Wilden Living Lab presents: The Home of Today vs. The Home of Tomorrow

Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble.

The Wilden Living Lab presents The Home of Today vs. The Home of Tomorrow.

Get to know the Wilden Living Lab and learn more about this project being conducted with UBC Okanagan, by watching this video from 2017, it was created before research began.

As shown in the video above, the Wilden Living Lab and its partners have embarked upon a three-year research campaign to use the latest technologies to enhance energy efficiency by comparing two homes built by AuthenTech Homes. The campaign will determine and improve homeowner energy consumption and cost-efficiency by using data from real families. The team had a family move into each home and then a three-year journey began.

There were sensors placed throughout the homes and the research teams at UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering are utilizing advanced research methodology for monitoring and comparing the data to determine the champion and then refine it.

So far, the data that has been compiled over the initial 18 months of research shows that each of the homeowner’s energy consumption patterns is resoundingly in favour of the ‘Home of Tomorrow‘ who uses 67% less energy than the ‘Home of Today‘. In other words, that amounts to 99% fewer carbon emissions and the Home of Tomorrow's carbon offset is equal to taking 16 gasoline-powered cars off Kelowna streets.

The first results of a living experiment in Kelowna show us that the Home of Tomorrow is not only in the lead, but it can also assist FortisBC towards its goal of lowering emissions from its customers by 30% by 2030.

We encourage you to review the intermediate results after 18 months and include these findings during the initial design and construction of your home. Also to consider building your own Home of Tomorrow in Wilden.

This may also include incentives from FortisBC, which can help offset building costs—homes built to be more energy-efficient than the minimum BC Building Code requirements can qualify for a rebate ranging from $3,000-$10,000 as part of FortisBC’s New Home program. That's long-term savings and immediate rebates brought to you by the Wilden Living Lab.

The results though have also shown that the payback on the ground source heat pump is more than 50 years—making it a long-term investment. Variable electricity rates, carbon tax, and the homeowners' energy use habits are the main reasons for the differing payback periods.

More results will be published throughout 2021, as more data comes available.

Visit the Wilden Living Lab website for more information on the latest results. To stay on top of all findings, subscribe to the newsletter.

Spread over the hillside along Okanagan Lake, a short 10-minute drive from downtown Kelowna, lies Wilden, a community that has mastered the art of growing its population without losing its pristine beauty. Half of the roughly 1,500 acres will always be preserved as natural open space or public parkland.

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