your questions and concerns – and perhaps produce new ideas.
The EcoLiving Tour’s objective is to demonstrate that innovative energy saving and environmental friendly technologies are accessible to everyone, including you!
The 2009 EcoLiving Tour participants viewed:
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Eco-Friendly Landscaping
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Skystream 3.7 Wind Turbine
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Photo Voltaic Roof
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Solar Air Heater and Solar Light Tube
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Insulated Concrete Forms and Geothermal
Download the EcoLiving Tour 2009 Info Sheet (
150 KB) for the 2009 EcoLiving Tour for details.
Thank you to the Pembina Institute who supported the 2009 EcoLiving Tours by way of Carbon Offsetting their recent Carbon Capture and Storage Forum and donating $1,000 towards the tours.
2008 EcoLiving Tour
The 2008 tour was a great success! 2008′s tour focused on: unique buildings, PV solar, thermal solar, energy/water saving devices, and more.
June 2008′s Tour featured:
- Memorial Drive NW R2000 home, insulated concrete form construction, solar thermal project, with heavy emphasis on passive solar gain. This site will show participants a blower door test.
- Echo Haven Rocky Ridge Crescent NW Calgary’s First Eco-logical master planned community
- Nine Plex affordable housing unit Macleod Trail SW Calgary’s first Energuide rated multi-family development
- Calgary Water Centre – gold rating of green building environmental standards, as outlined by LEED™ designation. Green Roof and water collection system
- Kerfoot Crescent Home (construction phase) – Heat recovery ventilation system, condensing boiler, Insulated Concrete Forms, and Thermal Solar & Spray foam Insulation
- Climate Change Central – environmentally friendly office space.
A green roof - Bridgeland Community Centre
Solar panels on the recreation centre in Okotoks