Today, there are many products available in the Comox Valley, Campbell River, as well as the rest of  Vancouver Island that did not exist 30 years ago, in regards to the construction industry.  Icynene Spray Foam Insulation is an example of a product that has only been available in the US since 1986 for home construction. Icynene Spray Foam, serves as insulation as well as an air and vapour barrier.

One Vancouver Island home recently Blower Door Tested for Hargrave Construction, will be a Power Smart Gold and an extremely energy efficient Vancouver Island home, coming in with the tightest construction Elemental Energy Advisors has seen, at 1.17 Air Change Rates per Hour (ACH). Average new home construction on Vancouver Island comes in at 3.5- 5.5 ACH, which is also why a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) was incorporated into the construction.

If you would like to know how tight of a home you and your sub trades are producing on Vancouver Island, call Cristi at 250-830-8000or email any questions to cristi@elementalenergyadvisors.ca for your Blower Door Test and check the air tightness on your Vancouver Island home.

To test your Vancouver Island home visit Elemental Energy Advisors.

Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) released Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sales summary data for July 2010 which shows continuing declines in both unit sales volume and inventories of Vancouver Island properties listed for sale.

In July of 2010 there were 347 single family properties sold on Vancouver Island in the VIREB area, down from 536 sales in July of 2009.

Vancouver Island single family properties listed for sale in July 2010 were also down by 12% from the end of July 2009.

The 12-month average sale price for Vancouver Island homes across the VIREB region for the July 2010 was $342,982, indicating a 1% increase from the $340,382 posted at the end of July 2009.

For the 12-month period from the end of July 2009 to July 2010, average sale prices across VIREB’s six zones on Vancouver Island rose in all but two markets:

• Campbell River increased 4% (to $303,056);
• The Comox Valley inched up 1% (to $349,033);
• Nanaimo is up 5% (to $382,672);
• Parksville/Qualicum grew 2% (to $377,506);
• Port Alberni dropped 18% (to $194,765); and
• The Cowichan Valley was down 6% (to $327,549).

Excerpted from 1stView.ca.

The Victoria Chapter of Canadian Home Builders’ Association CARE Awards has listed Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa, a Vancouver Island luxury second home resort, as a finalist in multiple categories.

The categories are:

• Best Commercial Project
• Best Interior – Commercial
• Best Condominium – Mixed-Use Development
• Best Project Wesbsite
• Award for Outdoor Environmental Achievement
• Award for Indoor Environmental Achievement and Energy Efficiency
• Care Awards Project of the Year – Development

The annual Construction Achievements and Renovations of Excellence (CARE) Awards recognize the West Coast’s creative craftsmanship and design and celebrate excellence in the industry.

Finalists are selected by a panel of industry professionals using criteria such as architectural design, quality workmanship, creative use of space and energy efficiency.

Winners will be announced at the CARE Awards gala on Friday, September 24^th at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Excerpted from 1stView.ca.

Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) released the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) sales summary for June 2010. This summary indicates a decrease in Vancouver Island home sales on a year over year basis, while the average residential home sale price is beginning to level out.

In June of 200, the average sale price for a Vancouver Island home across the VIREB region was $345,118 being a 5% increase from the $329,638 which was posted at the end of June 2009.

It seems that the Vancouver Island real estate market is balancing out. It is reported that the inventory levels onVancouver Island are still growing even though the sales volumes have somewhat dropped.

The following statistics are for the period from the end of June 2009 to June 2010 of the average sale prices forVancouver Island homes across VIREB’s six zones:

• Campbell River saw an increase of 12% to $298,126;
• Comox Valley is up 7% to $362,222;
• Cowichan Valley slipped 5% to $350,024;
• Nanaimo is also up by 7% to $362,018;
• Parksville/Qualicum is up 1% to $396,488; and
• Port Alberni increased by 27% to $242,752.

At the start of 2010, the Vancouver Island real estate market began to recover from the recession and as we proceed into the second half of the year, the market has started to level out due to supply and demand. For sellers of Vancouver Island homes this means that proper pricing is required and buyers have more of an inventory of residential homes to choose from.

Excerpted from 1stView.ca

Vancouver Island home owners have an advantage they have never had before.  When purchasing Vancouver Island real estate, a home owner may have access on how energy efficient their home is, or the new residential home they are about to purchase.

EnerGuide is an energy efficiency rating service offered by Certified Energy Advisors through Natural Resources Canada for new residential homes. Vancouver Island builders are able to have the construction of their new projects accessed by a Certified Energy Advisor and generate a label through Natural Resources Canada in order to prove the efficiency of the newly constructed home. The products used to build Vancouver Island homes, the craftsmanship and practices used during the construction, is all taken into account in the EnerGuide rating and confirmed once construction of the home is completed, by the Certified Energy Advisor.

The technology for Vancouver Island real estate purchasers to know what their utility expenses are going to be in their new Vancouver Island home for the next 20 years, has arrived.

Contact  Elemental Energy Advisors to find out the proactive builders in your Vancouver Island area who are willing to prove the quality of their new residential homes by having them EnerGuide rated.

For more information visit Elemental Energy Advisors or call Cristi Guttormson (250) 830-8000.

Excerpted from 1stview.ca.

The British Columbia Inter-Governmental Partnership (BCIGP) and the Alberta Low Impact Development Partnership (ALIDP) have completed the Water Balance Model Technical Manual.

