Seedy Sunday became Seedy Saturday, and the results were very positive for ReThink Red Deer and the ecological consciousness of a few hundred locals.
There were a lot of learning opportunities for attendees of Red Deer’s first EcoLiving Fair on Saturday, with workshops on rainwater harvesting, sustainable medicine, and much more.
The event, a collaboration between ReThink Red Deer and Calgary’s EcoLiving Events, joined Seedy Saturday — changed from past years’ Seedy Sundays — an open-pollinated and heirloom seed market, with workshops, booths, and opportunities for eco-collaboration.
For organizer Rene Michalak, the chance to build relationships through the green economy was huge.
“The key is bringing it all together under one roof.
The trouble most people have in taking the next step is that they’re looking at the pieces of their system in isolation, so they’ll look at renewable energy, or their garden, or rainwater harvesting, and not at the connections between them.
They’ll find a barrier to taking that next step,” he said.
One project explained at the fair that brought together different green living facets was the Net Zero Homes initiative.
Run by SAIT in Calgary in partnership with home builders, the ongoing project has built five homes which produce as much energy as they use in a year, with plans for more.
The homes, one of which was built in Red Deer in 2008, use solar panels and a photovoltaic energy system, storing the greater amount of energy collected in summertime for use in the winter.
National building targets call for one million Net Zero homes to be built by 2030.
Researcher Tom Jackman, who presented on the homes at the fair, said if people are made aware of the option, that target can be hit.
“Most homeowners aren’t aware of the option and the home building industry will build what people want.
If people don’t know what’s available, they don’t order it. It’s as simple as that.
“It’s not some far-out science fiction thing, it’s readily available,” he said.
According to Jackman, Net Zero homes are typically about 10 per cent more expensive than conventional homes to build, but offer huge energy savings.
Red Deer College, which hosted the event, will soon have its own carbon neutral house, a structure to be built in collaboration with two local builders, with students engaged in the process. The home will be viewable by the public during the summer before, when complete, it is moved out to Sylvan Lake.
mfish@www.reddeeradvocate.com