g LOCATION
Choosing
Where You Live
1
Green
neighbourhoods
Buy a home in a neighbourhood close to
work, transit, shopping, community centres and other services.
2
Transit-oriented
density (TOD)
New, compact, complete green neighbourhoods
are being built with transit as their focus. Instead of owning a car, join a
car share cooperative, take transit, cycle or walk.
3
Lower
Cost Luxury
If it’s features such as a gym or pool you
want, buy a strata unit with these amenities and share costs.
4
Score
your location
Walkable neighbourhoods offer health,
environmental, financial and community benefits. Enter your address or the
address of a home you want to buy at www.walkscore.com. This tool
calculates a walkability score based on the home’s proximity to transit,
grocery stores, schools and other amenities.
g HOME IMPROVEMENT
Heating
and Cooling
5
You
choose, you save
LiveSmart BC offers a variety of incentive
and rebate programs.
6
Install a
high-efficiency heating system
Make sure it’s ENERGY STAR rated.
7
Weatherize
your home
From windows to doors to insulation
and weather stripping. Don’t forget to seal your ducts.
8
Insulate
your pipes
It will prevent costly heat loss. Here’s
how.
9
Insulate
your hot water heater
Buy a pre-cut jacket or blanket for
$10–$20. You’ll save up to 10% on heating costs. Learn more.
10
Install a
programmable thermostat
Set it lower at night and during the day when
you’re away. Lower the temperature. Each degree below 20C saves
you 3-5% on heating costs.
11
Clean
your furnace filter
This optimizes performance.
12
Get the
most from your fireplace
Here’s how to make it
efficient.
13
Use
curtains
In the daytime during summer, close to help
cool your home. Learn more.
14
Install
ceiling fans
The energy it takes to run a fan is less
than an air conditioner. In summer, make sure the fan’s blades are rotating
anti-clockwise for a cooling effect. In winter, the fan should be running
clockwise, pushing the warm air down. Learn more.
15
Use an
electric fan
Skip the air conditioning. On hot summer
days, place a bowl of ice in front of a fan to cool down.
g WATER
16
Fix
leaks. Fix leaking taps
One drop per second equals 7,000 litres of
water wasted per year. Learn more.
17
Install a
filter
Stop buying costly bottled water which adds
to the landfill.
g LIGHTING
18
Change
your light bulbs
Lighting accounts for 15% of your energy
bill. Replace old bulbs with ENERGY STAR rated bulbs. Check for rebates.
19
Motion
detector lights
Turn lights off outside when not in use.
20
Keep it
dark
Light pollution is an increasing problem.
Turn off outdoor lights to save energy and encourage night life such as bats and
frogs. A single bat can eat tens of thousands of mosquitoes nightly. If you
have safety concerns, use motion detector lights – which come on, only as
needed.
21
Holiday
lights
Use LED lights.
g KITCHEN
22
Replace
your fridge
An old energy guzzling fridge costs you
about $85 a year to operate. Replace it with an ENERGY STAR fridge. BC Hydro
will rebate you $50. BC Hydro will also not only come and pick up your
old fridge free-of charge, they’ll give you $30.
23
Replace
your freezer
Buy an ENERGY STAR appliance and BC Hydro
will rebate you $25.
g BATHROOM
24
Low flow
shower
Hot water accounts for 25% of your energy
costs. Showers can be the largest single contributor to overall hot water use
in a home, accounting for 15% of total household energy use. Save with a low-flow
showerhead.
25
High
efficiency or dual flush (you choose the amount of water used) toilets
These are now required in new homes because
of water savings.
g OFFICE
26
Use smart
strips
Also known as power bars, this lets you
power off all equipment at the same time.
27
Buy
energy smart electronics
Buy energy smart electronics and save.
28
Recycle
your old electronics
Here’s how.
g YARD
IMPROVEMENT
29
Conserve
water
Fresh water comprises just 3% the world’s
total water supply, so conserve. Get a rain barrel and harvest water you can
use in your garden. Local governments such as Vancouver and Richmond will
subsidize the cost.
