By Cheryl Evans
REEP House for Sustainable Living has transformed a drafty, 105-year-old energy pig into to a state-of-the art showroom for energy and water efficient upgrades.
Located at 20 Mill Street in downtown Kitchener, REEP House provides free, hands-on tours and do-it-yourself green renovation workshops for the entire community. The website and Green Retrofit Workbook, funded in part by the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation, provide a virtual connection to all things green.
With information in hand, and a growing community of supporters, REEP House demonstrates that in the long term, green renos not only save water and energy, they are also an excellent financial investment.
The Green Retrofit Workbook (GRW) is an innovative piece of software that puts all of the green retrofit decision-making information required into the hands of people on the front lines of green building. Homeowners and contractors input existing data about a home into the GRW to generate a model of its present energy and water consumption rates and associated costs.
It then allows clients to enter their renovation wish list and generates a report that calculates the cost, payback, and resource savings generated by undertaking each item on the list.
By analysing the long-term resource and cost benefits of green renovation, the software aims to inspire renovators across Canada to reduce their energy and water consumption rates by up to 90 per cent and to put thousands of dollars into people’s pockets!
REEP House was built by the community. More than 11,000 hours of labour, 85 contractors, an 11-member design committee, 13 major funders and 28 donors made the transformation possible.
REEP House now builds community. Since we opened our doors only a few short months ago, we have welcomed more than 1,000 visitors. Onsite and on the web these people connect with each other. They are inspired at REEP House and move forward to undertake exciting retrofit projects with the help of local contractors and lenders. Those people then pass on their knowledge
and spread the word about REEP House, and so the REEP House community grows.
Please feel free to book a visit with us at REEP House to use the house as it was intended, as a hands-on learning centre and community meeting place. We are now open for regular tours, workshops and also have meeting rooms available. Or drop by for a virtual visit any time!
For rates and availability please contact Cheryl Evans at info@reephouse.ca or 519-603-0323.
Cheryl Evans is REEP House Outreach Officer
