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Cedar Green Home Uses Advances in Technology
Terry Voysey built a 3,500-square-foot green home on his family's Cedar Road farm, which his father bought in 1963.
The technology he chose to reduce the energy and water consumption in his new home represents some of the best advances in home design, everything from the heat pump that uses outdoor air to warm the home to the tankless water heater that eliminates the wasteful habit of waiting for faucets to pump out hot liquid.
Byron Gallant, one of the brains behind the Cedar home design, highlighted a grocery list of energy-saving innovations at the Voysey home, including a natural gas fireplace with no pilot light and wider walls that retain more heat, but the two most significant improvements are the heat pump air source and the tankless water heater.
The heat pump air source draws heat from the outside air into the furnace system, which warms the house in the winter. The system is similar to refrigerator design, only reversed, Gallant explains. In summer it can be used to cool the home.
Access to hot water immediately after turning the tap is another highlight, especially when considering the energy saved from not having to perpetually heat a water tank. Gallant's team of workers installed a tankless water heater, which consists of a network of coils that instantly heats piped water.
Simply flick a switch on the wall and turn the tap; instant hot water with no waste and at least 50 per cent savings to the water bill. Learning green construction designs has been a bit of a learning curve, but Gallant's company has made the shift and will only take on projects that meet standards of Green Built B.C., a voluntary program that ranks energy efficient homes from bronze to platinum.
For Voysey, he's doing it for the planet.
"We've messed this world up for far too long and it's time we did something about it," he said.