30
Drip
irrigation
It saves water compared to sprinklers.
31
Elbow
grease
Don’t power wash your driveway. Sweep it or
use a scrub brush and pail.
32
Less lawn
Lawns waste water. Instead conserve and
beautify using indigenous plants such as ferns, tiger lilies and hostas.
33
Grow your
own
How much more will you spend on food this
year? Even a few miniature fruit trees and a small vegetable garden in a raised
bed or in containers will help keep you healthy and save you dollars. Lettuce,
spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and blueberries thrive in our
climate. Here’s how.
34
Preserve
your produce
Invest in home canning jars and equipment
and a small freezer and enjoy your produce year round – at considerable
savings. Here’s how.
35
Bee
friendly
We need bees to pollinate, so get a
few plant bee-friendly annuals such as asters, marigolds, sunflowers, zinnias;
or perennials such as clematis, foxgloves, hollyhocks, roses or shrubs such as
Buddleia.
36
Go
chemical-free
“Get rid of weeds without using chemicals
that harm us and our pets,” advises REALTOR® and Richmond City counselor, Derek
Dang, who led the way to a bylaw banning cosmetic pesticides. His suggestion,
“Use dish detergent or weed by hand.”
37
Plant
fruit trees
They’ll give you shade and fruit. Plum,
apple, pear and more.
38
Compost
It will make your garden grow and
divert waste from the landfill.
g GREEN AND CLEAN
39
Clean
green
Vinegar, baking soda and lemons clean as
well as expensive, chemical-filled cleaning supplies for a fraction of the
cost.
40
Green
Laundry detergent
Use phosphate-free, biodegradable
detergent.
41
Upgrade
your washing machine
Replace your old washing machine with an
ENERGY STAR washer that gets clothes clean using cold water and BC Hydro will rebate
you $75. Wait until you have a full load instead of washing clothes as you
need them. Clean your lint trap after every use.
42
Install a
clothesline
Dryers use a large amount of energy.
43
Get a
rack
If your neighbourhood or strata prohibits
clotheslines, buy a small drying rack.
g LIVING GREEN
44
Recycle
Recycling keeps materials that can be
recovered (paper, glass, metals, plastics, food etc) out of the landfills; and
in the case of organics like paper, food, yard waste, it significantly reduces
greenhouse gases from landfills. Learn more.
45
Buy local
Buy local, organic and fair
trade food. Your
food doesn’t travel long distances, you support local farmers and the local
economy and you consume less pesticides.
46
Don’t use
paper or plastic
Use cloth bags when you shop or reuse your
plastic bags.
47
Backyard
chickens and bees
Become involved in your own food
production, raise chickens for their eggs or bees for their honey
in your backyard.
g FINANCING
48
Borrow
green
Most financial institutions offer “green”
mortgages, including:
• BMO
Eco Smart Mortgage offers home buyers preferred interest rates on
qualifying green properties.
• RBC
Energy Saver™ Mortgage gives home buyers a $300 rebate for a home energy
audit and preferred interest rates.
• Vancity
offers a Bright Ideas Home Renovation Loan at prime +1% to home buyers
and owners making green renovations.
• CMHC
offers a 10% Mortgage Loan Premium refund and possible extended
amortization for buyers purchasing an energy-efficient mortgage or making
energy saving renovations.
49
Loan
program
Pay-as-you-Save (PAYS) loan program will help home
owners and businesses finance energy efficiency improvements through a loan
from BC Hydro or FortisBC. Pilot programs starting in November 2012 in certain
BC locations.
g RESOURCES
50
Green
Tool Kit
BC Real Estate Association’s Green Tool
Kit provides information, references and links. It also provides
comprehensive information on rebates and incentives.
Source: Real Estate Board of Greater
Vancouver December 2013
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