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JOHN BROWN is the editor of theslowhome.com and the founder of the Slow Home Movement. He is a registered architect, real estate broker and Professor of Architecture at the University of Calgary.

Taking the LEED

Jul 06, 2008

By Melissa Mancini From the Durham Region News

The green movement has become so prominent even industries known for wasteful practises are joining the crusade.

Industries like construction.

New housing developments can create truckloads of waste but some developers are getting into a program called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), to counteract the debris left from their building sites.

One of the first LEED homes projects in Durham is being proposed by Liza Communities for the Whitby marina. The developer was chosen by the Canada Green Building Council to be in a pilot project to determine the official LEED standards for homes in Canada. Once built, it will be the first LEED-certified town home community in Canada.

What constitutes a LEED home? The proposed Liza Communities development will offer environmental benchmarks beyond standard building code requirements. The homes will be 38-45 per cent more energy efficient, 35-40 per cent more water efficient, offer 50 per cent superior air filtration, be made of 38-45 per cent more environmental preferable materials and resources, produce 70 per cent less landfill waste and provide a 30 per cent reduction for irrigation demand.

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We believe that our homes and neighborhoods should be healthy, vibrant places that uplift the spirit and gracefully fit our needs. We call for an end to poor construction, bad design, misleading marketing, unfair lending practices and environmental neglect in the housing industry. We acknowledge our collective responsibility to create CLOSE, SIMPLE, LIGHT places to live that leave a positive legacy for future generations.

provides design focused information that homeowners can use to improve the quality of how and where they live. It takes its name from the slow food movement which arose as a reaction to the processed food industry. The sprawl of cookie cutter housing that surrounds us is like fast food - standardized, homogenous, and wasteful. It contributes to a too fast life that is bad for us, our cities, and the environment. In the same way that slow food raises awareness of the food we eat and how these choices affect our lives, Slow Home empowers you to take more control of your home and improve the quality of how you live while reducing your environmental impact and futureproofing the long term investment value of your home.