When Ronn Lepage, a chartered accountant, went into early retirement in May of 2009, it wasn't because he was finished with his career path.
"I wanted to do something different," he said, explaining his decision to enroll in the Masters of Science in Environmental Strategy program at the University of Saskatchewan.
His thesis, which he hopes to complete by next spring, is on building green homes, specifically net zero homes - houses that produce as much energy as they consume in a year, a growing trend worldwide.
"The next question was could we do it cost effectively," said Lepage, explaining the typical cost for a net zero home is around $300 to $400 per square foot.
As a result of his thesis work, Lepage founded his own company, VerEco Homes Inc., and, together with designer Rob Dumont, a team of engineers, architects and builders and in partnership with WSE Technologies, set a goal to build a net-zero home with a cost of only $120 per square foot.
"It's quite a lofty target to set," said Lepage.
Although they weren't quite able to meet that goal, they came fairly close with a final cost of $128 per square foot for their ready-to-move unit.
The unit is currently on display at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon, thanks to $100,000 in sponsorship by SaskPower, assistance from the City of Saskatoon and the contributions of over 25 local sponsors.
"When the WDM found out we were doing this, they got excited about it and agreed to set it up as an exhibit to show people across the province that you could do this," said Lepage, adding the exhibit is Canada's first net-zero home exhibit.
"The beauty of something like this is I can have an impact," said Lepage, adding the exhibit does four tours per day and also has a school program and expert talkers on the subject of energy conservation and waste reduction.
The VerEco Home has a number of green features, including grey water recycling, photovoltaic solar panels, superior insulation and LED lighting and is compliant with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an internationally recognized third-party certification program.
Besides meeting the requirements for LEED certification, the VerEco Home has attained the highest four levels of certification, Platinum, which rate buildings based on areas such as carbon dioxide emissions reductions, energy savings, water efficiency and reduced impact on the environment.
Lepage explains the VerEco Home will reduce greenhouse gases by 33 tonnes per year, save 40,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year and reduce water use by 800 liters per day for a family of four.
"For 50 years, that's over 14 million liters," emphasized Lepage. "It's a significant achievement that's easy to do."
He explained the house features rain water capture off the roof, which can catch 800 gallons of water per one inch rainfall, as well as a number of water-reducing strategies such as restricted shower heads.
"Water is a very important resource, but if you're using hot water, you're also using energy," said Lepage.
He also said many of the features in the VerEco Home can be employed in current households.
"This is something everybody can do, we've just got to get doing it," he said. "People just have to wrap their heads around it."
Besides offering three different styles of houses - the VerEco Home, VerEco Cottage and VerEco Urban models - pre-built or as a kit, the company is also planning a retrofit program for people who want to incorporate some of the green strategies in their current houses.
"Probably 90 to 95 per cent of these things can be done in an existing home," said Lepage, adding he had originally planned to roll out the retrofit program in 2012, but do to increased demand is speeding up the timeline.
The VerEco Home, which has already been sold, will be on display at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon until Sept. 30, and anyone with a membership to the North Battleford WDM can view the exhibit for free.
For more information, visit www.verecohome.com.
