Wilden Living Lab partners awarded for being changemakers in the Okanagan building industry
In early February, the Wilden Living Lab and our latest research home won the 2023 Housing Award of Excellence in four categories:
- Public and Private Partnership
- Environmental Initiative
- Innovative Feature in a Home
- Certified Home
Started in 2016, the joint initiative by AuthenTech Homes, FortisBC, Okanagan College, UBC Okanagan and the Wilden Group has been a driver of progress towards sustainable home building. A partnership that is unparalleled in British Columbia, the five organizations combined their strengths and efforts for one goal: raising the regional residential building industry to the next level.
The partners are not only leading by example, building highly energy-efficient homes, they also fund the research that is needed for homeowners and builders to make informed decisions. The group has put enormous efforts into educating the public in their net-zero Showhome and sharing research results in newsletters, articles and on the Wilden Living Lab website.
“Being awarded the top environmental initiative in the Okanagan home building industry for me is the biggest motivator to keep up the momentum in our collaboration. It confirms that our work has a tremendous impact. To get where we are today, we had to put in years of testing technologies, re-evaluating and re-thinking. None of us partners could have done this alone”, says Karin Eger-Blenk, CEO of the Wilden Group.
“The Okanagan is a breeding ground for housing excellence,” AuthenTech Homes president Scott Tyerman says. “It is great to have an awards program to showcase these innovations to the rest of Canada.”
Dr. Leslie Cormack, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UBC Okanagan, shares: “What makes this project unique is that this is real knowledge translation and applied research.”
“This project shows what you can do when a community comes together, and it’s really something we can be very proud of”, says Danielle Wensink from FortisBC.
We’re looking forward to gaining more insight and being able to share research results publicly as they become available.
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You can visit the Showhome until May 18th, 2023 from 1-5pm daily, except Fridays at 215 Echo Ridge Dr, Kelowna.
