164. The EnergieSprong has sprung!
We take a look at an ambitious energy efficiency retro-fit program designed to bring all buildings in the Netherlands to a net-zero standard by 2050.
Recent Episodes
163. Skeena – Canada’s largest passive house
The Heights is an 85-unit apartment complex in Vancouver that is the largest passive house in Canada. The project is leading the way to for a zero emissions building policy in Vancouver.
162. 2016 year in review
From wind-powered cities and schools to net-zero straw-bale homes, Green Energy Futures reflects on our green energy past.
161. Social housing retrofits save real money
Ian Cullis of the B.C Non-profit Housing Association shows us how some shallow retrofits are saving big money in Vancouver.
160. Green gift guide 2016
Green Energy Futures takes the stress out of holiday shopping with this cheat sheet of green gift ideas.
159. When the levy breaks
What’s in a name? Quite a bit actually! This week, we examine Alberta’s carbon levy and the affect it will have on Albertans.
158. Workers want a just energy transition
We examine the state of the world’s renewable energy investment and meet BlueGreen Canada, an advocacy group that seeks to secure a fair shake for workers affected by the sunset of the coal industry.
157. Straw-bale 101: A tale of two homes
This is a tale of two straw-bale homes: one a standard energy efficient, environmentally friendly straw-bale home built for Nora Bumanis, the harpist for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra; and second a net-zero, super energy efficient home built by Lance and Wendy Olson at Buffalo Lake, Alberta. See how a straw-bale home is built in our video!
156. Nova Scotia has created the first energy efficiency utility in Canada
We chat with EfficiencyOne’s CEO Stephen MacDonald about how investing in energy efficiency is cheaper than just producing more power.
155. We’re feeling Rand-y about clean tech investment
We check in with Canada’s “Climate Capitalist” about the state of our cleantech startup landscape.
154. Solar Thermal 101 – getting to net-positive
Tom Jackman of Simple Solar shows us the benefits of solar thermal technology.
153. Vulcan builds Canada’s first solar park
Vulcan, Alberta, the Star Trek Capital of Canada, has built the countries first aesthetically-minded solar park. Residents and visitors alike can now soak in rays alongside a visually pleasing solar resource.
152. Leduc has the largest rooftop solar system in Western Canada
The 1.14 megawatt solar system on the roof of the Leduc Recreation Centre is the largest of its kind in Canada and accounts for fully 10 per cent of Alberta’s total solar capacity.
151. Wind farm powers 500 Alberta schools
Twenty six school districts in Alberta banded together to purchase 100 per cent renewable energy and have the Bull Creek Wind Farm, near Provost, Alberta to show for it. We talk to school trustees, the CEO of BluEarth Renewables, a farmer and a member of the Alberta Government on location at the Bull Creek Wind Farm.
150. Student white paper calls for climate change action in Alberta schools
Alberta students present a white paper on Climate Leadership in Alberta Schools to the ministers of education and environment calling for climate change to be added to the curriculum and schools to become models of sustainability.
149. Saskatchewan solar co-operative brings power to the people
On the roof of the Two Twenty building in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan are 90 solar modules comprising a 27.5 kilowatt solar system, the very first project built by the newly-formed SES Solar Co-operative, an offshoot of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. This week, it’s power to the people on Green Energy Futures.
148. Summerside smart grid uses 46 per cent wind power
Summerside, Prince Edward Island (PEI) replaced expensive diesel power with record amounts of wind power using a smart grid and simple energy storage in residents furnaces and hot water heaters.
147. Bob Chelmick’s Solar-powered Cabin in the Woods
Bob Chelmick is a former CBC news anchor who built his storied solar-powered “Cabin in the Woods” and started the ground-breaking radio series entitled: The Road Home. We visit the home of solar-powered radio this week on Green Energy Futures.
146. Iron and Earth: oilsands workers call for training in renewable energy
More than 4,000 people have signed Iron and Earth’s pledge calling for renewable energy training for out-of-work oil workers and already 450 workers have said they want training.
145. Prince Edward Island rocks wind power
Prince Edward Island, Canada (PEI) is home of the highest proportion of wind power in North America. We talk to Energy Minister Paula Biggar about how this little province replaced expensive diesel power with enough wind power to provide 26 per cent of the electricity in PEI.
144. This energy institute loves wind so much, they bought the farm
The Wind Energy Institute of Canada in Prince Edward Island helped that province integrate the highest proportion of wind power in North America.
143. Renewable energy powers Canada’s oil capital
When people think Calgary, renewable energy doesn’t usually come to mind. But dig a little deeper and it seems the oil capital of Canada is more ready for a carbon tax than many jurisdiction, thanks to investments in renewable energy the city is in a great position to save money.
142. Alberta students school Premier Rachel Notley on climate change
This past March, students from around Alberta and beyond collaborated on a white paper that seeks to influence the future of climate change education in the province.
