This weekend is the annual Illuminares Lantern Festival at Trout Lake (John Hendry Park). It’s scheduled for Saturday, July 28th and begins at 7pm and culminates at 11pm with the fireworks. It will go forward despite the civic worker strike.

If you’ve never experienced this before, you are in for a treat. It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the summer with your community and to simply have fun. There is dancing, singing, fireworks and fanciful lanterns.

The event is planned by the Public Dreams Society (which also puts on the Parade of Lost Souls) but it wouldn’t happen without the support and full participation of the community. You are more than welcome to attend and observe, but why not build your own lantern and bring it along? It’s a fun family activity….the kids absolutely love it…and when you see hundreds of beautiful lanterns alight dancing in the darkness around Trout Lake it can be magical.

This has to be one of my favorite events of the summer. Apparently, I’m not alone in this. With little more than word of mouth, this event is growing in popularity not just on Commercial Drive, but throughout Vancouver. Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town this weekend and so I will be unable to attend.

You can find more information about Illuminares here.

These days, we have far more options when searching for a new home than previous house-hunters. In fact, one of the best ways that today’s house-hunter can be certain of finding a healthy, green home is by looking for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Homes built with this certification are built to exacting standards of design, construction and materials.

If you can’t find a LEED certified home within your budget, another option might be to look at older buildings. Yes, that’s right. There are numerous benefits to purchasing an older home. First of all, you reduce the ecological footprint required to produce your housing. Consider it housing recycling. The buildings can offer many other benefits such as:

• central location (think lower transportation requirements)
• the beauty of aging and weathering materials (inlaid hardwood flooring, glass door knobs, wood fireplace, etc)
• charming architectural features (coved ceilings, arched doorways, etc)
• low-dust heating systems (such as radiant heating)
• lower price point than new construction.

 When looking for a new home, these tips can help you to find the right healthy and green condo:

• Specify key areas that you are interested in residing in.
  • Spend time getting to know the city and find the communities that you like the most. Get a feel for the restaurants, cafe’s, groceries and other amenities in the community. The less you have to (or want to) travel outside of your new community the better. There’s less stress for you commuting, and less stress on the environment too.
• Communicate your priorities to your Realtor.
  • A Realtor is there to help you find your perfect home. Explain to your Realtor that you are searching for a home with as many green features as possible.
• Use your eyes
  • To minimize heating and lighting costs, consider the impact of the properties exposure to light. The best exposure is to the south, followed by east. Selecting either of these exposures will mean you get the benefit of more sun in the winter months and less overheating in the summer. Also, look for:
    • big windows
    • outdoor space with balcony or patio
    • sliding glass doors
    • space between neighboring buildings (giving you privacy and access to light)
    • views to a varied skyline with water, trees and mountains
• Follow your nose
  • You’ll find you can get a lot of information about the health of a home from your olfactory senses. In the long run, you’ll find the most positive impacts from a home that has no odours, or just the smell of natural, seasoned materials. Take a moment to close the windows, turn off the fans and then see what happens.
  • Watch for the smell of chemicals (emitted by paints, particle board, glues, etc) as well as musty odours.

I just listed this great potential investment property. It’s a studio apartment at 1005-1330 Hornby St in Downtown Vancouver. Given a bit of interior decorating, this studio can easily be rented for $900 - $1000 per month. A very well located condominium, it is minutes to the seawall, a short stroll Downtown, and just on the edge of all that Yaletown has to offer.

I’ll be holding an open house this weekend. Come by and take a look:

Saturday, July 14th: 2pm - 4pm

Sunday, July 15th: 2pm - 4pm 

Take a look at http://www.sebastianalbrecht.com/sales.php to see more information, or contact me at http://www.sebastianalbrecht.com/contact.php and I would be happy to show you the suite.

June was another banner month in the Vancouver real estate market. We had the second highest number of sales during the month of June in REBGV’s history.

We saw a rise of 7.4% in sales in June 2007 over a year ago while new listings rose only 1.3% over that period. Prices rose approximately 10% during that time.

“Housing sales in Greater Vancouver continue to be higher than historical norms. Combine strong deman with a healthy number of active listings, and you have a good market for both buyers and sellers,” says REBGV president Brian Naphtali.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation recently released these 10 steps that all of us can take to help keep our planet healthy. Some of the side benefits to adopting some of these changes include saving money, healthier living, and increasing our homes resale value!

Don’t drive, use transit

Switching some of your local travel from a car to public transit can save up to 230 kg of CO2 per year for every 1,000 KM you drive.

Think Smaller

Dropping your family car a size or two can eliminate 1,100 - 2,600 kg of CO2 each year. This change will also save you hundreds of dollars at the gas pump.

Stay Grounded

For shorter family trips, taking the bus or the train instead of travelling by plane can benefit both the planet as well as your wallet.

Reduce Home Heating Bills

If you live in an older home, improving it’s energy efficiency (with new windows, insulation, a high-efficiency furnace, etc) or even just lowering the thermostat by a degree or two can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Reconsider Your Space Needs

Larger homes use considerably more energy. The next time you consider moving, ask yourself if a smaller home might better fit your needs.

Buy Green

When buying appliances, choosing the most energy-efficient models can save up to 400kg of CO2 per year.

Stay Out of Hot Water

Wrapping your hot water heater in a thermal blanket and keeping it turned down to 50 C can save a family of four 600kg of CO2 per year.

Eat Your Vegetables

Adopting a less meat-intensive diet can have a significant impact on your greenhouse gas emissions, plus benefit your family’s health.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Cutting your garbage production by just one bag a week can save your family 300kg of CO2 per year.

You Have the Power

In response to consumer demand, many utility companies are introducing Green Power options at a premium price. By switching to green power, you can reduce your home’s CO2 emissions.

There are many benefits to making your home more energy efficient. It can reduce energy use, drafts, summer overheating, moisture and condensation problems, personal health issues, noise from outside and greenhouse gas emissions. Making only a few of these changes can lead to signifant increases in your quality of life, as well as those of future generations.