Energy Retrofit Masterplan Results

When we bought our house in spring of 2007 we had only ever rented, or owned the "inside" of a house. I know that sounds odd, but the closest we'd been to ownership was our condominium of which we owned only the space up to and including the inside of the outer walls, doors and windows. So armed with only our interior knowledge we started a journey to make a greener home and, hopefully, qualify for some government money.
The time-line was this; an initial inspection; 18 months to complete whatever improvements we considered most valuable; and a final audit inspection which would determine our success, which would then translate into grant money.
In the end, we spent $1,552.64 to insulate our attic and the crawl space under the dining room, install a low-flush toilet, replaced our water heater with tankless and seal our drafty doors and windows (this amount also includes $325.40 for the two inspections).
April of this year we received $805.00 from Natural Resource Canada and last week we received $805.00 from the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.

So apart from covering our costs, the big plus from this experience for me is I now feel very familiar to, and connected to, our house. We've examined interior walls, pressure-tested everything for drafts, had pipes scraped for lead and the water tested for toxins. The foundation has been examined for weakness, our rickety chimney was removed (made redundant by the tankless water heater) and our attic is snug as a bug. So, in this particular case, breaking even is pretty good.
Now if only I could find an energy audit that will give me grant money for installing solar panels and a wind turbine ...

Hoop House Spinach in March

We took a small leap of faith when we dreamt of home-grown leafy greens, hand-picked from our own garden in the middle of an Ontario winter.

Actually, faith tempered with research, good advise, and hope.

One thing for me to quickly realize was I'd have to largely abandon control and embrace weather in ways I wasn't expecting. I found myself loving the absolutely bone-chilling days when it was too cold to snow, for during those periods the sky was so clear that sunshine would melt the ice from the outside of the plastic and the frost from the inside, allowing the house to warm.

And on the overcast days, when white drifts seemed to appear overnight, I was thankful for the insulative properties of snow and ice, effectively sealing any drafty spots. There were days so cold that birds didn't venture to the feeders; days I had to shovel a path to the hoop house door. Yet, once inside, I could remove my hat and gloves to tidy or harvest. All this with only the sun's natural warmth.Of course, there ain't nothing natural about pickin' greens in the winter, though our approach certainly was; plant hardy varieties, enclose with plastic, blanket with garden cloth and let the sun do it's work.

Which isn't to say I was willing to let Winter have it's way with my leafy greens, and it wasn't without occasional struggles.
Like that morning in December when I woke to find the hoop house largely collapsed under snow-weight, all of our greens inside still unpicked. Surprisingly, after a few frantic minutes of me in my jammies desperately dislodging snow from the roof which was now below waist level, one by one the hoops sprung back into place. The end walls had remained intact and the interior was eerily warm, having snuggled under the snow all night. That day, Lisa dropped everything and constructed make-shift supports which will surely outlast our remaining winter storms.
What I've learned about our winter hoop-house garden is that I need only embrace what will happen naturally; slow growth and dormancy, some die-off, some consumption by whatever creatures found a way in (good for them!) and our increasingly volatile weather. If I let all this happen and remain diligent with my snow removal I'm confident we'll continue to harvest our spinach and herbs through to Spring.

Instantaneous Results

Tread Lightly, and Leave No Trace.

Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly
and
Leave No Trace.

I repeat this mantra every once in a while, especially when I've judged myself harshly for being wasteful, or for taking more than my share. I have to remember that living respectfully is not about punishment or doing without; for me it's about taking control and doing my best to responsibly enjoy one fair share, one equal portion, of our earth.

In my past, while apartment and condo living, I've been frustrated by my inability to live "lightly". I was determined to make it my ability when we moved to an environment more readily controlled.

Having settled into a house (recently discovered to be built in 1940), our 2007 Energy Efficiency Assessment came with a deadline of 18 months in which to complete whatever retrofits we could afford (in dollars and time), in order to qualify for government grant money.

As the completion deadline approached, I found myself obsessing about calculations - did we spend our money wisely, investing in the improvements which will give us the biggest rebate?; if I quickly weather-strip the back door, will I get $5 more for air-tightness? I had clearly forgotten the point, my own the big picture.
Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly
Further, when we had our tankless water heater installed, I was pretty much ready to plan the holiday we could afford with the $ $ savings it would generate (Molly Johnson, who hosts the weekend morning program on CBC Radio 2, just mentioned having spent her renovation grant money well ahead of (hopefully) receiving it).