141. Financing critical for renewable energy projects
Securing investment in renewable energy is getting easier, but banks have a few things they like to see in projects, like price certainty and long term contracts that ensure a steady stream of revenue to support the loans needed to develop renewable energy projects.
140. Saskatchewan blows the dust off its dirty electricity grid
Moving from one of the dirtiest grids in the country to 50 per cent renewable is no small task. However, Saskatchewan’s ambitions are matched by the quality of their renewable resource. We visit the Morse Wind Farm in southern Saskatchewan to see the start of the wind energy boom in Saskatchewan.
139. The first certified passive house in Saskatchewan
We visit what will be the first certified passive house in Saskatchewan, Canada. This is somewhat ironic, because the first concept passive house ever was built in Saskatchewan in the 1970s by passive house pioneer Harold Orr. Meet Harold and see this amazing home!
138. Energy efficiency coming to Alberta, at last!
This week, we visit a conference on energy efficiency that’s looking to to change Alberta’s current lack of program support for energy efficiency initiatives.
137. Carbon neutral laneway home—an innovative use of green tech!
This carbon neutral home has a solar wall, solar PV on the roof and a unique energy storage system that heats this innovative garage suite when the sun doesn’t shine!
136. Earthship living in a cold Canadian winter
How does a passive solar heated Earthship fare in the long cold Canadian winter. This week we return to a familiar place, the Kinney Family Earthship, to see how it holds up in the middle of a cold Canadian prairie winter.
135. Shining a light on solar energy myths
Aren’t we too far north for solar? I’ve heard solar doesn’t work in the cold. And aren’t solar modules only 15 per cent efficient? This week take an illuminating look at some pesky solar myths and help you sort myths from facts.
134. Biogas: Brown waste – green power!
Lethbridge Biogas takes the manure and food waste, mixes it together, heats it to 39 degrees Celsius and captures the methane to power twin 1.4-megawatt generators, producing enough power for 3,000 homes.
133. A whirlwind tour of wind energy myths
Ever hear the one about how it takes more energy to make a wind turbine than it will produce over its lifetime? This week we blow the smoke away, and delve into some of the more pernicious myths about wind energy. Bookmark this one, you’ll want to use it later!
132. Insulation 101: One builder’s secret blueprint for a net-zero home
The era of net-zero homes is upon us. These super-efficient homes use rooftop solar energy production and smaller, electric powered heating systems such as air source heat pumps to produce as much energy as they consume. But the real secret is insulation. Peter Amerongen shows us Habitat Studio’s unique formula for insulating the heck out of a home.
131. Small town energy efficiency program is simple by design
Carl Lauren, owner of Tyee Custom Homes, wanted to encourage energy efficient design in construction, but the building code hamstrung his efforts. So he helped create a rebate system that gets around the bureaucracy!
130. Green Energy Futures: Our favourite stories from 2015
2015 will go down as the year that marked the dawning of the age of the net-zero home. We took notice by preparing our four-part Chasing Net-Zero series. And we we just loved the story about Jason Rioux’s shipping container cabin, as did almost 200,000 viewers! Here are some of our favourites from 2015.
129. Green Energy: The highlights of 2015
2015 was a banner year for clean, green energy! Vancouver pledged to go 100 per cent renewable energy, the Cowessess First Nation built a wind turbine and is testing energy storage, Edmonton passed an energy transition plan and Rachael Notley the new premier of Alberta announced a plan to phase out coal and greatly expand renewable energy.
128. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Spain’s green capital is made for walking
The European green capital for 2012, Vitoria-Gasteiz is small in size but big in ambition.
127. Where are the renewable energy jobs?
This week, Green Energy Futures explores the state of the green economy
126. Solar: A community investment
Evansdale Community League goes solar and builds a more resiliant community in Edmonton, Alberta.
125. Coal phase out case study: What Alberta can learn from Washington State
This is the story of Bruce Nilles of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign worked with Dawn Farrell the CEO of TransAlta to accellerate the end of coal-fired electricity generation in Washington State.
124. Green Acres, the largest solar farm in Western Canada
This week we visit the largest solar farm in Western Canada on the Green Acres Hutterite colony.
123. Mayor Don Iveson on Edmonton’s Energy Transition Strategy
Edmonton, the oil capital of Alberta, passed its energy transition strategy earlier this year. We talk to Mayor Don Iveson about what this northern city is doing to transition to clean energy.
122. Solar training on the rise
Randal Benson has trained more than 700 electricians across Canada to install solar systems. This week we go to solar school and talk to Benson and his students.
121. SunMine: How solar is transforming an old mining town
Kimberley B.C. installed the largest solar tracking solar PV system in western Canada and it’s all part of the reinvention of a mining town as tourism City and developer of clean renewable energy.
