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Good Green!
DESIGNING PRACTICAL & FASHIONABLE HOMES
» Thursday 15 May 2008 | 4:30 pm
» Hanna's Lounge, 1392 Water Street
An informal afternoon hour showcasing the people and ideas featured in Okanagan Home. Join us as interior designer Vicki Gerrits, builder Eric Gerrits and writer Dona Sturmanis discuss the joys and benefits of green building and design.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Sponsored by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Books, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna
Embracing Green Building Is Easy, Experts Say
Finally Kermit is wrong. It really is easy being green. That's what the owners of one of the premier Okanagan home building companies, and the leading home trend expert, are saying about meeting the growing demands of an increasingly well-informed Okanagan public.
"This is the beginning of a huge push. You can't open a newspaper or magazine now that doesn't have articles on green. And we have to do this. If we don't, we're in serious trouble," says Vicki Gerrits.
Gerrits is an interior designer, and along with her builder husband Eric, the two have been operating Homescape which has garnered national awards for its green-building commitment. The two will be speaking at the Okanagan Institute Express series of public presentations, along with Dona Sturmanis of Okanagan Home magazine, at Hanna's Lounge Thursday, May 15 at 4:30 pm, on the topic Good Green! Designing Practical & Fashionable Homes.
Four years ago a select few clients asked the Gerrits for green-friendly options. That sent the Summerland couple on a research quest, and ultimately to a commitment to build green.
Vicki Gerrits now looks for 100% recyclable carpet, rather than "recycled" carpet, which means the carpet can be disposed of safely. She examines the small print on the grout tubs, and watches for warnings of anything that might emit "off-gas" - a nightmare for anyone suffering from allergies.
"What you want to do is make sure everything in the house is healthy - not just energy-efficient, but healthy," she says.
Dona Sturmanis, as a writer and in her role as senior editor of Okanagan Home, has seen the growing interest among members of the local home building community. She's also seen the increasing number of homes that incorporate green principles.
Some people question whether the growing acceptance of green principles has become a marketing ploy, but both the Gerrits and Sturmanis believe these alternatives are here to stay - and they're going to eventually become the standard, and the Okanagan could become the leading edge.
"Even a year ago, people in the Okanagan really weren't thinking green like they are today," Sturmanis says. She believes the tipping point occurred with the widespread popularity of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and the growing number of designers, builders, suppliers and retailers responding to the increased public awareness.
Sturmanis submits that it's time to examine what "green" really means. "Some people are arguing that renovating your home isn't really green because it takes so much oil to move the old material out of the house and the new materials in. We need to think about these things."
This session of the Express series of presentations will provide practical insights into how green principles can be integrated into any building or renovation project, and result in homes that are as fashionable as they are practical.
Good Green! Designing Practical & Fashionable Homes is a free event, and
takes place at Hanna's Lounge. This marks the 41st event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway last July. Since that time, the series has played host to many local luminaries, including artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, and others from a variety of creative fields.
Express is sponsored by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Books, UBCO Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, and supports the work of Project Literacy Kelowna.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Okanagan Insitute at Hanna's Lounge A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Home and Okanagan Home.
Expresss is a cultural tonic that refreshes the mind. Join us at Hanna's Lounge after work on Thursdays for a free hour of stimulation that will get your synapses tingling with new ideas and fresh images. Designed for inquiring minds looking for, among other things, the wild blue yonder.
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