Next he took us to the administrative area. Along the way, we popped into a bathroom where he showed us the motion sensored faucets and lights. This way, no electricity and no water are wasted. In the administrative area, we were shown the offices, boardroom and the radio room for receiving incoming calls. In these rooms, there are motion sensors that detect the room’s occupancy, and turn on the appropriate system (air conditioning in the summer or heating in the winter). This is an ideal system to use for a volunteer Fire House because all of the firefighters are at work during the daytime, so the building is only really occupied when they get a call or if there is an event in the community hall. When no one is in a room, the room will stay at its natural temperature. This way, the building doesn’t need to be constantly heated or cooled, which requires lots of energy.

Then Steve took us to the community hall and fully functioning commercial kitchen. It is rented out for events such as weddings, workshops and town meetings. Their heat recovery ventilator (HRV) system is located in a storage room in the community hall area.

Lastly, we went outside and Steve showed us the wall of solar panels. There are 34 large flat plate collectors that supply the heat for hot water needs and 3 small photovoltaic panels to power the electrical needs of the solar system. We were also shown the retention pond in the back of the building. It stores storm water runoff for the fire trucks to use, as the Town of Berwick does not have a municipal water system.

We also travelled to Middleton, NS this week to do a profile on the Pilikan Initiative at the Nova Scotia Community College. There we found two other NSYCC crew members, Cora MacDonald & Matt MacDougall, hard at work documenting the construction process. They were an excellent source of information about the project, and provided us with lots of pictures we can use to create an audio tour. They had pictures taken during every step of the process since construction began. We also had a chance to film a short video interview with Dennis Kingston who is the Academic Chair at the campus. The Pilikan house will be used as a demonstration home to the community as well as a research lab for students and staff. The house has the appearance of a standard home but the walls, windows, roof, and floor are all engineered to prevent heat loss. This allows the house to be more energy efficient while still using standard heating equipment.

We met up with Dr. Kenny Corscadden, the Industry Research Chair of Farm Energy Conservation at NSAC. We recorded a video interview with him and asked questions about the building’s design intent and operation. After the interview, Dr. Corscadden took us on a tour of the NSAC’s engineering and graduate studies workshop where we learned about some of the neat projects students where working on. It was here that Dr. Corscadden showed us the grass pellet stove. Students are researching different grass materials (i.e. hay versus grass) and different sizes of pellets (i.e. pellet size versus log size). The logs did not require as much processing as the pellets because each pellet needs to be compressed individually. Students were also studying the mechanics of the grass pellet burner, all the while measuring the environmental impact of releasing carbon dioxide and particulates into the atmosphere from the exhaust. The TREEhouse plans to implement a grass pellet stove and other renewable energy systems, such as wind and solar photovoltaic, as energy sources in the future.

After the tour of the workshop, Dr. Corscadden took us on a tour of the TREEhouse. Walking up to the building, you would not think it is any different than an ordinary house. However, the building materials were chosen with the environment in mind. The wood siding is locally sourced and part of the roof is covered in EnviroShake singles made by recycling plastics and rubber. Five large windows were installed in the south side of the building to maximize passive solar gain. The inside of the house looks quite ordinary too, but those knowledgeable about the project will know that this is not the case. The house is divided into 3 different zones; each zone uses different insulations, efficient light fixtures and wall thicknesses. HOBO sensors monitor the different zones to see which materials perform the best. All homeowners should implement these “unseen” green features because they are simple choices that conserve energy and minimize the building’s environmental impact.

On the way back to the college, we stopped again in the workshop and Dr. Corscadden showed us the insulation used in the East zone of the TREEhouse. It was made out of 70% recycled pop bottles and is not irritating when it comes in contact with skin. It was an interesting product.

Back in the office this week, we developed a map of the locally manufactured products for the website. This is useful because products on our website come from all over the world provided they have green features. The map will allow users to select which types of products they are interested in, and see which ones are manufactured right here in the Atlantic Provinces. We took extra care to ensure that we used the manufacturing locations and not the sales office locations. Purchasing local products helps the environment by reducing transportation related emissions, and is also great for the local economy. We also set up a table at an event put on by FUSION Halifax and BALLE Nova Scotia on August 11^th. The event was to promote the benefits of purchasing locally designed and produced goods.

We finished up the project profile report and video editing of the TREEhouse. The video is a hybrid of a video interview and the audio tour format we perfected last week. It is a nice balance of interview style about the design intent and video with visuals of the green features. The video will be up once Dr. Kenny Corscadden approves the final version. Follow us on twitter (@AGB_Team) and we will let you know when the video and report are up on the website!
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Laura & Fin

We did some researching into methods to incorporate a google map into the product listing site and Jordan is working on getting that set up for us. We have started creating a list of product origins for the web page this week.  This list will provide the addresses where products listed on the webpage are manufactured. This is different than the purchasing locations we have listed on the web page now. We will use this data to populate a map of product origins. This map can be used by builders to find regional materials. We are about half done going through the products and expect to finish next week.