120. Vancouver to go 100 per cent renewable
When Vancouver Mayor first ran for election he pledged to make his city the “greenest city in the world.” Now Vancouver has upped the ante pledging to make the city 100 per cent renewable by 2050.
119. Students capture the wind with TREC Education
Talk about light bulb moments, the grade 5 students at George Webster School in Toronto, Ontario are literally turning the lights on in TREC Education’s Capture the Wind renewable education program.
118. Cochrane students install solar and get new town policy permitting renewable energy
You could call it Sustainability High – since 2002 students in the Sustainable Development Committee at Cochrane High School in Alberta have raised almost $150,000 and build more than half a dozen solar, energy efficiency and green projects around their school.
117. Sustainability snapshots: How Halifax, Tallinn, Hannover and Ottawa are learning from each other to make their cities more sustainable
From super-cooled rocks to free transit, learn what cities across Canada and Europe are doing to be greener.
116. Tillsonburg: From tobacco farming to building wind turbine blades
In a repurposed auto parts factory on the edge of Tillsonburg, Ontario the transformation of the economy of Canada’s most populous province is underway.
115. Calgary’s wind-powered LRT an incredibly successful system: Nenshi
Calgary’s LRT system is one of the most successful electrified transport systems in North America both from a ridership perspective and a green energy perspective.
114. Net-zero contagious: Five mini net-zero communities spring up across Canada
Canada’s latest batch of net-zero homes is being built in Guelph, Ontario. We head to the build site to check them out up close.
113. Beyond the Tesla Powerwall: How energy storage is shaping up in Ontario
Elon Musk’s presentation on the Powerwall gave the energy storage business a billion dollars worth of free press. In Canada, Ontario is leading the way in energy storage deployment; we head there to learn more.
112. Welcome to the Octopod: An off-grid, solar powered shipping container cabin in Bobcaygeon, Ontario
Shipping container architecture has become more and more popular over the years. We check out an off-grid solar powered sea contaner cabin called the Octopod, located near Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
111. Ontario: Canada’s energy transition success story
Ontario’s energy transition — shutting down coal and ramping up renewables — is the most successful greenhouse gas reduction project in Canada’s history.
110. Location efficiency: Discovering the hidden transportation costs of where you live
Transportation is the average family’s second-biggest household expense. We learn why buying a location efficient house might just save you a whole lot of money.
109. Cradle to Cradle: Recycling’s cooler younger brother
Why changing the way we make things could change everything.
108. LEED works: How a green building rating system transformed the construction industry
LEED is everywhere but is it worth the effort? We look into the effectiveness of this ubiquitious green building rating system.
107: Geothermal 201: Hitting the geoexchange heating and cooling sweet spot
More than 100 hundred episodes after our first episode on geothermal we circle back for a follow up.
106. The $750 billion dollar opportunity in industrial and commercial energy efficiency
A new breed of startups is taking on a $750 billion dollar opportunity in industrial and commercial energy efficiency. We talk to two of them.
105. Judith Sayers, First Nations run-of-river hydro trailblazer
Meet Judith Sayers, an incredible leader who got one of the first run-of-river hydro projects off the ground in B.C. that was majority owned by a First Nation.
104. Birds, bats and wind turbines
We dive into the science and research behind the effect of wind turbines on bats and birds.
103. Welcome to the Mosaic Centre: Canada’s biggest net-zero building
Net-zero houses are almost old news here at Green Energy Futures. But a net-zero commercial building? Now that got our attention.
102. Everything you wanted to know about a kilowatt-hour but were afraid to ask
We can be guilty of using jargon here at Green Energy Futures. That’s why this episode is dedicated to clearing up two of the most common used and misused terms that come up on a regular basis.
101. Biochar 101
Titan Clean Energy Projects is a Saskatchewan-based company making a very interesting product: biochar. We visit their plant and learn more about this amazing product.
100. Banff launches the first municipal solar feed-in tariff in Canada
Feed-in tariffs have transformed renewable energy markets around the world. Now the mountain town of Banff is the first municipality in Canada to institute this important piece of renewable energy supporting policy.
99. Craik, Saskatchewan: The little Eco-Village that could
What happens when you sell unserviced lots for a dollar and get people to build green homes on the edge of a small Saskatchewan town? We find out.
98. Market snapshot: The state of electric vehicles in Canada
We check out one of the rarest electric vehicles in Canada and that spurs us to check on the state of the EV market here in Canada.
97. Ban the beehive: Why wood waste to energy is a no-brainer
Whitecourt, Alberta has a pulp mill and a saw mill. With all that wood comes wood waste. We look at how one company is turning this wood waste into something useful — green electricity.
96. Winter Cycling 101
David Dodge gets out of his comfort zone and jumps on a bike in the middle of an Edmonton winter. He learns about what kind of gear you need and how to stay warm for this fun, energy efficient mode of transportation.
95. Cowessess First Nation has the biggest battery in Saskatchewan
Energy storage is getting ready to expand across the world. We head to Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan to see a finished project and understand more about this important next wave of energy technology.
