January 10th, 2006

Here is the short version of what’s been going on with the Eco-Sense project.

As of February 1st our new address will be 3295 Compton Road and we can be found at the top of the very long driveway living in a very small home with a very large yard. Our 27ft trailer will be our home until the completion of the Straw Bale home. The Kids, and Gord and I are all looking forward to this move with excitement and a bit of apprehension about the big change. The trailer has bunks for the kids, front bedroom with queen bed for Gord and I, a full bathroom with small tub, a living area with dinette and couch, a kitchen with big fridge, four burner stove, oven, microwave, and double sinks, outdoor shower, pullout tarp, and a furnace. As comfy as this sounds, we will plan on doing a lot of outdoor living in this spectacular natural garden. Spring promises to bring an abundance of wild flowers and birds to the incredibly diverse 8 acres. We are also looking forward to the addition of a new family member once we are established on the property and have applied to the SPCA for the adoption of a puppy. For a Christmas present to the family Gord spent a couple nights (while he was sick) hand sewing a very fuzzy dog bed which Emily and Parker tested and declared suitable.

The Septic system will be completed the first week of February and our trailer can be fully hooked up. There is also power and water available which makes this initial set up much smoother.

Much of our stuff will be sold prior to the move as there is just no room in the trailer. The sale is set for this Saturday (January 14) 10am to 3pm at #33-1311 Hillside Ave. There will be lots of free stuff too. Whatever doesn’t get sold will end up being given away.

Gord has taken the week of Jan 30th to Feb 3rd off. This will be a very busy week. We have to be packed up and moved out of the fully cleaned townhouse by 1pm on the 31st. Gord’s brother Dave is storing lots of our personal stuff for us and this has helped a great deal.

During the first week of February we are also building an 8×12 shed to set up as a den for the family. This will serve as our office and extra play area for the kids. It will have a small loft as well to accommodate guests. This den will be hooked up with power, phone and high speed internet. Life for the internet addicted will go on. It should be quite cute inside with an oak desk, filing cabinet, book shelf for books and toys, and a loveseat which comfortably seats the four of us. Should be very cozy. This summer we will likely set up our big 6 person tent for the kids to play in. A kids dream…camping all summer.

The month of February will be very busy with our initial set up and the foundation work for the house and workshop. Much of the buried infrastructure is already in place and saves much time and expense. We hope to get the load bearing straw bale workshop completed first so that Dad will have somewhere to move his workshop when they sell the home in Port Moody. This is a huge move for my parents and they have their work cut out for them moving after 34 years in one home.

This spring will be spent with engineers, designers, building inspectors, etc for the construction of our post & beam straw bale home. See the attached drawing from my Dad. He has spent many hours changing and redesigning our home to accommodate everyone and all the unique systems. This home will require very little heating as it is facing south, will be super insulated, have a rock wall inside to provide the thermal mass, and have radiant solar hot water heating in the earthen floors. We are designing this home with both a 12vdc and 110vac electrical system to maximize energy efficiency. We will have a 12 vdc chest fridge, shared 12vdc freezer, and shared water and power efficient 110vac washing machine. Our cooking stoves will be the only propane appliances. Other systems will include rain water collection and filtration, composting toilets, greywater re-use systems, and of course lots of solar panels and eventually a wind generator.

There has been much talk lately about Net Zero Emission Housing. This new program was initiated by the CMHC (http://www.cmhc.ca/en/News/nere/2005/2005-07-20-1000.cfm). There is also a new Canadian organization (NZEH) dedicated to promoting net zero homes. This means that the entire energy consumption (heating, cooling and electrical) of a net-zero energy home can be provided by renewable energy sources. (see http://www.associations.cc/nzeh/index.htm) Something we have started to talk about here in Victoria is the concept of creating a Net-Zero Zone which mirrors this new program. This type of home would have minimal dependence on municipal infrastructure and would receive municipal tax incentives.

We are hoping to incorporate as much used and salvaged building materials as possible in our demonstration home. Where used is not possible we will be choosing greener products. If anyone has anything lying around that they think we might be able to use please let us know. We can pick it up or you can drop it off …(but only after Feb 1st). We are willing to pay for this stuff but free is good too. Anything that we can’t use will be donated to the ReStore in Victoria where it will be used or sold with proceeds going to building affordable housing.

In order to deal with all this recycled material and move it around we will need a small to mid sized pick-up truck or old van. If any one has one for sale in reasonable shape for under $2,000 give us a call. Once we locate a truck we will need to sell our Mazda protégé. It’s in great shape, single family owned (mom and dad and me), and has about 240,000km on it.

This latest news can also be found on our webpage at www.eco-sense.ca. The Eco-Sense page is still very basic as we have not had time to have it professionally written. If anyone knows someone who may be interested in taking on this web page please let us know.

That’s all for now and please feel free to stop by for a visit.

Ann, Gord, Emily and Parker