What: Home of Today and Home of Tomorrow opening event
Who: Wilden Living Lab: Blenk Development, AuthenTech Homes, FortisBC, Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan
When: Wednesday, January 25 starting at 10:30 a.m.
Where: 263 Upper Canyon Drive, Kelowna
Two homes, built side-by-side, will be officially opened Wednesday as part of the ongoing Wilden Living Lab research project.
The Wilden Living Lab is a joint research project with Wilden, UBC Okanagan, AuthenTech Homes, Okanagan College and FortisBC. The homes were constructed by AuthenTech Homes and Okanagan College’s Residential Construction students as part of their Homes for Learning project.
The houses, built in Wilden's Upper Canyon neighbourhood, share the same floor plan. However, one is built as the Home of Today—constructed to today’s standard residential building code. The other is the Home of Tomorrow—fully equipped with cutting-edge energy-efficient technologies. The buildings are part of a real-world study that will compare energy usage patterns that emerge from two similar homes built with different energy-efficient technologies.
The research begins once the homes are sold and occupied. UBC School of Engineering researchers, along with their students, will use sensors built into the homes to monitor the energy use of both dwellings for a period of three years.
The project partners are hosting a grand opening reception and ribbon cutting, for invited guests, to showcase the homes.
Home tours begin at 10:30 a.m. and the ribbon cutting is at 11 a.m. Along with photo opportunities, there will be a short speaking program. Invited guests include City of Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran; Wilden/Blenk Development Corporation’s Gerhard Blenk, Karin Eger-Blenk, and Russ Foster; UBC Okanagan Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Deborah Buszard; Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton; Scott Tyerman with AuthenTech Homes; Danielle Wensink, Director, Conservation & Energy with FortisBC; and participating students from both post-secondary institutions and additional industry suppliers.
More information about the project can be found at: wildenlivinglab.com
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