Living Lab Showhomes Ready for New Families

As laboratories go, the comfy, newly-built Wilden Living Lab is already a winner!

As laboratories go, the comfy, newly-built Wilden Living Lab is already a winner! After the official ribbon cut on January 25th the Home of Tomorrow is now open for the public until February 28th. Both homes, the Home of Today and the Home of Tomorrow are now for sale.

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran honours the project as a contribution to growing the city responsibly.

“These two homes represent a milestone accomplishment in a long and proud history of Okanagan College’s trades programs supporting our communities,” said Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton at the ribbon cut celebration. “What is most striking about the project is the unique collaboration between the partners. I’m looking forward to watching the project develop as UBC continues to conduct research on the efficiencies of these two homes.”

UBC Deputy Vice-Chancellor Deborah Buszard

“A manifestation of federal and provincial investments in innovation, this project is a perfect example of research that impacts communities both local and global,” said UBC Deputy Vice-Chancellor Deborah Buszard. “The Wilden Living Lab is the outcome of true collaboration. It demonstrates the value of the partnership between Okanagan College and UBC, educating the skilled workforce we need and creating new knowledge.”

The collaborative research will start once the homes are occupied. It is being conducted by UBC Professor Shahria Alam and Wilden, with support from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada over the three-year project.

Click the images for sales information on the 2 homes.

The Home of Today is built to current code requirements and is now ready for a family to move in. Click image for more.

The Home of Tomorrow exceeds the current building code and uses renewable energy sources. Click image for more.

This past weekend, the project came away with a top prize at annual Tommie Awards,
organized by the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA) Okanagan chapter. The project won the gold FortisBC Award for Building Energy Efficiency. The Wilden Living Lb was also the silver medal finalist for these awards:

• Excellence in Show Home $500,000 & Under
• Best Environmental Initiative in Construction (Residential or Commercial)
• Excellence in Public or Private Partnership