We have been preparing for the site we have planned for Monday to Nova Scotia Agricultural College’s TREEhouse in Truro, NS. TREE stands for Technology for the Responsible use of Energy and the Environment. We’ll update you on the cool green technologies it has next week so check back then!
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Fin & Laura

We would like to add new categories to the product and service database: green cleaning products and green cleaning services. We have been researching many green cleaning products and services and what sort of standards they should have to meet to be featured on the Atlantic Green Building website. Some criteria we are looking at is where the product is manufactured, the biodegradability of the product, whether or not it contains phosphates and the recycled content of the packaging. Being locally manufactured reduces the carbon emissions it would take to ship the cleaning products here. They should be biodegradable, meaning the products decompose easily through natural processes, with the help of air, sun, water and microorganisms, into more environment compatible components. When cleaning products containing phosphates go down the drain and eventually end up in a body of water, they affect aquatic ecosystems. Eutrophication occurs, which is when the addition of phosphates to an aquatic environment provides nutrients to algae and phytoplankton that allows their population to boom. They deplete the oxygen in the water and oxygen-dependent aquatic life dies as a result, this disrupts the aquatic ecosystem by decreasing biodiversity and providing niches for new invasive species.

We also took a visit to the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market to take some photos and video pans of the green features. Before we went, we made a list of everything we wanted to take a picture of to be sure we would have enough photographs. We plan to overlay the pictures with audio of us, recorded in the office to get a clean sound. The market has many impressive green features including solar evacuated tube collectors, wind turbines, a green roof, a biowall, geothermal wells, etc. A non-visible green feature of the building is how the material was chosen. One third of all building materials were locally sourced while another third contained recycled content. Materials from the original building were reused as well. Concrete was crushed and used as filling and the steel and roof deck from the original building were reused. A lot of the wood used was salvaged from the trees destroyed by Hurricane Juan. There is an elevator to the green roof, accessible to the general public. The market is located at Pier 20, overlooking Halifax Harbour, so there was quite a nice view from the green roof!
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Laura & Fin

On Monday afternoon we headed to Hubley, NS to visit the Hawkin’s House, a residential home targetting Passive House certification as well as LEED for Homes Gold certification. There we met Natalie Leonard, project designer/builder of the Hawkin’s House. Instead of generating enough renewable energy to meet the house’s heating demands, this project is trying to minimize the heating needs altogether by conserving energy. Energy efficiency really pays off as the estimated bill for heating the house is estimated at $200 per year! A big part of conserving the energy is using more insulation than a typical house and trying to stop thermal bridges from occurring. We came to observe Jordan performing a blower door test to test the air tightness of the home. The blower door test is used to identify air leakage sites during the early stages of building to be able to address these issues as construction continues. If there are too many leakage sites, heated air will leak out of the building and it will take more energy to heat the air. A plastic door temporarily seals the doorway and has a hole in it for the fan. A fan blows air either in or out of the house, which creates a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the house. Air is forced through small holes because of the pressure difference and then you are able to feel areas where air is leaking in or out of the building, it was really cool!

In the next couple of days, we edited the video for the MTRI site visit, which is ready to be uploaded to our website. We also started converting the old case studies already on the website to the new standard format for the project profiles. This way, we can identify the information that is missing for the new format and not have project managers fill out the whole form again.

In between editing and writing reports, we took a self-guided tour of the Mona Campbell Building at Dalhousie University. It is Dalhousie’s greenest building on campus. They used green technologies such as a solar wall, green roof, and rainwater-harvesting cistern to name a few. We went to take pictures for the project profile and to find out more information on the green features of the building. Luckily enough, there is a self-guided green tour of the building, available to the general public. A unique green technology they used during construction is Bubbledeck. In Bubbledeck 100% recycled plastic hollow spheres are inserted into the floor slab. Concrete is placed around the spheres, which reduces approximately 30% of the concrete needed to make the floor slab, thus saving the energy and materials needed to make the cement for the concrete.
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Fin & Laura

Some of our time was spent updating the rebates section of the website and also preparing and perfecting interview questions for the site visit we had planned. We played around with the mini-disc player, video camera and camera in the office to make sure we knew how to use the equipment for our site visits. We also began contacting some potential green building projects in the Atlantic Provinces.

