North Grenville Sustainability Fair April 26th

On Sunday, April 26^th the North Grenville Sustainability Fair will once again take over the Municipal Centre.  In the main hall you can visit the booths of local vendors, community organizations and check out the kids’ corner.  At the theatre you can attend one of our hourly presentations (check out the schedule in next week’s issue).  In the arena you can explore the EVs on display and get perspectives from dealers and owners, as well as the Greening Your Home section.

 The Greening Your Home Section is where you can meet local home-grown expertise that can help you make your lifestyle and home more sustainable.  This year’s Sustainability Fair will have local businesses providing heat pumps, solar, batteries, and efficient buildings built with environmentally friendly materials.  Hardware, however, won’t be the exclusive focus: the Fair will also will also shine the light on lifestyle and community topics like electric tools, bicycle maintenance, home services and the Municipality’s new Auxiliary Residential Unit Program.  The Fair will be held at the North Grenville Municipal Centre and runs from 10am to 3pm on Sunday April 26^th.  Admission is free.

 This year the Fair will re-emphasize home energy generation and management.  Rapidly falling prices and increasing reliability and functionality of battery-based Energy Storage Systems (ESS) is making solar and batteries increasingly attractive to homeowners who want to dramatically reduce their electric bills while making their homes more resilient during power outages.  TLC Solar will be able to explain the wide variety of technologies and configurations that are possible in order to meet the custom and personal needs of homeowners.  TLC’s Terry Luchies and Mariette Secchi will also give a presentation on this topic in the Main Theatre at 12pm.  If you are interested in making green energy for your home, providing back-up power for outages, or reducing hydro costs, this presentation is not to be missed.

 Heat pumps continue to be a strong component of efforts to green existing and new homes.  RB Heating and Kemptville Heating & A/C will both be present to show you the range of different heat pump options available for your home.  Ask whether it is possible to replace your furnace and air conditioner completely, or to add a heat pump to do the majority of your heating and all your cooling.  Heat pumps can now work in the coldest of Eastern Ontario’s weather and are a viable option for many homes.  Unfortunately Sauve Heating and Air Conditioning cannot join us this year, but are a proud sponsor.

 If your interest is in high performance buildings, meet with EcoGen Energy & Build at the Fair.  EcoGen’s specialty is homes with Passive House performance and built with low embodied carbon materials.  EcoGen is a unique business: it has been built over a 19-years with knowledge and experience in renewable energies like solar heating, grid-tied and off-grid solar, coupled with in-house HVAC design competencies to meet the unique requirements of ultra-high performance buildings. Find out why the highest efficiency also delivers not just the ultimate in savings, but also comfort and resilience.

 If your interest is in refreshing your home, you may want to consult with Holly of McClosky Painting, in the main hall.  Holly’s focus is on renewing and renovating existing spaces, which can often provide the best value and reduce waste to refresh your home.

 The Municipality of North Grenville’s new Auxiliary Residential Unit (ARU) initiative will also be highlighted.  Program Manager Dr Jackie Schoemaker Holmes will give a presentation in the Main Theatre at 11am.  She’ll explain how the ARU Initiative offers a one-time federal grant of $25,000 plus applicable building permit fees.  There are three municipally approved ARU architectural designs optimized for development on existing residential properties. Designs are detached units that come in three different layouts: a one-bedroom, a two-bedroom, and a barrier-free one-bedroom.  These small detached homes may appeal to homeowners who want to add additional residential units to their properties for other family members or for additional income.  Information handouts for the ARU program will also be made available to pick up in the Greening Your Homes section of the Fair.

If you are interested in bicycles or electric tools, you have more reason to check out the Greening Your Home section of the Fair.  Valley Sports will be showing their cycling offering and are providing a bicycle maintenance presentation at their booth.  Also don’t miss the unique display of electric tools that Pieter Leenhouts will display to show how we can all work smarter and cleaner at home and at work.

 Join us on Sunday April 26^th at the North Grenville Sustainability Fair to discover how to make your home more comfortable, efficient and sustainable, by meeting with local experts in the Fair’s Greening Your Home section.  For more information about all aspects of this year’s Sustainability Fair, check out our website www.sustainablenorthgrenville.ca and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.