Green with ENVI

exchangenergy wants you to gain control over your energy costs and to help you do this we’ve decided to stock the ENVI Energy Monitor.

With the ENVI you can create your own detailed electrical bill that will track where and how your electric demands work. Do a before and after experiment with unplugging your TV and Computer at the wall to see what kind of an impact that has. Check all of your appliances to see that they are working to their optimum. Try a before and after using standard light bulbs and then switch out to the energy efficient bulbs! Information is power and the ENVI Energy Monitor provides you with instant and easy to read data empowering you to make the changes necessary to put money back into your wallet. Contact us to learn more.

Yes! We are Geo Exchange experts but it doesn’t stop there.

Geo Exchange is our specialty, that is where it all began for us. That said, we’ve expanded our repertoire in the interest of walking the talk.

We pride ourselves as being heating contractors who can create custom heating and cooling solutions for the built environment. Creating custom solutions demands having access to viable technologies and alternatives. Is Geo Exchange always the way to go? NO. Is there an ideal Geo Exchange scenario? Yes. Is there ever a time where using Air Source technology wins over Geo Exchange? Yes. What about using a Daikin system? Well…what about it?

Contact us to discuss what your ideal solution might be and feel free to educate yourself on the solutions we draw upon in our services.

Download our new brochure and case study!

We’ve just completed our first round of bringing our message to the masses with our favorite graphic design firm Design HQ

Take a look at what we came up with thanks to the support of SOS design and the lovely Shaw family.

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Case-study_Shaw-LR-1

Boreale Brewery setting the bar.

While we had nothing to do with their GeoExchange system we are always inspired by those who push forward. Being a green brewery is not a new thing and the brewing industry for the most part is fairly low footprint but the folks at Boreale took a step further…Read More.

Cheers!

Ideas and Innovation at work

We’re excited to be participating in two trade shows in the month of February! The Greater Home Builders Association Members Expo and the Buildex Vancouver Trade shows are an ideal arena for us to exchange ideas and innovation with our mentors, peers and the public at large. If you are dreaming of or currently developing your own project come check us out and explore the possibilities.

Buildex Vancouver

GVHBA Members Expo

The Balance Ball theory is one we can get on board with!

This balance ball theory is not necessarily a new thing, it’s been applied in the building of many successful societies. That said, recognizing the effect our projects have on the environment as well as the economy has never been so important. Take a look at the Dockside Green project in Victoria-this project is a flagship of this design principle. OK, so they didn’t go with a GeoExchange system, that doesn’t mean we can’t like them!

Plant 500 acres…

Something to consider; installing a Geoexchange system in an average sized home is the eco equivalent to planting 500 acres of trees. Whew! That’s pretty good for a days work! Speaking of trees…

Geo Innovations-worth getting excited about!

We’re excited to be part of this growing and innovative market-check out what’s new in Geo design!
Check out the LIMA-1 from the guys at Limnion corp. Yes! A Canadian company!

This technology revolutionizes the Pond Loop/Ocean Loop application.
Can’t wait to see what else they have in store.

Incentives-Geoexchange/Geothermal, Air Source and more!

Grants

There are grants available from both the Federal and Provincial governments for folks who take the initiative to upgrade the heating systems in their homes and who choose green energy options for their new builds. To learn more about these grants visit the ecoENERGY program (Federal) and the LiveSmart BC Program (Provincial).

To arrange a home energy audit contact Home Performance or CityGreen Solutions.

Manufacturers Incentives

With Carrier Cool Cash Consumers can receive up to a $1,200 rebate on a qualifying Carrier system or up to a $150 rebate on a Carrier unit.

Lending Institutions

Slowly but surely lending institutions are creating financing opportunities for those who make the commitment to lower their carbon footprints. Here are some of the front runners in the industry:
Toronto Dominion has developed the Renewable Energy Loans program. This program allows individuals to take advantage of up to a 15 year amortization on a fixed rate loan.

Check out this link to learn more about TD’s initiatives

For retrofit projects Vancity Savings Credit Union‘s Bright Ideas Loan works in unison with the ecoEnergy Retrofit program. This personal loan is at prime+1 rate¹ for up to ten years. The low interest rate saves you money compared to a conventional loan. You can borrow as little as $3,500 or a maximum of $20,000. Learn more…

C.C.E.C. Credit Union is participating in the Climate Smart initiative and has member  groups actively pursuing alternative lifestyle choices.  “We are pleased to offer retro-fit loans and other options to help our community groups and members lower their  carbon footprint.”  Arrange a meeting to find out if C.C.E.C. works for you!

Geothermal Retrofit

Q: Is it feasible to do a geothermal retrofit?

A: Sometimes it is…sometimes not.

If you’re gutting the house, a geo retrofit is as simple as a new installation. If you’re not, read on…

The primary goal is to reduce the load. This means upgrading windows and insulation first. These costs will translate into a significantly smaller geo system which will then pay for them and save more energy than geo alone. An unimproved house with a geo system will cause the geo system to be overloaded. Remember, the primary goal is to reduce the load.

The subject should then be broken down into 2 parts.
1) Do you have forced air heating with ductwork?
2) Do you have hot water heating with baseboards, radiators or radiant floors? This is called hydronic heating.

If you have forced air heating and it currently uses electricity or gas or oil, then generally the ductwork is too small and needs to be upgraded. The reason being is that the “dead dinosaur” burning furnace would deliver heat at 140 deg F and the new heat pump system would deliver only 100 deg F. (all approx values) This requires bigger ductwork to deliver the same amount of total heat. Simple, right?

An exception might be a really old house that had a big heating system designed for single pane glass and no insulation. If the glass and insulation were upgraded then the originally large ductwork would now be adequately sized. However this house would likely have been renovated at some point and the heating system could be inadequate or dysfunctional. If the basement is unfinished then ductwork upgrades are simpler than if the basement is fully finished, blocking access to the ductwork.

If you are replacing a tired air-source heat pump then the ductwork will likely be adequate.

If you have hydronic heating and it currently uses baseboard radiators that have copper tubes and aluminum fins (they’re not radiators at all, they’re convectors) then you’re out of luck unless you replace them and probably the distribution piping too.

If you have baseboard radiators that have cast-iron fins (rare) you may be in luck except you’d probably have to add more of them to make up for the previously mentioned lower output temperatures. If you have cast iron radiators (really old school) they may work but you may need to add more of them. They’ll need to be flushed and maybe some piping upgraded too.

If you have radiant floors, they are the easiest to convert, except some older floors (and still today) were/are badly designed and installed. They required high operating temps and were not that comfortable to begin with. If the radiant floors have enough tubing and loops installed the conversion should be relatively simple.

The 2 best parts of hydronic heating conversions is that you can rip out the mixing valve that used to mix down the high “dead dinosaur” burning boiler temps to what the radiant floor requires. You can also rip out the evil chimney and the CO detector. This was so inefficient due to the high temp standby losses in the mechanical room. Geo systems operate at low temps and have little or no standby losses.

The other best thing with hydronic heating conversions is that you can install outdoor reset control. http://www.tekmarcontrols.com/literature/acrobat/p022.pdf This is a further energy saving control that has been around for more than 40 years but only works on hydronic heating. At exchangenergy we install it on every hydronic system we design.

Summing up, geo retrofits can be feasible and even have a shorter payback than a new installation if you are replacing oil or propane as the fuel source. If your home meets the above criteria then a site visit is the next step.

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