Of course, it's not as simple as hooking up an energy meter to the heater and watching the dials spin in reverse, tallying the negative calculations needed to undo my life's energy gulping moments, all the while making me a better person and validating my decision to spend more money each month to rent this miraculous invention. Whew!
Perhaps a little too much to ask of a machine.

Although I had faith in the logic of instantaneous hot water, I needed reassurance; it was time to spreadsheet our gas bills! Both our furnace and the water heater run on gas so it was necessary to cross-reference average outside temperatures to factor in variances in the amount of gas used to heat the house;
So, in spite of the fact that we used more fuel heating the house (our programmable thermostat ensures consistency), our gas bill has still dropped, suggesting less gas used to heat our water. As a safeguard, I also checked our water consumption to ensure we weren't running the tap more, waiting for the water to heat, which wasn't the case;

So, we are definitely treading lighter than we were at the same time a year ago, while still living more luxuriously than most of our global neighbours.

As much as I am happily anticipating our grant money, having spent the money as Molly did, some months ago, I am also pleasantly aware that we've achieved the real reason for undertaking the retrofit; to Tread Lightly.



Just a note to put our water consumption into perspective, as I realize I've taken only a small step toward real conservation;

At 180 litres/day, we're under our regional average of 258 litres/day (a 1999 total, which I've extrapolated for 2009 in which it will exceed 262) and well under B.C.'s average of 550 litres/day (610 in adjusted numbers). However, globally we're certainly letting the tap drip; Africa is at 47 litres/person/day, Asia is 85 litres/person/day, UK is 334 litres/person/day, and, of course, US tops the list consuming 578 litres/person/day (all numbers from 1999 stats)

Now, to Leave No Trace ...

Three Bs and an E

Bea's big reveal

Buster's bushed after opening gifts

Ben gets toasty

echos of Ella

Fairmeadow Farm Hoop House

Helping our friend Michelle at Fairmeadow Farm as she assembled her really big 20 by 100 foot hoop-house, was a good trial-run for our own hoop-house construction, though we could put 10 of covered gardens under her roof, with plenty of room to navigate!).

Not long after erecting the cover, inside and out her crops looked sumptuous, as if carved out of marzipan, obediently lined into their rows, patiently waiting for harvest.

A winter CSA is quite a different animal from a summer operation. Along with the challenges of growing with radically reduced warmth and sunshine, our weather here is unpredictable and can be quite aggressive (as we saw two weeks ago when our sudden, very wet snowfall weighed-down our hoophouse to the degree that I thought it had collapsed, though it sprung right back into shape as I removed the snow - whew!)

We've had two Fairmeadow Farm pick-ups to date and thank goodness we're proceeding with work on our cold cellar.
Potatoes, carrots, white and red onions and garlic, mixed greens, spinach, leeks and radishes, pumpkins and gourds, celeriac and herbs. Brussel sprouts and cabbage ... so far.


Michelle posts recipes on her blog (like Martha does on the Orchard Hill blog), giving information, recipes and tips for enjoying the veggies we might not otherwise serve.

Winter never tasted so good!

Our Winter Harvest, hopefully

When we bought our little house in May 2007, we had many plans, the way you do when everything seems "doable". We imagined we would keep the projects small-scale, have endless resources and energy, and accomplish anything we set our minds to.



One thing that was obvious to both of us, was our need to find a way to better utilize our south-facing back yard, which was 20% garden and trees, 30% pavement and 50% grass.

While waiting for inspiration, we set about planting perennials in any bare garden spots, and watched to see how things grew everywhere else for the rest of 2007.

Inspiration came the following February in the form of a snowy dinner visit to Orchard Hill Farm. Accompanying Martha as she "shopped" for salad greens, we found ourselves in their hoop house, snow banked-up outside the plastic walls, the earth inside warm with sprouting greens. This truly was one of those "I can do that" moments; we were both shocked and motivated.

In the following months, supported by Ken, Martha and Michelle, and armed with information (and precedents) from Eliot Coleman and his Four Season Farm in Maine, (a location which shares our longitudinal growing zone) we planned and dreamed of our own winter garden.





The hoop house concept is simple;

1) take an existing garden
2) add one air-tight, structure to contain the sun's warmth

and PRESTO-MAGICO!

3) enjoy your winter garden

Growth during the winter months will slow considerably, and the plants will eventually have to be covered within the hoop house, with blankets of row cover cloth (which we got at Lee Valley), but we should be able to have fresh greens and herbs well into the new year.

Of course, that's all theory.





I was incredibly naive in my assumption that if I could design an enclosed garden, then I could also build it, believing I was designing for engineering/construction-challenged folks like Robin and myself.

Fortunately, in stepped Lisa just when I would have despaired.




