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Kelowna welcomes ‘net-zero’ home to the public

It is the second net-zero house in Kelowna
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Kelowna’s newest energy efficient ‘net-zero’ home is open to the public for the next six months to bring awareness to the benefits of an energy efficient home (Photo - Mullins Drafting and Design/Facebook)

Kelowna residents have the chance to learn about the next generations of homes over the next six months.

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, the Wilden Living Lab, along with the Okanagan College trades program, additional trades that worked on the house, FortisBC, and the City of Kelowna introduced a fully-built net-zero home.

A net-zero home is one that is fully energy-efficient, making it better for the environment and takes less of a toll of climate change. They use renewable energy to generate as much energy as the house consumes. For example, one of the many features of a net-zero home is solar panels, which use energy collected from sunlight.

Many companies and organizations came together to build this home, including the Okanagan College trades program. All the students and the Dean of Trades was in attendance for the ribbon cutting of the new home.

“With the opening of this new house, there’s so many great short and long-term impacts,” said Okanagan College President Neil Fassina. “What were doing here has application everywhere. What were dealing with here is being dealt with literally around the planet.”

The ribbon-cutting of the newest net-zero home in Kelowna (Photo - Jordy Cunningham/Kelowna Capital News)

Many other trades companies who also want to get involved in this new technology were also in attendance to learn more.

“There’s an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions locally and globally,” said FortisBC Director, Conservation and Energy Management Danielle Wesnick. “The building industry is under immense pressure as we look at how to we decarbonize cross sectors. It’s not just transportation, it’s not just industry, buildings have an important role to play.

FortisBC started their energy-efficiency programs back in 1998. Wesnick added that the goal is to have all new buildings be built in the net-zero by 2032.

‘This is among the first and it’s certainly not going to be the last,” added Wesnick.

The house started construction in 2016 and is the second net-zero house in Kelowna. There is also a fully net-zero apartment building in West Kelowna called Carrington View.

This home is located at 215 Echo Ridge Drive and Kelowna residents are going to have the chance to look at it and learn about its advantages for the next six months. From Nov. 20 to May 18 (expect Fridays), the house will be open to the public from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. as a way for people to become educated on the importance of net-zero housing.

More information can be found here.

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jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com

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Jordy Cunningham

About the Author: Jordy Cunningham

Hailing from Ladner, B.C., I have been passionate about sports, especially baseball, since I was young. In 2018, I graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree
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