The most fun part of our week was our site visit to the NSCC Waterfront campus’ Centre for the Built Environment (CBE) in Dartmouth, NS. A case study was done on this building last summer, but we wanted to record an audio tour, take some video and take more pictures for the website. Don Jardine, the Academic Chair for the department of Environmental Sustainability & Development, was kind enough to have us back again this year to update our project profile. Our NSYCC coordinator, Camaro West, also came along for the site visit. We spent a wonderful day at the CBE, exploring all the green features such as the solar panels, solar wall, Cansolair, wind turbines, green roof, biowalls (both indoor and outdoor), bioswale, etc. Don even showed us some cool new technology they have that prints 3D objects out of a sugar cube-like substance. The objects are designed on the computer using CAD software and then can be coloured and printed in 3D. It was amazing! Don emphasized the CBE’s efforts to incorporate the students working directly in building development with environmental practices. The CBE is a wonderful environment for these students to learn because they will not only be reading about these green features, they will also be researching and monitoring the green features hands on. Don was an excellent tour guide and was nice enough to answer some interview questions on video for our website. We will be editing and compiling a video to upload as soon as we can!

Our next adventure is a site visit to the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute in Kempt, NS on Monday. Stay tuned…
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Laura & Fin

After training camp was our first day in the ThermalWise office. The two NSYCC crew members that worked on the Green Building Website last summer were very organized in documenting their files, which was convenient for us! So far we have been reviewing the database to update information so that it is current. We finished going through the green buildings products so far. We have also brainstormed about some ideas to add to the website.

Jordan has been teaching us about LEED as we go and this job has been very educational so far. LEED is the only national 3rd party certification for homes and is fast becoming the standard for new commercial buildings.

Over the course of the summer, we will be performing site visits to green buildings. We plan to improve the project profiles section on the website with videos featuring an interview with the project manager, pictures from the site and an audio walking tour of the building. We would like to find green residential buildings to showcase, which is more applicable and realistic to homeowners looking to build green than green commercial buildings.  We would also like to add more project profiles from all the Atlantic Provinces and not just Nova Scotia. This task may be challenging but we do have a ThermalWise co-worker in Newfoundland that will be able to conduct interviews in that province. We developed a preliminary list of buildings we would like to profile, and will be contacting them by telephone initially. We are looking forward to this summer with ThermalWise and contributing to improving the green building website!
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Fin & Laura

In other news, BuildGreen Atlantic is shaping up to be an excellent event. Peter Yost from BuildingGreen.com and GreenBuildingAdvisor.com will be headlining the Residential Stream of the conference. ThermalWise will also be presenting on how LEED for Homes applies to larger residential projects; we’ll be using a multi-unit affordable housing project in Fredericton as a case-study. Visit the website to learn more.

Last but not least, congratulations to Sara Jellicoe for being accepted into Dalhousie University’s Architecture Program! Sara was a NSYCC crew member last summer at ThermalWise.

Project Updates
We’ve finished pre-drywall inspections on two residential projects that are targeting LEED for Homes certification: an Interhabs-built private residence in Baddeck, NS, and the Sustainable Cabin Project currently at Holland College in Slemon Park, PEI, but destined for North Granville, PEI.

Here are a few photos of the projects and a video (thanks to UPEI) about the Sustainable Cabin Project :

A private residence in Baddeck, NS being built by Interhabs.

Carpentry students at Holland College in Slemon Park, PEI, learn the fine art of cedar shingling.

Carpentry students at Holland College putting the finishing touches on a beautiful cedar shingle roof.

In short, LEED Canada for Homes is a rating system that promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes. LEED Canada for Homes is the only national 3rd party certification for green, energy efficient homes. A LEED certified home uses less energy, water and natural resources; creates less waste; and is healthier and more comfortable for the occupants. Owners of LEED certified homes enjoy the benefits of lower energy and water bills; reduced greenhouse gas emissions; and less exposure to mold, mildew and other indoor toxins.

Those interested in a more comprehensive overview of the rating system may be enjoy the following short video. While this video was produced by the US Green Building Council to educate people about the American version of LEED for Homes, it still provides an excellent overview of what it means to live in a LEED certified home. LEED Canada for Homes shares many similarities with the American version of the rating system but it has been adapted to our climate and building practices.

Working with NSYCC was a great experience because we got to learn about other environmental projects that are happening across Nova Scotia, and it’s cool to know that we’re part of a larger initiative to green our province.

We believe that the development of the Atlantic Green Building Website was a great success. Only time will tell whether its journey from here will be equally successful. Hopefully it will serve as a useful tool for budding builders and environmentalists. We hope the case studies provide inspiring examples and the rebates section provides financial incentive to motivate those who might not otherwise pursue green building. The site will continue to be maintained by ThermalWise, with updates of products and services, and monitoring of the forum for interesting questions to answer.
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Justin & Sara