Apart from the end walls which had to be framed, and the door which had to actually open and close, I also hadn't taken into consideration the pitch of our yard for which I would have to compensate structurally.


Wind and snow loads will be tricky, and where were my yards and yards of triple-mix top soil coming from?

So, Lisa and her trailer were working overtime; we were even working by her headlights a few times.

Within days of having completed the structure, we had ordered our seeds from William Dam Seeds, which arrived in a few days and Robin was busy getting everything into the ground. One week later things were sprouting and we've been enjoying fresh mixed greens, arrugula, spinach, beet greens and cilantro.











Soon to come will be the radishes, kale and chard. We're also hoping to over-winter our rosemary, tarragon and thyme which would normally die off.





Thanks to Laura as usual and Dan for the use of his post-pounder (did I mention the re-bar used to structural support?), to Ken and Martha for all their support and wisdom, and to Michelle for showing how she "hoops" it.










And of course, to Lisa the Tool Girl for her unwavering faith that anything can be fixed with a Dewalt or a Sawsall.




Frankie says "beets - yuck"

The Wind at Our Backs - BionX

Although I am a believer in the theory of "work where you live or live where you work", I have to admit in practice it isn't always possible.

Growing up in St Thomas, I walked or cycled everywhere. I could always get to school on my own steam and even come home for lunch. To the library, movie theatre and band practice, to swimming and tennis lessons, I was independent and active.

In Toronto, thanks to a convenient public transit system and our weather-hardiness, Robin and I were able to get to and from work, shop for groceries, garden in our allotment and generally enjoy the City without a car.

Small communities are a different matter altogether, especially in a country as big as Canada.


Prepping for our move back home and anticipating the dreaded job search, I took a map of St. T and drew a circle with a 6k radius. This was the maximum I felt I could comfortably cycle to and from a job every day - a distance a little less than that which I was at that time cycling daily for work. Gladly, surprisingly, all of St. Thomas proper fell within my pencil line.



What I didn't take into consideration was home ownership; you can't bring home drywall, or a sink, on a bike. And from getting to work on snow or rain days, trips to the hardware store or garden centre, Port Glasgow or Port Bruce and dinner in London to shopping in the Covent Garden market, collecting friends from train station, and checking-in with our doctor in Toronto, there are many places you can't get to by peddling.


Blanche DuBois was onto something when she said I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.

Whether we seem sadly in need or possibly due to an abundance of positive Karmic energy, we are surrounded by amazing friends, neighbours and family who understand our deep commitment to the environment and our decision to work and live within cycling distance to most everything we need on a daily basis.

And for those times when we don't need a car but the journey length seems unmanageable, electric or power-assist bicycles are our best option.

During our research, we investigated a number of variations on the electric bike theme, ranging from a folding mini-bike with a heavy battery pack (very pedestrian) to a moped-type vehicle which manages to qualify as a "bicycle" by the cosmetic addition of pedals thereby avoiding licensing / safety by-laws (fraudulent).

We settled on an amazing product called BionX, purchased at First Cycleworks in London.

The owner was completely jazzed about BionX and quite clear that this system is all about pedaling, albeit with a little help. He had answers to all of our questions and even delivered the bikes to us. (that's right - you can't pick up your new bikes, on a bike). T his Canadian made product consists of a kit designed to retrofit your existing bike by replacing the standard rear wheel with one containing an all-weather, magnetic, brushless motor. This motor, connected to a light-weight rechargeable lithium battery pack mounted on the vertical down-tube, works to support your pedal power rather than replacing it. With the battery removed, your bike doesn't look like anything special (or worth stealing) and we were able to mount our usual trunk (crate) on the back.

As you pedal, the BionX reads your thrust exertions and can give you your choice of 35%, 75%, 150% or 300% proportional power assistance. It's like having the wind at your back, even uphill. And when you brake, the system automatically cycles into Generating mode, briefly recharging.

On our first big test, we cycled comfortably from St. Thomas to Port Stanley to Sparta and home. This 50k trek was quite a feat for a couple of guys who are more two-wheel commuters than cyclists, and it was manageable and enjoyable. Presently, we charge the battery by the conventional plug-in-outlet means, though you can switch to "G" mode while riding downhill and charge. Eventually, we could recharge using solar power.

I'm still using my old bike to make the 6k commute to and from work each day but it's great to know we can still get to the farm, even the beach, on our own steam.

Big thanks to the folks who keep reminding us why we love living here and who improve the quality of our lives by their generosity.

Now, if only I could convince them to take a ride in my Bionx sidecar ...