Rain Harvesting Promotion

July 13th, 2009

In an effort to start a dialog regarding the advantages of Rain Harvesting on an Island we are offering our clients a FREE leaf eater leaf catchment system and a FREE consultation with McTaggart Water Systems. See our Flyer.

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Energy Saving Seminar Series – Bowen Island Feb 28th and March 7th

February 18th, 2009

The First Seminar: Saturday Feb. 28th , BICS Multipurpose,10 to 12am.The aim will be to educate the public about household electricity consumption and saving opportunities and introduce rebate and incentive programs that residents and small businesses can in participate in.. There will be other topics contributing to “Greening our lives” that be of interest in our desire towards solutions to actively making a difference in our homes and community. (Mini trade show) .

The Second Seminar: Sat. March 7th, Bowen Island Municipal Hall, 10 to 12 am

The aim is to introduce new and innovative technologies and Net Zero Housing – includes what’s new in lighting, building envelope and systems, smart appliances. Samples of commercially available technologies will be brought in for display.

Both seminars are geared for for the sincere and discerning audience wanting to tackle the steps to better energy saving techniques and life styles.
Everyone welcome, Resource saving entrance gifts and door prize

Specifics to each set to follow.
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Registration isn’t necessary but a tally would be great to have an idea of space needed and refreshments required For further information call or email Morganne Keplar 947 9297, mkeplar@telus.net

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New Passanger Ferry Service from Bowen to Vancouver and Granville Island

November 12th, 2008

There is nothing like CHOICE to improve the quality of life on Bowen. Recently two new ferry services started up  linking Bowen Island to downtown Vancouver and Granville Island.

This Sunday I took a trip on the Granville Island Water Taxi. It offers hourly service from Bowen Island to Granville Island. I hopped on the 12 seater water taxi at the Government Dock and 30 minutes later unloaded in the heart of Granville Island. After a couple of hours of busy market activity I was ready to escape back to the peace and quiet of Bowen with fresh food and a handful of ideas for Christmas.  Take a peek at www.giwt.ca .

I am also hearing rave reviews about the Coastal Link Ferry that runs between Bowen and the bottom of Bute Street. There are a handful of very happy daily commuters that have cut almost 2 hours off their daily travel. www.coastallinkferries.com

Life on Bowen just got better!

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Water access property for less

July 19th, 2008

An interesting article in the Globe and Mail today addresses the cheaper cost of water access property. While the stats address the Ontario market- the same can be said in BC. Last summer a water access waterfront lot on Bowen was listed at $389,000 while road access/power waterfront properties are priced over 1 million. The long and short of it - its an affordable alternative for people looking for a waterfront cabin. Of course water taxis or boat maintenance along with the additional cost to barging building materials has to be considered.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080718.reIslandCottages0718/REStory/RealEstate/?cid=al_gam_nletter_realest

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Bowen residence wins prestigious CONNIE award

May 29th, 2008

For Immediate Press ReleaseThe Pearson Residence, a home designed by JWT Architecture and Planning and built by Wood Brothers Construction was awarded a prestigious CONNIE Award for Excellence in Design in Concrete Construction last Thursday. This project was among several of BC’s finest structures to receive this honour this year including buildings by Vancouver’s Bing Thom and Busby Perkins and Will Architects, along with Vanoc’s

Whistler Sliding Center. The Pearson Residence represents a new standard of home design on Bowen. The home is a modest 2,050 sf in floor area. Five ‘passive’ environmental control systems were chosen to reduce the home’s impact on the environment. In each system is an implicit aesthetic rationale to celebrate the site’s unique micro climate. The utilization of concrete as a thermally stable material lies at the forefront of the sustainability strategies. At the rear of the site the house is earth sheltered to take advantage of the inherent insulating capabilities of the earth.  A south facing ‘gallery space’ with floor to ceiling fenestration utilizes passive solar heating to capture winter solar radiation storing it in the concrete floor.  Utilizing a passive cooling strategy for hot summer days called ‘night ventilation of thermal mass’, a 68’ long by 10’ high exposed interior concrete wall stores early evening cooling captured from the outdoors through an operable building envelope (consisting of three 6’x8’ bypass doors). The thermal mass of the concrete wall radiates the stored cooling back throughout the house during the day when the exterior envelope is left in the ‘closed position’.  Rain water is harvested by a simple roof plan that drains to one point allowing water to be collected in 5’ x 8’ concrete box/ aquatic garden which can drain to holding tanks on the site. Natural daylight floods the rear of the house through a 60’ long clerestory window. The clerestory window is constructed of wood and its lightness acts as a poetic gesture resting on top of the featured concrete wall. The choice of materials is intentionally simple, and includes steel, concrete, douglas fir, and birch.  All materials are rendered in their natural state and are assembled with a high level of detail to emphasize the skill and sophistication of the local craftsmen on

Bowen Island.To celebrate the owners’ love of gardening the architecture purposefully references historic aspects of landscape design. The L shaped layout and existing ‘day cabin’ creates an outdoor courtyard terrace that is raised above the existing garden by a 30” high rustic stone wall hand constructed by the owners. This wall evokes ‘haha’ walls of the English Landscape Garden Style used to separate pastoral landscapes from agricultural lands beyond without visual interruption. The four degree shift in the foundation at the rear of the house creates a ‘forced perspective’, within the home’s two gallery spaces (an Italian technique used during the renaissance used to exaggerate a garden’s length). The small 2’x2’ windows in the concrete wall frame small views of the granite ridge and rock garden beyond and are suggestive of Chinese walled gardens. The concrete stepping stones at the entry and wood frames that support the wooden roof structure suggest a Japanese approach to garden design by creating pause and repose as one travels into and through the home. JWT Architecture and Planning is a full service design firm located on Bowen Island and provides planning, architecture and landscape architectural design services locally on Bowen, as well as throughout Coastal BC and abroad.Contact: James W Tuer MAIBC MBCSLA NCARB AIA(t) 604 947 2768(f) 604 947 2796

jwtuer@hotmail.com

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Lighthouse Sustainable Building Centre

May 29th, 2008

Lighthouse Sustainable Building Centre is an excellent resource for someone looking for alternative building/energy technology. Last fall I took their Green Building 101 course. The course reviews many of the resources available for people looking to build, update, improve their homes. The also produce a quarterly “Market Insights” on new information and resources available http://www.sustainablebuildingcentre.com/sites/default/files/LIG-MI-Spring08-web.pdf .

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Getting started…

May 29th, 2008

This blog option has been sitting on my website since the beginning of the year and I have yet to post/write a word. I know there are almost a 1000 hits/month of people looking for more information so it is time to get started. For the most part I will be posting information relative to buying and building on Bowen Island and BC Coastal recreational property. Feel free to send me information you think might be relative.

Thanks,

Penny

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