New Calgary community touting smart, sustainable living

Not many people can say they're neighbours with a winning entry in a national sustainable housing project, but the new Calgary community of Echo Haven has the credentials to prove it.

About 15 years ago, Dave Spencer,development manager with Echo-Logic Land Corporation and others decided they wanted to build a green oriented home after volunteering for a project in Scenic Acres.

"We couldn't find anybody who could build kind of exactly what we wanted so we ended up buying this(2.2 hectares) in Rocky Ridge and of course we had more lots than we could use so decided to go into the development business," Spencer said.

Thinking about buying your first home? Getting ready to sell and upgrade your current home? Do you want to be better prepared and have a bit more knowledge about what all is going on? This is a simple dictionary of real estate terms that will help you out along the way.

This is by no means every term you will hear, but it's a start.

The good thing is that a REALTOR® already knows all of these!

Located just west of the Calgary city limits and nestled in prairie grasslands with Rocky Mountain vistas, the communities of Bearspaw and Springbank offer open air country living with easy access to big city amenities.

The Canadian Pacific Railway established the Bearspaw Station in 1909. Named for Chief Masgwaahsid or Bear's Paw, the station west o Calgary has grown to be a sought after destination for acreages and commuters.

For many, owning a home is a dream that can take years of saving to accomplish. For many lower income Calgarians, those dreams come true thanks to the many affordable housing options available in the city.

In 2011, a survey of non-market rental housing in Calgary revealed 31 providers of non-market housing in Calgary. They manage 584 projects that provide 11,759 units of subsidized housing for low-income Calgarians as well as 465 Calgary Housing Company Projects.

This morning Landmark Homes invited CREBNow to check out their first high efficiency showhome.

Stuart Wen, Marketing Coordinator with Landmark Homes gave us a tour and some in depth information as to how they made the home a net-zero home.

We know it has always been a secret fantasy of yours, but instead get ready for Calgary to bare it all!

Thirty-six venues will Do YYC Naked the weekend of Sept. 29 and 30, allowing Calgarians to see both familiar places and venues they're never had a chance to visit before.