The Western Development Museum is well known for showcasing the past.
But in its latest exhibit, the Saskatoon museum has taken a different tack by displaying alternatives for the future.
A zero net energy home is on display for the next year to show how buildings can be designed to produce as much energy as they use.
The 1,200 sq. foot VerEco Home, which opened Oct. 27, was designed for Saskatchewan’s climate and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 tonnes a year and save $4,000 per year in energy costs compared to a home built using minimum construction standards.
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VerEco Homes president Ronn LePage said it is a good fit for rural Canada.
“If they’re concerned at the cost of bringing in natural gas, which in some rural applications is very expensive, this is a good alternative,” he said.
“Although it uses electricity, because we’re using so little of it, it’s a good alternative to investing in natural gas hookups…. I think our rural community is much more attuned with being environmentally friendly than probably most of us in Saskatchewan. I think they naturally look for opportunities like this and understand the importance of having a home that doesn’t contribute badly to the environment.”
SaskPower contributed $100,000 to build the home to raise awareness of new energy efficient technologies.
The home includes photovoltaic solar panels, grey water recycling, passive solar design, LED lighting and a super insulated building envelope.
Rob Dumont, chief consultant on the project, said farmers will understand the advantages of a zero net home quicker than urban residents.
“I know farmers really understand the importance of the sun and the wind. They know that the south facing fields are ready a little quicker in spring. They understand the climate a lot better,” he said.
“We had at the beginning of the project an integrated design process where we tried to make sure that all of the elements going into the home were integrated and not just a grab bag of disconnected components.”
This allowed them to choose the ideal design while keeping costs down.
“We’ve tried to cherry pick the best ideas from other projects around the world to make this a good project.”
He said a lot of the available green technology may over engineer a home. The VerEco designers wanted to keep it simple.
“We tried to buy local where possible,” he said.
“That’s part of making a design that is not only a one-off, but can be replicated in the future.”
Dumont said homes are already solar heated.
“If you think about it, the temperature on Earth would be -273 C without the sun being present. So the sun is already a major factor in our homes. A home like this, we’re trying to get that last bit of energy from energy conservation and then applying solar energy.”
He said Saskatchewan’s harsh climate is an ideal environment to champion the zero net home.
“The tourism people never say this, but less than one percent of the people in the world live in as cold a climate as we do here. It’s very important to design for that climate. That’s what we’ve done,” he said.
“If we can do it here in Saskatchewan, it can be done almost anywhere in the world because we have such a major heating load in this province.”
LePage said zero net technology could also work on buildings around the farm.
“I was actually involved in designing a net zero dog kennel, which was a lot of fun and we were able to do it quite cost effectively,” he said.
Facts from VerEco Home:
•The human body emits about 100 watts. That means that for each person in your house, you are getting the equivalent heating of a 100 watt furnace
•The average Canadian house uses roughly 150 gigajoules of energy per year for heating, water heating, lights and appliances
•The VerEco Home uses only 34 gigajoules a year and this energy is provided by alternative sources
