Green Building Practices
A deep respect for the rural landscape and three years of careful planning led our team to a number of sustainable solutions. Here are a few examples of environmental stewardship at The FootHills.- Using site-adaptive design to blend homes into the landscape – Our landscape architects walked the site and configured each lot based on environmental considerations. The result: More natural terrain remains undisturbed and homes blend into the hillside.
- Clustering homes to minimize the size of the development footprint – By grouping homes into clusters, more natural land features can be preserved and fewer roads and sewer lines are needed.
- Integrating open space and homes to create a sense of community – An extensive trail network will provide residents and visitors with multiple access points into FootHills Park.
- Conserving green spaces – We’ve preserved a 900-acre forested park in the centre of the community. Also, 75% or more of each lot’s natural habitat will remain protected.
- Reforesting many areas – Where trees were removed by the previous owner of the land, we’re replanting more than 27,000 trees.
- Restoring riparian zone vegetation – We’re restoring stream channels, wetland ecology, and revegetating riparian areas with red alder, western red cedar, willow and big leaf maple trees.
- Controlling invasive species – Encroaching blackberry bushes and Scotch broom will be replaced with native plant species.
- Installing the largest geo-exchange system on Vancouver Island – More energy efficient than heat pumps, this technology relies primarily on the earth’s natural thermal energy to heat or cool a house.
