Building it ‘green’
Impact reduction—Finding ways to limit the environmental footprint of new constuction is not only the right thing to do, says Ross Clouston, who is overseeing the Tsawwassen Springs development, it is also an expectaton of many buyers these days. Part of the 'green' features at the golf course development is using geo exchange technology to reduce power consumption to heat and cool homes.
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The way new home construction is done today—especially in large developments—involves being much more wary about impacting the environment than ever before, says Ross Clouston.
Clouston is overseeing construction of Tsawwassen Springs that when completed will place 437 new homes on the Tsawwassen Golf and Country Club property.
Clouston says not only are environmental measures the “right thing to do,” they are aspects many buyers have now come to expect from a new home. That’s why Tsawwassen Springs is being built to attain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver status.
To achieve that the project is employing numerous technologies including geo exchange to reduce power consumption to heat and cool homes.
“It involves driving pipes 250 to 300 feet down into the ground to use the energy from the earth,” Clouston says.
A liquid circulates through the pipes, drawing heat from the ground in the winter and reversing the flow to send warm liquid below ground to be cooled.
The result is a system which can provide 85 to 95 per cent of home heating and cooling energy needs.
In addition, there will a pair of electric-powered cars for the use of residents for trips into Tsawwassen or further afield. A computer controlled irrigation system will reduce water use on the golf course. And the construction process will use sections prefabricated on site, a method expected to reduce material waste by as much as 80 per cent.
editor@southdeltaleader.com
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