We finally did it, we moved out of our mailbox on Dundas and into the vibrant Centre for Social Innovation building between Queen St. West and Kensington Market – come see our new digs!
Higher returns than a stuffed mattress, and just as close…
With gloom in the world markets the smart money trend is investing a lot closer to home; in high performance homes they can live in that is. It makes so much sense as both a healthy place to live with minimal exposure to fluctuating energy prices. My Mom used to say about real estate in a Marg Simpson way “They’re not making any more land!”
Looking back
Ontario took a baby step in the right direction in January by mandating efficiency by way of the Energy Efficiency Design Summary (EEDS) which sent builders, window companies, architects and municipalities scrambling. With sage advice from Ross Elliott, we did a few breakfast sessions for Ridley Windows to shed some light on the new process and we’ve been quite happy with the developments on the EEDS front.
But you can call us BGG
By mid-summer, Shervin had completed the business plan and we were officially incorporated as BlueGreen Consulting Group Inc. By this time we’d tested over 200 new EnergyStar and EnerGuide80 homes, presented in Baltimore at the ACI Conference, presented at George Brown College, presented to engineering undergrads at UofT, environmental studies at York U, we volunteered our expertise to raise money for the community group Project Neutral and we were part of the inaugural team delivering the training course for the Certified Sustainable Building Advisor (CSBA) program held at the Brick Works. Our consulting services have taken us to interesting places including Globe Services, Lio and Associates, Clearsphere and doing Low Income housing work in Brantford and Guelph with Ecofitt. By the end of our second quarter, we were on target for earnings and Shervin still wore his grin from attending the 7th Annual Passive House Conference.
The times are changing
We’re noticing it. BGG gave a talk recently at the National Green Building Conference by teaming up with Passive House builder Ed Marion; 75 people paid $30 each to hear tech-talk on high performance building. 2 years ago we’d have been lucky to get my two brothers and a friend! New construction is ready to move on high performance building as even tract builders are doing EnergySTAR.
We’re working with forward thinking builders to do pre-drywall quality testing and architects to do Integrated Design Process using the detailed Passive House Planning Package (PHPP). We’re bristling at the thought of making a difference for the people who’ll live in these beautiful, resilient and healthy homes as a sustainable legacy for the next generation too.
A Prosperous New Year
As the year comes to a close, we want to thank everyone who’s made us a success. We hope you make the shortest days of winter special with friends and family. With the growing light of the New Year, we look forward to helping you find the high performance solutions that challenge both new and gut renos. We look forward to growing with you in 2013!
Peace,
Shervin & Greg
