REEP House for Sustainable Living

For a more details of the REEP House Renovation click here to go to treehugger.com 

REEP HOUSE IS the Residential Energy Efficiency Project's latest initiative to inspire Waterloo Region residents to invest in healthier homes and sustainable living. By transforming two side-by-side Century homes in downtown Kitchener into (slightly different) models of energy and water efficiency, our goal is to demonstrate that smart -- and profitable -- renovation choices are ripe for the picking.

By tracking the energy, water, carbon and bottom line savings that result from these two elaborate examples of green re-construction, we will show homeowners, property owners and tenants how and why they should invest in the deepest, highest value retrofits available to them. We believe that people need to be able to stand inside and evaluate an amazing finished product in order to be informed, inspired and convinced.

A HUGE, INFLUENTIAL, COMMUNAL EFFORT

REEP House is a community project with local partner participation, as well as funding from foundations and other levels of government. Hatched in 2006, the project represents a collaboration between a highly-accredited team of science-based designers and University of Waterloo brains, and a network of contractors, technology vendors, realtors, property appraisers and bankers, all guided by a committed, innovative, green-minded architect.

The homes themselves are owned by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and will be used for regional housing when the project is complete.

Meanwhile, the REEP House for Sustainable Living will act as a hands-on showroom for demonstrating an array options, benefits, costs and impacts of home energy and water conservation measures, as well as for exploring products, appliances and strategies to consider installing in your own home or building. Guided tours take place at 20 Mill Street, the first Century brick home in Waterloo Region to be completely retrofitted to near net zero, and the first to share its resources with the public.

REEP HOUSE AND WATERLOO REGION

Using the current ecoENERGY program, Waterloo Region's homeowners are averaging a 25 to 35 percent energy reduction in their older homes. There are 43,000 homes in the region that were built before 1960. Many of these have plaster lathe walls with no effective insulation. The heat loss and cold wall effect are equivalent to leaving the front door wedged open two or three inches all winter.

If all of those homeowners could be convinced to reduce their energy use by 50 per cent (the same $25,000 retrofit as we've completed at 24 Mill Street), 750 million kwh of electricity would be conserved, the equivalent of 850 railway cars' worth of greenhouse gas emissions would be saved annually, and $1.3 billion dollars in local economic activity would be generated by the effort.

REEP Waterloo Region-How to Renovate

REEP HOUSE FOR Sustainable Living is not rocket science. Our goal is to make it easier for homeowners, property owners and tenants to invest in the very same economic and energy gains as we did by retrofitting REEP House. 

We'd suggest you start by creating a Sustainable Home Action Plan, so you can crunch the numbers on every potential retrofitting option available to you, from insulation materials to furnaces to finishing touches.

Once you're ready to get more specific about the shape, size and cost of your home or building upgrades, REEP House's Green Retrofitting Workbook will help solidify your plans and products.

Please also read some articles about our green renovation strategies, which were developed while re-constructing 20 and 24 Mill Street from top to bottom, inside and out.

We can also connect you with all the contractors, ecoENERGY advisors, lenders, realtors and appraisers you'll need to get your own renovation project off the ground. Likewise, get the facts on grants and tax breaks, or browse our list of helpful links about renovations techniques and green building issues and companies. 

TheRecord.com - Local - Old house gets green rebirth

Terry Pender
RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER

An old house once slated for demolition will instead become a model for sustainable urban living.

The objective is to transform 20 Mill St. into a house that produces as much energy as it consumes. In the lingo of green buildings, this is called a net-zero structure.

Waterloo Region acquired this property years ago to make way for a street extension. Since those plans were abandoned, the region has leased two old houses -- 20 Mill and 24 Mill -- to the Residential Energy Efficiency Project, known as REEP. This non-profit environmental group usually inspects people's homes and shows them what can be done to reduce energy consumption. Since 1999, the group has done more than 8,000 home visits.

But now it will use 20 Mill St. to showcase the latest technology to save and produce alternative power, said Julian van Mossel of REEP said.

"It's pretty neat," van Mossel said. The house is more than 80 years old. Reusing existing buildings is a key feature of sustainable cities. "Our goal is to take this old house and show it can be energy-efficient and environmentally friendly."

This Saturday, the group holds an open house at 20 Mill St. Tours of the house start at 1 p.m. At about 1:45 p.m., a public meeting will be held in the nearby Joseph Schneider Haus on Queen Street so anyone interested can offer suggestions for the renovations.

Fundraising and design work will dictate the pace of renovations, but the group hopes to have 20 Mill open as a model of sustainability sometime next year.

Graham Whiting, the designer of the project, said this will be the first net-zero house in Waterloo Region and one of the few in Canada. "It is a relatively new phenomenon. It is an interesting goal, not easy to achieve in an old house," he said.

The sun, wind and heat from the ground could be tapped as alternative energy sources. Rainwater will be collected and reused. New insulation will be packed into the walls.

Energy-saving lights, wiring and appliances will be installed. The parking lot and driveway will be covered in a porous material to let rainwater soak into the ground. A small vegetable garden will also be planted, and there will be composting.

REEP will lease 24 Mill St., which will be turned into the group's offices. The project can be tracked at the group's website at reepwaterlooregion.ca.