Energy Conservation

In addition to providing staff and volunteers with a healthy and inspiring workplace, EAC aims to be as energy efficient as possible and provide an example for home owners and businesses alike. We see this as a process with several steps, which includes both monitoring of energy use and continued improvement with time. 

During the initial renovation, we focused on improving energy efficiency through insulation to prevent heat loss, installation of a solar in-floor radiant heating system, and an increase in day-lighting as well as installation of energy efficient lighting. We have also installed a heat recovery ventilation system (HVAC) to ensure that heat is not lost as fresh air is brought into the building. Over time, we are moving towards more energy efficient computers and appliances,  to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Insulation

Energy conservation starts with reducing the amount of heat that is lost. This is done primarily by having a well insulated building and minimizing air leakage. Many older homes in Nova Scotia were insulated with straw and seaweed, with wood as the primary heat source.

Our building had blown in insulation in its exterior walls, which was done in the 1980's Despite this, results of a home energy audit, donated by the Clean Nova Scotia Foundation, showed that our building scored a 16 out of a possible 100 – with 0 being the outdoors, and 100 being a completely energy efficient, off grid building.

New homes should be built to at least R2000 standards, with walls insulated to R-20 and roofs to R-40. The R –value relates to the thermal resistance of a material. For details on insulation products and related R values, please download our table.

During the renovation process, insulation choices were discussed extensively as the range of natural products is great, but cost and local availability had to also be considered. We used a combination of materials, to achieve an R value of ~20 for all walls. We added to the existing cellulose by an additional 2 inches of Styrofoam rigid board to all exterior walls. The product we used was called TrueFoam and is manufactured in Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth. Unlike many rigid foam boards, TrueFoam does not use CFCs or HCFCs.  In areas where we had to replace the cellulose, we used formaldeyhe free fibreglass bats.

The roof had been un-insulated. We added blown in cellulose as well as TrueFoam for R-values that ranges from 39-57. Following insulation, all walls were sealed with a vapor barrier.

A second energy audit showed that we had tripled our score to receive 48 points.  We will continue insulating the basement to receive a final score upwards of 53 points.

Energy Efficient Lighting

The best way to save energy on lighting is to design a building that makes the best use of daylight. When lights are off, no energy is being used! To this end, we created ten interior windows on the east side of the building so that light could penetrate from the south and west sides into the interior of the offices. Unlike our previous office space, lights are rarely on during the day at Fern Lane.

Overhead lighting is all fluorescent.  In addition, each desk or workspace has a task light that is equipped a 15 watt fluorescent bulb. Over time, we hope to move to LED task lighting, which will use 40% less electricity than fluorescent. We are proud to be incandescent-free!