12-09-27 Solar Ready Homes

Thirteen years ago we were looking to purchase a house. We found a house we liked on Hanover Street, and purchased it. That was then. Were we shopping for a house today, we would not purchase that house. Why not? Just one reason. The roof alignment does not lend itself to the installation of solar panels.

The use of solar panels, whether for the generation of electricity or the heating of water is increasing all over the world. Travelers to Europe, China, the USA and even Ontario report that they are seeing more and more roof top solar installations. Manitoba is lagging in this regard simply because we have the lowest electricity rates on the planet.

However, regardless of electricity prices in Manitoba, this trend towards solar will continue. Furthermore, regardless of the current electricity rate in Manitoba, that rate will go up. On the long run, Manitoba will not be an island of low electricity rates within North America. Furthermore, these changes with respect to both solar and electricity rates will result in big changes in preferable house design long before the houses we now live in are destined for demolition.

Obviously, our current housing stock will still be very much with us ten, twenty, even fifty years from now. But by then the world energy picture will have changed greatly. Given what is so obvious, isn’t it time we begin to anticipate that future in how we build houses now? Isn’t it time we begin to discount the price of a house we consider purchasing, simply because it will not lend itself to solar renovation?

This is not a plea to put solar panels on every house. This is simply a plea that houses being built today be built in a way that will accommodate solar panels in the future. It is time the eminence of a low-carbon future affected everyone’s choices: potential homeowners, homebuilders, developers and city planners.

Ironically, constructing a house with the appropriate orientation has no significant bearing on the cost of the house in most situations; nevertheless, this orientation will make a huge difference some years hence. The case is often made that we cannot afford the costs associated with protecting the environment. This cannot be said here.

In my opinion, it is time our city planers and our city council give serious leadership in this area. All that is needed is a modification to our building code that specifies that all new houses need to be built in a way that will accommodate roof top solar panels [down the road]. There could be exceptions to this standard, and these would be dealt with in the usual way. This change would cost the city nothing, would have no effect on the cost of housing in our city, but would result in a real increase in the value of our housing stock.

Building to this standard is known as Solar Ready construction. Ontario and BC already encourage cities to modify their building code in this way. Many communities have followed this lead. California will mandate such construction by Jan. 1 2014. Other states, including Minnesota are promoting Solar Ready construction.

Eric Rempel