Rethinking Lifestyle

The news is that the City of Steinbach will be updating its 41-year-old building bylaw. This seems a necessary thing to do, but what should be considered in this update. Our contention is that a good building code today will facilitate and mitigate for energy efficiency and energy savings.

There was a time when few people gave much thought to the harnessing of solar energy. We humans have long been aware of the power of the wind, and have found ways of harnessing that power, but solar – not so much. Along the way we discovered oil and natural gas. I well remember growing up in a home heated with wood harvested from the local bush. Then we installed an oil burning furnace, and the fuel truck came around periodically to fill our storage tank with heating oil. This was considered progress: discontinuing the use of a local, renewable energy source and substituting a non-renewable energy source transported 1,500 km. Why did we do it? Because it was convenient and economical.

Given what we know now about energy, isn’t time we put that kind of thinking to rest?

The use of solar panels, whether for the generation of electricity or the heating of water is increasing all over the world. Travelers to Europe, China, the USA and even Ontario report that they are seeing more and more roof top solar installations. We are seeing more solar panels here. Travelers north on Hwy 12 can’t miss the solar array at the Ste. Anne municipal office. Manitoba Hydro has had an aggressive program of promoting the installation of solar panels, but unfortunately this program has now been terminated.

Wherever solar panels, for water heating or electrical generation, are being installed today there is an element of anticipating the future. Depending on how you do your calculations, the installation may make economic sense today, but at best, the economic benefit today is small. However that could change quickly. Think about it – it would not take much to disrupt our energy supply, whether from Alberta or northern Manitoba, and we would be facing much higher energy prices. How likely is it that we will continue to have low, stable energy prices for the next ten, twenty, thirty years – for the life of a house being built today?

But most people are not ready to install solar panels. I think we have to accept that. This is why I am proposing something more modest – simply that the revised building bylaw include an incentive to build houses in such a way that solar renovations can be added easily – when the time is right.

Our current housing stock will be with us for many years. Chances are that the world energy picture will change greatly before today’s house is ready for the wrecker. So isn’t it time we begin to anticipate that future in how we build houses now? Isn’t it time we begin to discount the price of a house we consider purchasing, because it will not lend itself to solar renovation?

Fortunately, constructing a house with the appropriate orientation has only a small bearing on the cost of the house in most situations; nevertheless, this orientation will make a huge difference down the road when a solar retrofit is sought. The case is often made that we cannot afford the costs associated with protecting the environment. This cannot be said here.

So our city is updating its building code. This is the time to incorporate such thinking into the code. Building to this standard is known as Solar Ready construction. Ontario and BC already encourage cities to modify their building code to encourage solar ready construction. Many communities have followed this lead. In the US, California has been a leader in the development of the solar ready concept.