Enviro friendly homes

[blue_lotus13]

I am working on a story about green home construction and found out that a program which certifies and determines homes as green was started in Alberta. The program has since spread to British Columbia and possibly Saskatchewan.

Home owners can make choices about how to design their homes using recycled materials, energy efficient appliances and heating systems, etc. You get a level of points based on what you choose and it's all third party certified, which is great for resale.

I was just surprised that this was all created in a province known for its poor environmental track record.

Comments

[more-bjorn.livejournal.com]

Alberta is really, really weird in that respect. I did a fair amount of research on Canadian greenhouse gas policy right before Kyoto was ratified, and Alberta was definitely keen on subverting the terms of the Protocol because of the oil and gas industry (and, to a lesser extent, because the electricity in the province is overwhelmingly supplied by fossil-fuel fired thermal plants).

However, this *also* meant that the Klein government was keen on making all of these interesting changes at the margins to "prove" that they were doing something about the problem and to steer the argument away from the Athabascan oil sands. In some cases, they were actually taking more action on things than Ontario and Quebec!

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

Life in Alberta is much, much better under Stelmach.

[asteroidbelt.livejournal.com]

edmonton was also the first city to have blue box recycling!
alberta is weird.