Housing project attracts interest

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Building environmentally sensitive, affordable housing was emphasized at a housing symposium and trade show held at Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa at Harrison Hot Springs from Sept. 15 to 18.

The theme of the symposium was "Housing Ourselves," and it encompassed designing, building, renovating and managing housing.

Delegates got the chance to tour the Seabird Island Sustainable Community Demonstration Project-the first on-reserve project of its kind in Canada-and saw how to apply those design principles to any housing project. The symposium was held a 15-minute drive from Seabird Island, 200 km from Vancouver.

Angie Chapman is events co-ordinator at Seabird Island.

"There was so much interest in touring our project that we had to increase the number of tours we had planned," she said. Seabird Island residents are especially impressed by the flexibility and sustainability of the new housing concepts and were happy to share the unique concepts which have made the project a success, she added. The homes built this year included a duplex, a triplex, and single-family units.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for B.C. and Yukon (CMHC) was a major participant in both the showcased Seabird Island project and the symposium.

Valerie Rosenthal, senior marketing and communications consultant for CMHC, said the project "provides affordable rental housing on reserve, but still is owned by the band.

"Seabird Island, like many Aboriginal communities, has seen its population double to 700 people in recent years. We've combined an existing social housing program with innovative and more recent advances in housing construction," she said.

The community was chosen because it is somewhat isolated, being located on an island in the Fraser River, yet it is still fairly accessible to major transportation routes.

"It makes use of solar energy, and the south-facing exposure allows for built-in solariums and greenhouses. The units are flexible, in that they can adapt to the changing needs of the family. They are barrier-free for seniors and people with disabilities as three generations are often wishing to live together," said Valerie Rosenthal. As well, special care has been taken to ensure stronger, more durable materials for longer life of the homes, such as mould-resistant drywall.

Other features include rain water recovery, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, hydronic in-slab radiant heating (circulating water heating and cooling) and high-performance windows. Special features of the homes in the project include spiritual healing gardens where herbs and other valued Indigenous plants will be grown. Wind generation will supply electricity at low-cost.

"We live in a high-wind area and it was a natural development," said Angie Chapman. "A local business, Renewable Energy Systems, donated a wind generator to supply power to our reserve. It's almost maintenance free, and the turbine will pay for itself with the savings in energy costs."

Seabird Island residents are excited about inviting all of Canada to tour the completed project in the future. It's a work in progress and they are not sure when they will reach that stage, said Chapman.

"But in the meantime," she added, "we all feel good about the environmentally friendly housing that we've created and the cultural aspects that have been incorporated into it."