94. Energiewende: Addressing the myths of Germany’s energy transition
Germany, Europe’s largest, most successful economy, is successfully and aggressively transitioning away from fossil fuels and nuclear. We debunk some of the myths that have sprung up around this incredible transition.
93. Big Biomass 101
We head to one of the largest pulp mills in North America to check out how big biomass works up close.
92. Our favourite Green Energy Futures stories of 2014
We look at the last year and explore our favourite stories of 2014.
91. Green Gift Guide
The best gifts for the green energy or energy efficiency nerd in your life.
90. Solar air heating
We spend a lot of money and burn a lot of carbon keeping our homes and buildings warm. Solar air heating is a simple, effective and accessible technology that could help Canada reduce its heating bills.
89. Wind and solar reduce the price of electricity in Alberta
Learn how wind and solar energy are driving down prices for consumers in Canada’s most fossil-fuel-friendly province.
88. Canada’s first concentrated solar thermal plant
Welcome to Canada’s first concentrated solar thermal energy plant in sunny Medicine Hat, Alberta. Discover how “The Gas City” is adding solar and wind to diversify it’s electricity supply in a city endowed with rich fossil fuel resources.
87. Solar stocks rising
This week learn why one stock analyst thinks the future is bright for the solar industry.
86. Echohaven: An environmentally friendly, energy efficient suburb
Echohaven is a different kind of suburban development. It preserves natural landscapes, mandates energy efficient homes and guarantees solar access.
85. How to make your smart meter even smarter
Chances are the electricity meter in your home is dumb as a sack of hammers. We head to Medicine Hat, Alberta, to find out what smart meters are, and we talk to the CEO of a company that makes smart meters even smarter.
84. Integrated bio-refinery
On their own a feedlot, an anaerobic digester and an ethanol plant might not make sense but combine them and you’ve got an integrated bio-refinery where each business feeds the other in a virtuous cycle.
83. Is Alberta Canada’s next big solar market? We make the case
Solar energy may only make up 0.03 per cent of Alberta’s electrical generation capacity. We make the case that solar is a growth opportunity in Canada’s only deregulated electricity market.
82. How we built our own Earthship, a radically sustainable, off-grid home on the prairie
This is the story of how the family of Green Energy Futures’ editor Duncan Kinney built an Earthship in southern Alberta this summer.
81. Chasing Net Zero: Go big or go home
Landmark Homes is planning to have all of their homes be net-zero by 2015. Learn how net-zero is transitioning from small custom home builders to large scale companies.
80: Chasing Net Zero: Net-zero evolution
In 10 years net-zero homes have gone from government pilot project to mass production. Shafraaz Kaba’s near net-zero home is an excellent example of how we got there.
79. Chasing Net Zero: Net-zero beautiful
We look at making energy efficient, infill homes that are beautiful and also at how the location of your home can have a dramatic effect on your energy footprint.
78. Chasing Net Zero: Net-zero 101
The first episode of our four-part series Chasing Net-Zero. We dive into the history of net-zero homes and figure out you can build one of these comfortable, beautiful homes that also doubles as a mini-powerplant.
77. Classroom energy challenge
This week we follow students at Prairie Waters school in Chestermere, Alberta to seek out and destroy energy vampires, increase energy literacy and save energy in the Classroom Energy Diet Challenge.
76. An integrated ethanol biorefinery wastes not
Learn how a seriously integrated ethanol plant has become a central hub for half a dozen other businesses using its byproducts of heat, CO2, distillers grains and more!
75. Pond Biofuels: Growing algae from CO2
Taking a waste product and turning it into a resource has been a recurring theme on this show. This week learn how Pond Biofuels is taking raw smokestack gas from one of the developed world’s most carbon intensive activities, cement manufacturing, and turning it into algae.
74. Team Zeus
The University of Calgary is home to Team Zeus and they’re building an electric motorbike to race this summer.
73. Passive solar greenhouses: Producing more food with less energy
A passive solar greenhouse in Invermere B.C. is making people across the continent sit up and takes notice. It may sound ironic, but most greenhouses are not designed to harvest and retain the sun’s energy.
72. Three up and comers show their stuff at GLOBE 2014
This week join us as head head to Globe 2014 into the Grizzly Den, where 36 different companies are pitching to investors, partners and customers. We feature three out of 30 that we thought you should know about.
71. Industrial symbiosis: Growing tomatoes with an ethanol plants waste
We head to Chatham, Ontario to explore a unique partnership between an ethanol plant and a greenhouse.
70. Solar hot water 101
With cheap natural gas and cheap solar PV is solar hot water still worth it? We explore how this technology works and in what applications it makes the most sense.
69. Vancouver’s laneway homes
Come take a tour of a super energy efficient laneway home in Vancouver and talk to a builder of these tiny, fun homes.
