By Pioneer staff
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As part of the CleanBC Building Innovation Fund, Collective Carpentry, based in Invermere, is receiving funding to build sustainable, high-performance custom homes. This grant will support the purchase of advanced production equipment while also creating high-skilled jobs within the community and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

CleanBC Building Innovation Fund (CBBIF) provides funding for projects that help make low-carbon building solutions more affordable and accessible. Projects financed by CBBIF include high-performance building designs, new construction methods, low-carbon HVAC systems, and digital technology innovation. 

By supporting innovation in the B.C. building industry,  CBBIF hopes to generate consumer confidence in high-performance buildings and lower the costs of new technologies and building strategies in the long run.

“By incorporating Passive House design principles into our construction practices and eliminating some of the uncertainty associated with accomplishing these building envelope improvements on the jobsite, we can confidently deliver a beyond 50 per cent reduction in annual energy consumption vs. conventional approaches,” said Collective Carpentry co-owner Rane Wardwell in a press release. “B.C. has an opportunity to be at the forefront of this capability and develop the capacity to service an enormous market – at the same time serving a meaningful environmental purpose.”

A portion of the funding will also be used to help businesses affected by COVID-19 keep their operations running, maintain employment, and offset revenue losses. 

“One of the most significant inequities of the pandemic has been the impact on small business owners and their employees, so to see the B.C. government investing in this great local business is very encouraging. This investment in Collective Carpentry is an important one for communities in our region because it will have positive economic, social and environmental impacts,” said Invermere mayor Al Miller in the press release.