Finding a Green and Healthy Condo

Choose a "golden oldie" or follow the LEED

by Tim Haig

It’s Sunday morning, and Kitsilano’s Jonathan and Martine Carlisle are pounding the streets of the West End. Having spent the past four years in a rented one-bedroom apartment, they’re ready for a change. They both want to live downtown, so they can walk to work and enjoy the city’s energy. And it seems a good time to buy; in yesterday’s paper, they found pages of condos for sale.

But as they stop for a mid-morning cappuccino, Martine remembers the condo-buying experience of her friend Shelley. Several years ago, after she’d moved in to a brand new place on West Georgia, Shelley found herself perpetually congested and a little foggy in the head. She’d been experiencing the questionable joy of new-car smell—from her condo. It took months for the odour and her symptoms to dissipate, and even longer for Shelley to get over the disappointment of learning her condo was not exactly environmentally friendly.

Luckily, Jonathan and Martine have a lot more options than previous house-hunters did. One of the best ways today’s condo buyers can be sure of finding a healthy, green new home is to look for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. If you’re fortunate enough to find one that meets your requirements and falls within your budget, you’ll know that the design, construction, and materials were carefully monitored.

“Golden oldies” (apartments in older, concrete or stone buildings) are another great option for Jonathan and Martine. These buildings can offer major charms: established, central neighbourhoods; beautifully wearing materials such as oak flooring and ceramic tile; architectural features including coved ceilings and inset nooks; low-dust heating systems; and, often, a lower asking price than their glitzy new counterparts. (In recent years, design and construction techniques sometimes failed to keep exterior wall systems sound and dry. Ask your Realtor to review strata minutes carefully.)

Whether you go with a new condo or a golden oldie, finding a healthy, environmentally sound home can be easy, if you keep the following in mind:

Define your two or three favourite village-within-the-city neighbourhoods. Consider a walkable location with access to rapid transit. Test out the coffee shops and eateries, wander the streets, and go for areas that give you joie-de-vivre as well as convenience and comfort.

Tell your Realtor you’re looking for a condo with as many natural features as possible. Hopefully, the resulting list will include one or two LEED buildings, a smattering of golden oldies, and some conventional but well-designed modern concretes.

Go for sunlight, air, and views. Southern exposure and, secondly, eastern exposure will give you the best orientation for maximum sunlight during the winter and less overheating in summer. Large windows and a balcony with sliding glass doors will let in light and air. Make sure adjacent buildings are not so close as to block every long-range view; ideally, you want to overlook a varied skyline with water, trees, or mountains. What’s the feeling you get when you walk in the door? You or your Realtor should jot down a few key words (such as “spacious,” “shrouded,” or “wow”) for later reference.

Use your nose. An odourless home, or one with a slight smell of seasoned natural materials, will be more pleasant and healthier in the long run. Close the windows, turn off the fans, and get a good whiff of the air in the halls, living room, and bedroom. Check out the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and see if they smell. Conventional new cupboards are made of particleboard and emit formaldehyde and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) for a year or more. Sniff for musty smells, especially close to faucets and water tanks.

If all else fails, get in early and do some home cooking. If no LEEDs or golden oldies come your way, you may end up with a conventional new-construction condo. Go for the highest-quality flooring and cabinetry that you can and ask for low-VOC paints. And before you move in, cook it up to eliminate that new-car smell. Close the windows, turn the thermostat on high, and bake for five days. Then open all the windows, turn the fans on high, and flush for five more.

Finally, have fun, and let intuition guide you. Even the most carefully planned-out green dream homes inevitably disappoint their owners in small ways. If you can cover the basic elements—an inspiring location, sunlight, air, and views—and minimize interior synthetics and toxins, you’ll have your own semi-perfect natural home that you can invest in, settle into, cherish, and enjoy.

For more information on the LEED program, go to the Canada Green Building Council’s website at cagbc.org. Information on healthy indoor environments for adults and children is available at Healthy Spaces on the Child and Family Canada’s website: cfc-efc.ca/healthy-spaces. For a directory of sustainable building products and more green building information, go to the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s Build Smart website: gvrd.bc.ca/buildsmart.

Tim Haig is a Vancouver Realtor who has learned cob building and attended seminars on natural home environments at the Institute for Building Biology and Ecology in Clearwater, Florida. Contact him at timothy.haig@gmail.com or naturalvancouverhomes.com.

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