68. Community solar: Farmers love the sun
We head to Starland County, Alberta where some very innovative farmers are working with Bullfrog Builds and the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre to build solar that pays for itself in 10-13 years.
67. Harvest Power: Energy and compost from rotten food
Learn how Harvest Power turns your rotten banana peels and other gross assorted food waste into energy and compost at their site in Richmond, BC.
66. KidWind Challenge: Getting high school kids amped about wind power
Check out 30 plus Edmonton area high school students as they build two-foot wind turbines and are judged on how much power the wind turbine produces in a wind tunnel, the design, documentation and wind energy knowledge.
65. Community solar: Meet a small town solar energy Macgyver
Community scale renewable solar is cheap and requires very little maintenance. Learn how two communities in Alberta built successful community solar energy programs.
64. Urban cogeneration
Cogeneration is a simple, effective idea – generate electricity from the waste heat from a boiler. We explore a 370 kilowatt unit powering and heating an office building in downtown Calgary.
63. The power of passive solar and thermal mass
Passive solar energy and its running buddy thermal mass give you the opportunity to get a significant portion of your home’s heat for free from the sun.
62. The massive potential of energy efficiency
Learn how the energy efficiency policy process works and how, if applied in Alberta, Canada’s biggest carbon emitter could save a ton of money and get halfway to its 2020 greenhouse gas emission targets.
61. Learn about Alberta’s $380 million green technology fund
Alberta has a carbon price and it’s collected $380 million worth of cash for carbon reduction technology projects. Learn how they’re spending that money.
60. Phasing out coal in Alberta
We talk to a doctor who knows the true health costs of coal in Alberta as well as Alberta’s new Associate Minister of Renewable Energy and Electricity on what she would replace coal with.
59. Electric bikes – An easy way to green your commute
The electric bike might be the single best urban transportation option out there. It’s super green, gets you outside, has really low emissions and can get you up that big hill without breaking a sweat.
58. The incandescent light bulb phase out is a good thing
The incandescent light bulb phase-out is akin to getting rid of leaded gas, CFCs or the Ford Pinto. It is unequivocally a good news story. Learn why this week at Green Energy Futures.
57. Energy storage: Power-to-gas and better batteries
Renewable energy produces energy when the sun shines and the wind blows, but these entrepreneurs are developing better batteries and new and innovative ways of capturing and storing renewable energy.
56. Best stories of 2013
Here are our favourite stories of 2013.
55. Green Energy Futures holiday gift guide
It’s that time of the year to sweat about what exactly you’re going to give to the people you care about in your life. Here at Green Energy Futures we’ve taken the time to come up with a short but awesome list of what to get for someone whether they’re a total green energy geek or they’re a total green energy neophyte.
54. The amazing earth tube cools office tower
Earth tubes are a simple, passive geothermal system that takes advantage of the earth’s constant temperature below the frost line. By drawing fresh air for your building through an earth tube you pre-heat or pre-cool your air depending on your needs. This saves you a ton of money, according to architect Tang Lee an earth tube system can save you up to half of your ventilation heating costs. At the Epcor Tower it saves the building $50,000 a year.
53. The cheap solar revolution is upon us
Soon solar will be so cheap it won’t make sense not to have it on your house, office building or spare building facing south. The price of solar has dropped one hundred times in the past 35 years, that’s not a typo. Learn what’s driving the low cost of solar and where and when you’ll start seeing it in the near term this week at Green Energy Futures.
52. Sun Country Highway
Kent Rathwell, the co-founder of Sun Country Highway, a company that installs electric charging stations, drove a Tesla Roadster across Canada in the dead of winter just to prove it could be done.
51. Tom Rand and the MaRS Cleantech Fund
The International Energy Agency estimates the cleantech market will be a three to four trillion dollar concern by 2020. Tom Rand is helping Canadian entrepreneurs get a slice of that trillion dollar pie through his work at the MaRS cleantech business incubator and through investing in early stage cleantech startups with the MaRS cleantech fund. Learn all about this week on Green Energy Futures.
50. Morgan Solar, a new kind of solar for the people
We profile Morgan Solar, a Canadian startup that aims to develop a cheaper to produce and more efficient solar module.
49. The Energy storage revolution!
We talk to two Canadian startups working in the energy storage space, Temporal Power, a a company making flywheels and eCAMION doing community battery storage.
48. Bullfrog Power – the story behind the cute little frog
We get behind the cute logo and figure out if Bullfrog Power is for real.
47. Rocket stoves and the rocket mass heater
The rocket stove takes our fascination with fire and bends it 90 degrees. It’s a hyper efficient wood stove that uses far less wood to get a far more effective result.
46. Biomass district heating in Sherwood Park
In Sherwood Park, Alberta just minutes from refinery row city hall, the famous Festival Place Theatre, condos, a high school and more buildings are all heated by biomass, wood to be exact.
