Special Offer for Builders and Developers in Vancouver
There is still time to take advantage of the incentive in Vancouver for installing solar hot water on new residential builds.
Currently the city of Vancouver is financing up to 50 per cent, about $3500, of the cost of installing a solar hot water system. The incentive will be available for 15 months to 50 new houses on a first-come, first-served basis. It is a partnership between the City of Vancouver, SolarBC, Terasen Gas and Offsetters, a carbon asset management company and supplier of carbon offsets. SolarBC is currently distributing the funding.
Mayor Gregor Robertson, who is a SolarBC Solar Champion has said the decision to implement the solar hot water incentive is one of many initiatives the city has achieved to green homes and improve energy efficiency during construction. But to Robertson it’s still just the beginning: "We need to broaden our overall ambition to produce and conserve energy in homes and buildings," he says. "We’re going to have to dramatically ramp up those efforts. The solar hot water program is in its early stage where we’re still testing the opportunities to best grow these efforts and produce more renewable energy in the city."
Water heating accounts for a quarter of residential energy use and, in Vancouver's climate, solar hot water systems can provide up to 60 per cent of the energy required for water heating. By replacing the energy needed to heat water in a house with solar energy, up to two tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions can be eliminated annually.
Robertson has a solar hot water on his own home, installed in 2006, and has been happy with the results both financially and as an investment into a green lifestyle. "You always know when the sun comes out from the rush of water that goes from the basement to the roof," he says."It’s a great sound in the house to celebrate the arrival of sunshine."
The solar program follows on the heels of Vancouver's 2008 Green Homes Program which requires all new houses to be 'solar ready' by installing a pipe connection between their roof and their water heater, facilitating the solar installation process.
In addition to offering the incentive, the program will monitor the performance of the systems and the annual energy savings in each home, establishing the viability of solar hot water systems and the value of energy savings for the homeowner.
Vancouver already has the greenest building code for new houses in North America. The City demonstrated leadership in green buildings through its commitment in 2004 to achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold for new municipal facilities. The development and installation of on-site renewable energy is critical towards achieving Vancouver's future target of carbon neutral new construction.