This manual is an online text that is navigable and organized in a way which allows users to understand a variety of aspects of the Water Balance Model in varying degrees of detail. The user can drill down into data variables, equations and other components of the system.

To learn more and access the online manual visit Technical Manual enables Water Balance Model users to “follow the numbers”.

The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) released its 2009 Buyer Profile for Vancouver Island, which tracks where people are coming from, what they are buying and why.

Statistics are for the overall Board area and for each individual zone (Duncan/Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Port Alberni/West Coast, Parksville/Qualicum, Comox Valley, Campbell River, North Island and Island areas).

There were 1,685 completed responses to letters that were sent to residential buyers of Vancouver Island real estate. These responses were entered into a database from which the profile was developed.

First time buyers comprised 19% of all transactions in 2009. This was the highest record for Vancouver Island since 2004 and was due to low mortgage rates and attractive pricing.

Local buyers made up 39% of sales in 2009, which was a result of low interest rates and demand.

Consumer demand from Alberta buyers was higher than expected given the Canadian economic performance in 2009, slipping from 13% to 11%.

A growing segment of retirees seem to be relocating to Vancouver Island and it continues to be their preferred destination. In 2009, forty percent of residential properties purchased on were purchased as a retirement home, which is up from last year. There was also an increase in buyers from other areas of Vancouver Island.

Vancouver Island homes that were purchased as a principal residence made up 95% of the sales transactions. Only 3% were investments or rentals.

The Buyer Profile also shows the characteristics of Vancouver Island homes with the highest frequency. The single-family detached unit was the most popular representing 62% of all sales, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a double garage and a vinyl exterior with mountain or ocean views.

There is speculation that over the next decade approximately 5,000 new households will be formed annually in the Vancouver Island/Coast Development Region, with approximately 1,300 of these new Vancouver Island homes formed in Nanaimo.

Excerpted from 1stView.ca.

Vancouver Island resident and green development pioneer, Joe Van Belleghem was recently awarded the prestigious Canadian Green Building Council Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his visionary work.

“I am honored to be recognized by the Canadian Green Building Council, an organization that is transforming the build environment and communities,” said Belleghem. “I believe in these uncertain times, it is most important to remember one’s core values – not retreat to what’s comfortable – but to be bold; as the future requires us to think and behave differently.”

Joe Van Belleghem of Victoria has been active for over 20 years in the development community and has spent his last 10 years dedicated to sustainable development including involvement with the BC Climate Action Team, as a board member for the US Green Building Council and as one of the founders for the Canadian Green Building Council.

Van Belleghem’s work in Victoria on Vancouver Island and throughout Canada confirms that environmentally sustainable housing is possible as the norm rather than the exception.

Van Belleghem was the visionary force behind Victoria’s Dockside Green, a world-leading sustainable development inVictoria on Vancouver Island. The mixed-use Vancouver Island waterfront development on Victoria’s  inner harbour has won significant global accolades, including breaking the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum record for a new construction project.

The Canadian Green Building Council (CGBC) is Canada’s leading green building organization. Its directive is to accelerate green building, energy efficiency and sustainable community market transformation by guiding and supporting public policy, program design, standards and by providing resources for research.

Working with over 2,300 corporate members and eight chapters across the country, the CGBC is also the administrator of the LEED Green Building Rating System™. LEED is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

Prior to Joe Van Belleghem’s work at Dockside Green, he was involved in several LEED projects in Canada including the development consultant for the Vancouver Island Technology Park a high-tech park in Victoria, British Columbia, that was awarded the Gold LEED rating by the United States Green Building Council,  making it the first LEED certified building in Canada.

Van Belleghem is an internationally-recognized sustainable planner and sought-after speaker.  He is committed to the ongoing development, education and promotion of environmentally, socially and financially responsible green building developments.

Joe Van Belleghem is involved in the local planning of the Bamberton development on southern Vancouver Island. Like Dockside Green, Bamberton is also being planned on a remediated brownfield, in one of the most beautiful locations in all of Canada.

Fore information on Vancouver Island real estate visit Vancouver Island Homes.

1stView.ca is a residential development directory for Vancouver Island and was founded by Clarice Coty of the Comox Valley.  This Vancouver Island business is the only online directory of new residential real estate that focuses exclusively on marking Vancouver Island projects. 1stView.ca is pleased to announce that in May of 2010, its site received over 20,000 visits.  This Vancouver Island business guarantees results and states that you will gain proven exposure for your project or business by listing with 1stView.ca.

Excerpted from 1stView.ca.

Vancouver Island housing starts slipped in May from last month; although, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) states that the year-to-date figures are well ahead of last year’s. According to analysts, some of Vancouver Island home builders want to get projects completed early to beat the upcoming HST, while others are holding off to gauge its impact.

The HST which is slated to come into effect on July 1^st, will combine the 7% provincial sales tax and 5% GST. The anticipated increase in the interest rates together with the upcoming HST, has made an impact on the market.

In the month of May 2010, there were 268 home starts on Vancouver Island, down 31% from 389 in April of 2010.  Although, a total of 1,665 starts to date this year are up at 167% above the same months from last year, with 624 starts.

The Greater Victoria region saw housing starts decrease to 132 in May from 213 in April; but were 158% high than the 51 starts in the same month of last year.

Lower land prices outside of the Greater Victoria region have spurred residential home construction outside of the urbanVictoria core. Other Vancouver Island communities such as the Comox Valley and Campbell River are offering great value for new homes.

Find out more from the Times Colonist.