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Savings by Design: $60 power bills for this South Surrey Home
It’s been said that necessity is the mother of all invention, and when it comes to building passive homes one can also often throw in the words: ‘intention’ and ‘innovation’. Why? When we set out with an intention to be sustainable in our home building ventures and work with like-minded companies, the innovative results often surpass our expectations.
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To create this innovative prefab passive home in South Surrey, three generations of the same family came together with Marken Design and Consult in Vancouver in search of a common goal: to build a beautiful, comfortable home that could sustainably house all three generations. They worked closely together to produce a plan that ticked all the boxes on their wish list.
Energy Conservation is Key
With passive homes, the number one priority is energy conservation. Passive homes use up to 65% less energy compared to a traditional house. The passive house standard seeks to reduce a building’s energy consumption for heating and cooling by up to 90%. Passive homes are extremely well insulated and virtually air-tight, creating an environment where constant temperature fluctuations aren’t creating the need to heat, cool, and repeat the process each time the door opens!
The Results?
This multi-generational family saved untold amounts of money (and precious resources, talk about reducing your footprint!) by building just one home instead of three. The proximity of grandparents for childcare, healthcare, and more can’t be overstated. But the most stunning results are in the numbers: in a year and a half, they haven’t had to turn on the heat once. And, um, the power bill is $60 per month. Yes, just $60 to power an entire home.
And the Award Goes to…
All of this sustainable beauty didn’t go unnoticed. The city of Surrey awarded this home with not one but two New City Design Awards; the Clean Energy City Excellence Award: outstanding & innovative contributions in energy efficiency & conservation, and the New City Design Award of Merit: individual architectural excellence. So three cheers for sustainable home dreams!
Joy Wood
Joy grew up in the natural beauty of the North Okanagan, nestled near the foot of the Monashee Mountains. Hailing from a family of home builders, both the environment and home construction became closely intertwined in her youth. Today, she and her builder hubby are raising their family in Vancouver, where she avidly follows the current sustainable construction trends as the city aims for the title of ‘Greenest City’ by 2020.
