The Now House Community Project – Collaboration Results in Greener Living

Rachel Loizos in Real Estate Trends

I recently wrote about the development of modular homes as a trend for new construction.  Add to this, more exciting news in terms of development, but in this case comes in the form of a retrofit.  The Now House Community Project is a community project to reduce energy consumption and emissions through changes in energy use and home retrofits.  Check out the ongoing progress of the project here. 

The design plans were developed by way of a think-tank or ‘integrated design charrette’ and required the proposed house to meet five key criteria: a healthy indoor environment, minimal use of resources, energy efficiency and use of renewables, reduced impact on the environment, and be affordable.

John Van Dusen owns the first Now House™, and held an open house on June 21, 2008 for the curious to check out the progress.  Once the retrofit is complete, John’s home will be open for public tours for six months. If you are looking to buy a resale home, this is a great opportunity to see where others are making energy efficient improvements.

If you have design skills to contribute and enjoy collaborative thinking, contact Work Worth Doing for design charrette services.

Rachel Loizos is an associate lawyer at Sotos LLP in Toronto. She practices in the area of real estate law.
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Comments

[Toronto real estate agent]

This looks like one interesting project. The fact that it's a community project makes it even more fascinating. As a Toronto real estate agent I think that it is through these small steps how people can be convinced of thinking more green. Making their homes into energy savers is a great way to help the enviroment. with the rising costs of energy I think that we are not far from a "revolution" in the way we think about green homes.