Canada’s 1st Eco-Home Interpretive Centre Launched with Innovative Eco Homes
Alberta home builder debuts Canada’s most comprehensive and flexible green home building program

September 24, 2008, Calgary, A.B. – Lifestyle Homes, an innovative builder of quality homes, announced today the opening of the Elements Eco Home Interpretive Centre.  The Centre is Canada’s first eco-home building interpretive centre and was built to launch Elements – the most comprehensive and flexible green home building program in the country.

The Centre will be open to the public on September 27 and it showcases the latest technology and trends in sustainable home building. It has been designed to educate home buyers and visitors can browse the interactive displays that explain the features and benefits of everything from high-tech geothermal and grey water systems, to alternative insulation and clay wall coverings.

“At the moment, we need to educate home buyers on the environmental options available to them. That is the primary function of the Interpretative Centre,” John Groothius, vice president of operations at Lifestyle Homes, says. “The Interpretive Centre will show people what can be done and it demonstrates the future of green home building.  Making green home building accessible for the average person is the challenge right now - but it’s a challenge we’ve met with Elements.”

The Eco Home Interpretative Centre has been built by Lifestyle Homes in front of two of its Elements homes. Elements is a new green home building program being launched by Lifestyle Homes.  With standards that exceed those of the Canadian Built Green certification program and a package approach that is scalable depending on the home buyers’ budget, Elements is the most comprehensive and flexible environmentally sustainable home building program in Canada.

Using the latest environmentally sustainable technologies and home building practices, Elements creates eco-friendly living without sacrificing style and design.  

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The Elements Eco Home Interpretive Centre is Canada’s first eco-home building interpretive centre. It has been built into two show homes and is designed to educate home buyers. Visitors can browse the interactive displays that explain the latest technology and trends in environmentally sustainable home building.

“We’re proud to be taking a big step forward in providing environmentally sustainable homes in a flexible and comprehensive manner that will encourage more people to adopt green home building practices,” Groothius says, “The Interpretive Centre and Elements will show home buyers what options are available.”

The Elements home building program has four packages based on each element: Water, Air, Earth and Energy. Water provides a practical approach for using less water in the home and includes everything from insulating hot water lines to rain barrel conversion kits to grey water systems. Improved air quality is the focus of Air, which provides UV light treatment in the ductwork to kill bacteria, built-in HEPA filters in the ventilation system and a sensor-controlled garage fan that removes harmful vehicle emissions.

The Earth package revolves around reducing the use of natural resources. This includes insulation made from recycled products, carpets composed of recycled materials and building practices that result in only two pounds of waste per square foot of developed space for each Elements home. Energy is focused on reducing energy consumption in the home and offers everything from motion detectors to automatically switch off lights to geothermal heating and cooling systems. 

To be accessible to all home buyers each component offers three different levels of packages to fit all budgets. 

More information on Elements is available at the Online Media Centre for Lifestyle Homes located here: http://dhzmedia.ca/page863.htm

Elements also looks beyond the home and outside the Interpretive Centre there is an example of a Xeriscaping, a water conscious form of landscaping not widely used in Alberta. The Elements Interpretive Centre is one of the few places to see Xeriscaping in action in Alberta.

The two Elements homes constructed as part of the Interpretive Centre incorporate features from the sustainable home building program. The first home utilizes the features in the Earth package including alternative insulation made from recycled materials, recycled interior paints, and carpet produced from recycled pop cans - all without compromising on luxury and style.

The second house showcases items from Element’s “Air” package to produce a home that provides a clean and healthy environment. HEPA filters and UV light treatment keeps allergens and bacteria out of the air and low to no volatile organic compounds (VOC) are used in paints, glues and floor coverings. Visitors can tour the homes and see the technology in action after visiting the interactive interpretive centre.

Town of Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine says, “As a leader in sustainable development, the Town of Okotoks is making broad and comprehensive choices that recognize a strong reciprocal relationship between the environment and community development. Lifestyles Elements Eco-homes is an impressive illustration of how innovation and responsible environmental stewardship can benefit our community. On behalf of the Town, I would like to thank Lifestyle Homes for bringing this project to Okotoks.”

The Elements Eco Home Interpretive Centre is open to the public on September 27 and is free of charge.

ENVIRONMENTAL HOME BUILDING FACTS 

• The Elements Energy package provides the option for Geothermal heating and cooling systems
• Geothermal systems are more than three times as efficient as traditional furnaces
• Installing a geothermal heating system in a typical home is the environmental equivalent of planting 750 trees, or taking two cars off the road
• Elements uses cellulose insulation which is made of 80 per cent recycled newsprint. The fibre is chemically treated with non-toxic borate compounds to resist fire, insects and mould
• If all new homes in North America were insulated with cellulose more than 3.2 million tons of newsprint would be kept out of landfills
• The Elements Air package combines HEPA air filters and UV light treatment
• A study by the Air & Waste Management Association found the combination of a HEPA air filter and UV light treatment reduced bacteria by 80 per cent in a 3,072 cubic foot chamber
• Buyers of a Lifestyle home can choose an option that provides a Xeriscaping consultation
• Xeriscaping can lead to water savings of 30 to 80 per cent over traditional landscaping Elements utilizes environmentally sustainable interior design techniques throughout the home including recycled paints and reclaimed hardwood floors
• Click here for more facts

Lifestyle Homes

Lifestyle Homes is an innovative builder of quality homes. For 10 years, under the direction of principal Ron Bird, they have built luxury homes with family friendly prices. Never compromising on quality, Lifestyle Homes has received the Golden Hammer Award from the Alberta New Home Warranty Program for never having an unresolved issue with a home buyer in 10 years. Its attention to detail and commitment to offering homeowners the very best continues with the new Elements eco homebuilding program.  

dHz Media                                             dHz Media
Scott Henderson                                    Matt Stuart
+1.403.921.2001                                    +1.403.229.9219
scott.henderson@dhzmedia.ca               matt.stuart@dhzmedia.ca

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