With worries about the environment rising world wide, Canada is frequently criticized on a political level for not eagerly signing on to international standard agreements.That being said, all hope is not lost in our country. In fact, Peterborough is the home base for a group called “Endeavour” which plans to build Canada’s “greenest” home this summer, right here in town.The home will not only strive to meet the highest level of LEED building standards (platinum), but to go beyond them.The team of students working on this home will even work towards building the home to meet the requirements of the “Living Building Challenge”. This will be the first building in Canada to make this achievement.
Considering building materials, waste management in both construction and function of the home, and the quality of the home, students are working with a team of experts to learn and gain hands-on experience for practical green building solutions. The Endeavour program seeks to prove that green housing can in fact be a practical reality for families.Even more then proving to people today that such a feat as the greenest home in Canada can be achieved, Endeavour wants to teach how to build a green future.
There are several important components involved in this project, all to create a deep and meaningful education for the participants in the five month program. Not only will they plan and build this home, they will also document the building process and the environmental impacts on an online blog.This helps to promote not only a sense of importance and accountability but public transparency. With the hope that this program and the few others like it can create and support interest in green homes in Canada and around the world, the home will be put up for sale when the program is complete, with proceeds going to help offset tuition costs for the program. There is also hope that the sale of the home on an open market will signal to other builders the interest that exists for this extremely high level of environmental standards. It will be interesting to watch as this process moves ahead, and furthermore as the program moves ahead to hopefully continue creating green living solutions in our Peterborough community.