For over a year I have been involved with REEP (the Residential Energy Efficiency Project) in some capacity. It all began with me seeking an internship opportunity with an environmental organization as a component of my master degree. I started as the Outreach Assistant, then moved on to Outreach Coordinator for the Well Aware program, I have assisted with REEP's workshops and currently I am managing the thousands of photos that have been taken of the transformation for REEP House for Sustainable Living - once a drafty century home that is now an example of the potential for energy-efficiency in homes. Below is an article about our recent thank you bbq hosted for all the folks that helped with this transformation.
Photo by Anne Marie Wetter
REEP House for Sustainable Living with just some of the people who made it happen
Friday afternoon, October 29th at REEP House, the final photo and bbq party was in full swing. Contractors' trucks and sales reps' cars packed the Schneider Haus parking lot and green. Bicycles neatly lined REEP House driveway.
Jason Ball, President of Ball construction, was flipping burgers on the back driveway. Scott Moody, REEP House Site sSpervisor was refilling the beer cooler beside a long table stacked with food and drinks. Ben Barclay, Project Manager was sweeping through REEP House, greeting contractors, sales staff, politicians and funders, swapping memories of the past year. Mary Jane Patterson, REEP’s Executive Director and Paul Parker, REEP’s Board Chair, were warmly greeting the Mayor of Kitchener Carl Zehr and Regional Chair Ken Seiling to give them an official welcome and tour. Inside and out, people exchanged business cards and pamphlets, building their networks in the green construction and renovation industry.
Then it was time for the photo. Cheryl Evans, outreach officer, in her favourite pink hard hat, and the REEP staff and volunteers gathered the crowd for a final group photo on the front porch and garden. Perched atop Scott Moody’s truck, Anne Marie Wetter, staff photographer, took shots of the group doing the human wave, smiling and laughing together.
REEP House for Sustainable Living is a project that was built by the community. Over 11,000 hours of labour, 85 contractors, an 11 member design committee, 13 major funders and 28 donors made the transformation possible. REEP House now builds community. Since we opened our doors only a few short months ago we have had over 1000 visitors. Onsite and on the web these people connect with each other. They are educated at REEP House and move forward to undertake exciting retrofit projects with the help of local contractors and lenders. Those people then pass on their knowledge and spread the word about REEP House, and so the REEP House community grows.
This innovative community-based project would not have been possible without the dedicated team of professionals that gutted and rebuilt REEP House, one well thought out component at a time, transforming it from a drafty old energy pig to a state-of-the art model of energy efficiency.
There are still a few components of the house that await completion but the lion’s share of the work is done and for that we celebrate and say thanks to all of those involved. Only a fraction of those contributing to the project were able to break away from their hectic schedules to make it out to the party and we wanted to forward a sincere thanks to all of those we were not able to attend the party.
A special note of appreciation for help with the party goes out to the following people:
- Jason Ball for the donation of all party food items and for his excellent bbq skills
- Colin Goheen of Battlefield Rentals for the donation of the great party bbqs
- Scott Moody for donating his time to gather, set up and tear down all of the party items and help with all of the final prep for the day
- Susan Burke for donating the use of the Schneider Haus parking lot and green for the day
- REEP staff Mary Jane Patterson, Ben Barclay, Joseph Lance, Levi Oakey, Roxanne Luxton, Rommy Ibanez, Rachel D’Aguilar, Chris Albrecht, Anne Marie Wetter, Brendan Schaefer, Julian Van Mossel Forrester and Rachel McQuail for help with greeting, setup and teardown for the event
- REEP volunteers Ken Detlor and Judy Paul for setup and parking patrol
Please feel free to book a visit with us at REEP House to use the house as it was intended, as a hands-on learning centre and community meeting place. We are now open for regular tours, workshops and also have meeting rooms available.
For rates and availability check out our website at www.reephouse.ca.
Article by Cheryl Evans
No comments:
Post a Comment