45. Big idea: The distributed generation revolution
Ever looked at the breakdown of your electricity bill with all of its transmission and distribution charges and wondered if there was a better way? There is and it’s called distributed generation. Learn about it this week at Green Energy Futures.
44. Future of transportation Part Two
With the Edmonton Auto Show under our belt we went to check out the Future of Transpotation Symposium There we met the people who are driving and using the next generation of vehicles today.
43. Future of transportation Part One
Shiny, spinning and promising the latest and greatest experiences you can get behind the wheel of a car – when you’re at a car show almost anything is possible. That’s why we headed to the Edmonton Auto Show to get a handle on what the world’s biggest manufacturers are doing in the EV, hybrid and fuel economy space. Follow us as we talk to industry executives and dive into the numbers behind what’s next for the auto industry.
42. Car2Go: Carsharing in Calgary
We head to Calgary to explore how the car sharing service Car2Go works. With 300 Smart cars spread throughout Calgary they make their money on by-the-minute, on demand car rentals within 93 square kilometers of Calgary’s inner core. Parking, gas, maintenance and insurance are all included in the rate and you can find the nearest car with your smartphone. Check it out, this week at Green Energy Futures.
41. Net-zero evolution: From the Star Trek Enterprise to utter simplicity
It took a 45-person team to build Edmonton’s first net-zero home. In six short years since then net-zero builders are constructing cheaper and radically simpler net-zero homes. We Peter Amerongen and Simon Knight, two net-zero pioneers.
40. The grass really is greener at Lawrence Grassi middle school
Sometimes the Grassi really is greener. Lawrence Grassi that it is. It’s a middle school in the Albertan mountain town of Canmore and while not a showy building it’s 70 per cent more efficient than a comparable building and it was built on budget. Learn how they did it this week at Green Energy Futures.
39. Nanaimo: Turning waste into compost, carbon credits and electricity
The Nanaimo Regional District is home to about 145,000 people on the east coast of Vancouver Island. This west-coast municipality is turning its trash into compost, clean energy and carbon credits.
38. T’sou-ke First Nation goes all in on energy conservation and solar
The T’Souke First Nation on Vancouver Island developed and implemented a plan that slashed 75 per cent of their energy use and installed solar PV to provide clean power. It turns out it’s a lot easier to go net-zero when you drastically cut your energy use.
37. Landmark: How to make a more energy efficient home with robots
Landmark Homes builds super energy efficient homes in a factory. Not only is this process more energy efficient – it’s also about 10-12 tonnes of CO2 more efficient. The homes they’re building are understated energy efficiency lions.
36. Micro-brewed biodiesel powers bus tours in Victoria
The Cowichan Bio-Diesel Cooperative is the plucky little coop that could. In 2004 they started selling 20-litre jugs of bio-disel at the local farmer’s market. Nine years later they’re planning to produce 150,000 to 200,000 litres with a mix of corporate and retail clients.
35. Reimagine your office building – Servus did it!
When Servus Credit Union acquired an old Dell call centre and decided to turn it into their corporate headquarters it was a bit of a fixer-upper. It was a concrete tip-up building originally designed for the climes of Oklahoma 3,000 km south of Edmonton. Well, they decided to keep the building but go full-out on a creative renovation to make a better building.
34. The Nest: The iPod of programmable thermostats
Most programmable thermostats are poorly designed and beset with confusing instructions and non-intuitive press-and-hold interfaces. Enter Tony Fadell, the chief designer behind the original iPod. He walked away from Apple in 2010 and started a company that makes the Nest, a sleek new entry in the programmable thermostat that’s taking the home energy efficiency world by storm.
33. Landfill gas: How old garbage can generate electricity
Landfills are quickly becoming centres of innovation when it comes to turning what we throw away into energy. Edmonton has had a landfill gas operation since 1992 and it was the first in Western Canada to turn old garbage into a new resource. Learn how it’s done this week on Green Energy Futures.
32. UBC district heating: Low carbon Lego
The new low temperature hot water style heating system at UBC is taylor-made to integrate renewable energy systems like biomass, geoexchange, solar thermal and waste heat into a natural gas system all because the barrier for entry is lower. The bouncer at the old steam heating system was pretty strict – you had to be 190 C to get in. Now you only have to get the temperature up to 80 C.
31. Biogas: Closing the loop on cow poop
Cow poop isn’t typically thought of as a valuable resource. But with a process called anaerobic digestion that cow poop can be turned into electricity, heat, a near odourless fertilizer and and animal bedding.
30. How it works: Run-of-river hydroelectric power
More than 45 run-of-river projects have popped up in B.C. in recent years. We explore the Fitzsimmons Creek run-of-river project, a 7.5 megawatt powerplant that puts out enough juice to meet the annual demand of the Whistler Blackcomb resort.
