Mike Holmes’ eco-friendly reno rescue

How Canada's most famous contractor took a reno gone awry and replaced it with a modern, green dream home

By Jay Somerset

No comments

Grey’s the new green

“These remind me of the urinals at the old Maple Leaf Gardens,” Joe says, pointing to the rainwater collection troughs along the side of the house. The troughs are part of a system that runs along the house’s exterior, collecting rainwater that flows into a concrete cistern and treatment tank buried beneath the front lawn.

According to Environment Canada, toilets use about one-third of a household’s total water consumption. If you fuel your toilets and laundry with grey water, you’re looking at a huge slash in water usage. “We were worried we’d run out, but with the amount of rain we get, it’s more than enough,” Joe says.

Not all provinces allow grey-water systems (Quebec, for example) or, if they do, there are different technical requirements; however, most areas allow at least rainwater collection, which can save about 150 l of drinking water per day per household, according to Environment Canada.

“It took a little to get used to the colour,” Christina says, pointing at the greyish water in the toilet. “It looks like you haven’t quite flushed.” While it might not look pristine (think: septic tank water), this grey-water system is perfectly suitable for watering lawns, powering washing machines and flushing toilets. Just don’t drink it.

Like everything else high-tech, prices for grey-water systems range depending on size and complexity, but expect to pay about $1,500 plus installation, with yearly savings of about 35 per cent.

Surreal but so real

“It still feels so unreal,” Christina says as we sit around the quartz-topped kitchen counters. “Like we’ve won some sort of lottery.” After spending almost two years living away from the house, the homecoming was pretty sweet, even if it happened between midnight and 4 a.m. on a cold winter morning. “Let’s just say there was lots of champagne.”

Lengthy construction can take its toll on any friendship, let alone neighbours, but the Kovaliks say they’ve received many cards and gifts welcoming them back to a neighbourhood they’ve been in for more than 10 years. Of course, now their home is the model citizen, driving neighbours to increase their own efficiencies. (One house, three doors west, is now powered by Bullfrog Power, a renewable-energy company.)

As a reminder of this dream come true, the house sports a metal insignia from Holmes, his stamp of approval. “Driving up the road is still surreal,” Joe says. “This is where we live?”



No comments

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.