Renewables NB

The Ecoparc includes a nine- acre Acadian forest woodlot along the Kouchibouguac(Kagibougouet) River. In partnership with Vision H2O and with the assistance of a Roland Chiasson, a biologist a naturalist, educational trails have been established.

Plans call for a minimum two- acre sustainable landscaped and demonstration area.

Included will be an organic vegetable garden, native plant and shrubs, sustainable water management demonstration to mention a few of our plans.

This project has been two years in the planning.  The residents in Cormier Village have been consulted in depth as well as many consultants in energy efficient construction and representatives of the other communities in our area.

The community centre will be like no other that exists. The building will be the centrepiece of a 12-acre Ecoparc aimed at providing recreational and learning opportunities for residents of Cormier Village, surrounding communities, the Province of New Brunswick and beyond. The long term aim of our new community centre is to provide a centre for community activities while creating the basis for learning how to cope with the many environmental issues that face us, energy conservation, water management, the development of practical energy alternatives, and the general care and improvement of our local environment.

This nature centre is a 7,000 square-foot (650 metres squared) building with a passive solar design with most windows (double pane low-argon) facing south. The walls of the building are made of an insulated concrete with high R-values and a high thermal mass. The floor is a 4-inch (10 cm) floor slab and the ceiling is of a R-60 insulation. The ground-source heat pumps and the evacuated tubes use a 100-gallon hot tank and an auxiliary tank. Floors are heated with hydronic (water circulation) radiant floor slab heating and cooling divided into 7 zones. Eight 1.5-ton wall-mounted fan-coil units are used for heating and cooling. A two panel SolarSheet solar air heated is regulated by a fan motor and thermostat using electrify from a photo-voltaic panel. The building uses Energy efficient fluorescent lighting and energy efficient, dimmable LED pot lights.

A REHAU energy monitoring and management system is used to determine what energy source would be most effective at any given time.

Ecoparc Community Centre Front Entrance

Beginning of Trails

Solar Hot Water Collectors

Solar Wall from the Outside

Solar Wall, from the Inside

Interieur

Geothermal

This passive solar, 2500 square foot home is located on a scenic, south facing slope. It is located on five acres of water front property, facing the St. John River and a lake. The home has lots of natural light, with each room receiving direct natural light at some point in the year.

Though it gets too hot in the late summer at times, which is why they have added curtains to some of the south facing windows, they find it very comfortable the rest of the year. They have put their bedroom in the basement, which is comfortable year round. They also have Read more…

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A testament to the quality and durability of heat pumps. This 20-year old open-loop geothermal heat pump has provided consistent heat without any major problems during its lifetime. Four employees enjoy the warm in-floor radiant (hydronic) heating throughout the heating season. The 3200 ft² (300 m²) floors are heated to 22 °C (72 F) for most of the winter by water from a well, which is heated by surrounding rock beneath the surface, and then circulated through ten in-floor radiant heat loops, and discharged into another well. Although the store doors are opened and closed all day long, which allows for plenty of cold air to enter, the warm floors provide quality heat and comfort. Read more…

Mount Carleton Provincial Park has relied upon propane and diesel fuel to provide power to its facility, as it is too far from the electricity grid. However, in recent years, the price of these fuels has been steadily rising, leading to increasing costs for the park. As a way to simultaneously reduce long-term energy costs and meet environmental sustainability goals, the Park has decided to invest in solar energy. Read more…

South facing passive solar home

This passive solar house is situated in a residential area and blends into the surrounding mixed forest environment being adjacent to a city woodlot.

The high insulation levels of ICF (insulated concrete form) construction, R-30 to R-50, are key to the passive solar heating. The generating element of the passive solar heat is the 2 storey south wall of 80% glass made up of EnergyStar rated high performance windows with triple glazing. Read more…

3.5 kW Raum Energy wind turbine

This is the second such turbine installed in Canada. The turbine is intended to be near zero maintenance by using the latest technologies (gearless, brushless, permanent magnet), so as to be easy to operate. Read more…

This passive solar house is built in an almost rural setting within the town of St. Andrews with a view of Chamcook Harbour and Passamaquoddy Bay on the north and east side. The north to northwest side is sheltered by a grove of softwood trees. The solar face of the house is facing basically true south and is made up of 50% glass. The windows are EnergyStar rated high performance windows with double glazing. The floor surfaces are masonry heat sink absorbing materials, that store heat during the day, and release it during the night. The roof overhang is designed to keep the summer sun and solar heat from entering Read more…

HeronWood Welcome Sign

The owner has a vision of educating as many people as possible on environmental issues specifically to do with energy issues and energy independence. The owner is demonstrating that comfortable carbon neutral off-grid living is possible.

The owner strongly recommends three things before going off-grid:

1) Inform yourself beforehand of all aspects of this lifestyle.

2) Prepare to make lifestyle changes to accommodate the new way of living.

3) Finally make sure to shop around and get quotes from different companies for the equipment and the installations. Read more…