29. Canada’s greenest building
This four-story, 60,000 square feet structure is practically a living thing. It’s a $37-million laboratory that aims to achieve LEED Platinum status, but more than that, they’re also pursuing a Living Building Challenge certification. This certification is so hard to get, there are only three certified living buildings in the world.
28. Sewer heat keep homes warm in Vancouver’s False Creek area
We head down into the sewer, not to hang out with Michelangelo and the rest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but to explore a unique district heating scheme that’s over 2.7 million square feet in Vancouver. It’s called sewage heat recovery and it’s the only system of its kind in North America.
27. Bike city – What the rest of Canada can learn from Vancouver
This week we examine how Vancouver became “Bike City” and why this is important for cities who want to reduce their carbon emissions and become more energy efficient.
26. Clean energy entrepreneurs
With more than 700 companies, the cleantech sector has emerged as a major driver of innovation and employment growth in Canada, investing almost $2 billion in research and development. We talk to Canadian entrepreneurs about can be done to ensure that Canada grows in concert with this rapidly expanding $1 trillion global clean technology industry.
25. Waste to willows
Learn how a small rural Albertan county is treating it’s waste in a more environmentally responsible fashion and growing their own substitute for natural gas. They pump the effluent from a waste lagoon into a densely planted stand of willows. Willows like moist soil, grow fast and grow easily in our climate. That willow is then chopped down every three years and can be used for wood, heat or compost. In Camrose, they’re using it to heat their main county office.
24. Our favourite stories of 2012
Join us as we dive into our archives and give you our favourite clips and behind the scenes moments from 2012. From nearly falling into the Bay of Fundy to angry anti-wind protesters we go coast to coast to coast to give you best.
23. Tidal energy 101
If Nova Scotia could get tidal energy to work right, it could power all of Nova Scotia. Discover the potential of tidal energy in the Minas Passage.
22. The greenest little campus in Canada
Université Sainte-Anne used three main ways to reduce its bills and its greenhouse gas emissions. Wind turbines to offset their electricity use and a biomass furnace and solar thermal systems to offset their use of expensive, trucked-in, carbon intensive heating oil. The best part was they didn’t have to put down a cent of their own money for the capital costs. Learn how and why they did in this week’s video.
21. The unlikely Walmart sustainability story
When you think of Walmart do a plethora of contradictory thoughts and images come into your brain? Well get ready for it to get even more confusing because the world’s largest retailer and the 19th largest economy in the world have stepped up the plate with one of the best corporate sustainability plans in the world. It’s not just planning either, they’re executing it as well. We went to their Fresh Food Distribution Centre in Balzac to get the story.
20. Nova Scotia’s community power
If you’re a cooperative, not-for-profit, municipality, university, First Nation or Community Economic Development Investment Fund you can qualify for Nova Scotia’s community feed-in tariff. This means a guaranteed economic return on any approved project and it means regular folks and not necessarily large multi-nationals get to see the financial benefits of building out new renewable energy infrastructure.
19. Sunny solar Alberta
Some provinces have all of the luck. While poor PEI has little more than potatoes and tourists Alberta gets not only the lions share of Canada’s coal, oil, gas and bitumen, it gets the best solar resource in all of Canada too. We learned this by talking to Alberta’ solar industry veterans, experts from Ontario and even the minister of environment for Alberta, Diana McQueen at CANSIA West.
18. The power of a home energy audit
When Ted Wolff decided to buy a 55-year-old bungalow in the west end of Edmonton he knew he wanted to renovate. He also knew that his home wasn’t necessarily the most energy efficient, that’s when he brought in C Returns and Godo Stoyke and they called for an energy audit. By getting an audit Wolff will be able to make the best decisions when it comes to allocating money and resources to make his home more energy efficient.
17. Light Up Alberta
If I told you you could almost double the amount of money you got from the solar energy you put on the grid would that make you more likely to get a rooftop solar system? Spark and several other small electricity retailers are betting that you will. Is this the final push that gets solar over the hump in Alberta?
16. Pumpjack powerplants
Canadian Control Works is a small Edmonton based company with a big idea. They’ve figured out how to create green electricity from the downswing of a pumpjack with a device called the Enersaver. We don’t give them much thought but each pump jack is moving 5-10 tons each time it goes up and down. By harvesting that energy oilfield operators save money and stabilize the grid around it.
15. House of the rising sun: Canadian Solar is an Ontario-based solar manufacturer
We take a tour of the Canadian Solar plant in Mississauga, Ontario. In 2011, the solar manufacturing industry in Canada was responsible employing over 2,100 people $584 million of economic output.
14. The rise of the electric car
Phil Dayson says he’s not a car guy, but he should probably clarify. He’s not an internal combustion engine car guy. What gets Dayson motor running isn’t the familiar rumble of a V8 but the smooth, seamless acceleration of an electric vehicle. Join us as Phil tells us what it’s like to own and drive the most popular electric vehicle going, the Chevy Volt
13. Solar bonds: Ethical, local investing in solar energy
“We can take a commercial roof that was previously wasted space and turn it into a generation asset which is producing clean, safe, renewable energy,” says SolarShare president Mike Brigham.
Not only that but investors get to finance these projects through solar bonds and see a healthy financial return without creating a toxic legacy.
12. Heidi Eigel: One farmer’s wind story
Heidi Eijgel has lived next to the 136 megawatt Summerview wind farm since 2003. She is happy to have these towers of clean, green power next to her home. She tells us about the noise levels, the effects on wildlife and the business and environmental case for wind energy.
11. Big wind in British Columbia
When the wind blows in British Columbia’s Peace region it’s being put to use. In the plast 4 years three large wind projects have been built in this beautiful, remote place. We explore the story of two of them, visiting one under construction and one where the community led the way.
10. The renewable energy revolution in Ontario
The German style feed-in tariff that Ontario implemented in 2009 has made Ontario a North American leader in renewable energy. Learn how they did and why other provinces need to follow the lead of Ontario.
09. How Toronto’s waterfront wind turbine kick-started a green energy revolution
When the people behind the Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative first thought up the idea of a highly visible urban wind turbine they had no idea how far it would eventually go. From this revolutionary first project grew the organizations and people who would nudge Ontario towards North America’s first German style feed-in tariff.
08. Awesome Dawson Creek: A northern oil and gas town bets big on renewable energy
Cheryl Shuman, a city councillor with the city of Dawson Creek in northeastern British Columbia considers herself a turbine hugger, not a tree hugger. She was part of the Peace Energy Co-operative a local grassroots group that developed the Bear Mountain Wind Park.
07. Green lighting 101
This week we speak to Wayne Rogers of Luminessence Lighting as we pit compact fluorescent bulbs against LEDs in the battle for efficient lighting. We also speak to Don Cherwonka of EWEL Electric Wholesalers about the amazing T8 bulb and how a lighting fixture can almost double the light with no extra watts! Bonus – we peak under the hood of one of the Phillips $10 million L-prize LED bulbs to find out how it works.
06. Geothermal 101
If you own a fridge you own the same technology used in a geothermal heating system. It’s called a heat pump and its job is to pump heat from one place to another. In the fridge’s case it pumps the heat out of the fridge to keep it cool. In a ground source heat pump’s case it pumps the latent heat in the ground into your home.
Get a more detailed explanation and check out both a residential and a commercial scale example of this energy efficient technology that takes advantage of the Earth’s constant temperature.
05. Meet Dan Balaban – Alberta’s wind energy cowboy
Dan Balaban is a genuine wind energy cowboy. In five short years this Calgary entrepreneur has gone from little knowledge about the wind business to building some of the largest wind farms in Canada.
What’s his secret? It’s in his business plan and his determination to succeed. Meet Dan Balaban in this weeks episode of Green Energy Futures.
04. Learn how net-zero home builders are building a better world
Les Wold is a part of this second wave of net-zero home builders. At 38-years-old he’s a managing partner with Effect Homes, an Edmonton based homebuilder that currently builds about 10 houses a year.
Learn about how these new kinds of homes are getting built and the simple design cues you can take even if you don’t put solar panels on your roof.
03. How Enmax is making simple, easy, low-cost, off-the-shelf solar a reality
Have you ever wanted to get solar panels on your house but were scared of the costs, time and effort it would take? Enmax, a Calgary based utility, has simplified the process for homeowners with their Generate Choice program. Simply sign up and if you qualify Enmax will handle the installation, permitting and maintenance.
Meet the people and families that have taken the solar energy plunge.
02. NAIT’s new alternative energy program zeros in on solar, wind, geothermal and more
NAIT’s Alternative Energy Program is helping meet the increasing demand for professionals to design, build, install and maintain green energy systems. A two-year program, it teaches students the intricacies of solar, wind, geothermal and even fuel cell systems.
Meet the students and instructors who are helping to create the next generation of skilled green energy workers.
01. Author Chris Turner on taking the green energy leap
Author Chris Turner is an inspiration. As a writer he has focused on real world examples of people, places and programs where the future is already here. Things like self-sufficient islands in Denmark, Germany’s renewable energy metamorphosis and the surprising results of Spain’s commitment to high-speed rail.
We speak with Chris about the three leaps we need to take to replace non-renewable energy with renewable energy in the next 50 years.
Medicine Hat’s smart energy revolution (pilot episode)
The award winning Hat Smart program in Medicine Hat, Alberta provides incentives and rebates for renewable energy and energy efficiency and has really captured the imagination of residents of this Southern Alberta City of 61,000 people. In this week’s episode Alderman Ted Clugston explains how success depends on a sexy program, a solar powered dentist shows his stuff and a home builder explains how building an EnerGuide 89 geothermal heated home is helping him build better, greener homes.
