Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Euroclad Folding Door System

Euroclad Folding Wall System


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The Euroclad Folding Wall is custom designed to meet each design need, contact our Sales Representative to create your own vision.

 
 
  

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Designing new careers - Kelowna News - Castanet.net

GREAT WORK by Local Students!

Designing new careers - Kelowna News - Castanet.net

Designing new careers
by Wayne Moore - Story: 73763
Apr 12, 2012 / 5:00 am

You could call it a friendly competition with satisfaction on a job well done as the ultimate prize.

Two groups of interior design students at the Centre for Arts and Technology Okanagan (CATO) in Kelowna unveiled their handy work Wednesday morning at the 'Dwell' development on Ambrosi Road.

The eight students, who will graduate in September, put their design skills to work on two show suites in the newly completed third phase of the Mission Group development project.

Mission Group President, Randy Shier says the students were asked to take on the task because they fit the age demographic of the development.

"We could not be happier with the results," says Shier. "The results have already exceeded our expectations."

Each four member team was provided with one show suite to decorate from top to bottom including walls and furnishings.

One suite was designed for a single male the other for a young couple with no children.

Lauren Mason who worked on the suite designed for a single male says the concept came from a piece of fabric that contained green, black, a beige colour and some greys.

"We just fell in love with the fabric and everything sprouted from there. That's where we came up with the stripes on the wall," says Mason.  "We tried to incorporate everything from those colours. That's why we have the black couch." She says it's been a great real life experience.

"We were all pretty excited. I don't think the nerves really set in until we had to do our actual presentation to Mission Group," adds Mason.  "We all got right into it and when we saw their reaction to what we had presented to them it was really quite exciting."

Leesa Resch worked on the suite designed for a young couple. She says the suite was designed for a busy couple who will host a lot of dinner parties and have a lot of friends over. "It can accommodate a lot of people but it's not too crowded," says Resch in describing the concept.

She says her group selected a grey/yellow colour scheme because those shades are trending hot right now. They are very elegant, very modern. We wanted our young couple to be on the cutting edge and be very trendy," says Resch.

"I think the grey keeps it very classy, elegant, sophisticated and the yellow just adds that brightness to it. Just a bit of sunshine even if it's a cloudy day like today you go into that space and it reflects the light and brings some sunlight to the space even though there isn't any."

CATO Interior Design department head, Gisela Scholtz, says the practical experience the students received during this project is something they normally wouldn't get until they actually enter the work force.

"It makes them realize that what they are doing in the classroom isn't just an assignment anymore. It's the real McCoy, that they are actually getting ready to go out into the field and launch their careers," says Scholze.

"They are taking it very seriously and taking it very personal. It's setting the tone so that when they go and work for somebody they are ready to roll up their sleeves and get in there."  Scholze says this project should open other developers eyes to just what this age group can accomplish. "The students right now get very frustrated and, it's not just our students, it's the age group," says Scholze. They get frustrated that they don't get heard very well and this gives them a platform to get their voices out, to communicate their thoughts. If you listen to them, they're very smart, very savvy and they are very good workers."

Photo: Wayne Moore - Castanet

Photo: Wayne Moore - Castanet



Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Housing starts building momentum - Kelowna News - Castanet.net

Housing starts building momentum - Kelowna News - Castanet.net

Housing starts building momentum

by Contributed - Story: 73732
Apr 11, 2012 / 9:11 am


Housing starts were up in Kelowna for March compared to the same month last year.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports 44 Kelowna area housing starts for March compared to 31 housing starts in March of 2011.

Both single-detached and multi-family starts increased from last March's levels.

Paul Fabri, a CMHC Senior Market Analyst says single detached homes have been the the focus of new home construction this year.

"Detached home starts totaled 82 units in 2012 compared to 66 during the same three month period last year. Builders of multi-family housing have continued to favour smaller, home owner-oriented projects rather than larger, apartment condominium projects."

Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton housing starts were also higher compared to March 2011 levels.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

REBATES CONTINUE - LiveSmart BC

NEWS RELEASE


For Immediate Release 2011ENER0010-000348

April 6, 2011

Ministry of Energy and Mines and Minister Responsible for Housing

Increased home efficiency rebates help families save

VICTORIA – In partnership with BC Hydro and FortisBC, the Province of British Columbia is extending and improving its popular LiveSmart BC: Efficiency Incentive Program, where homeowners can receive more than $7,000 in rebates for energy saving improvements and equipment.

The program is extended for an additional two years and rebates for improvements like insulation, draft-proofing and high-performance windows and doors have increased by up to 700 per cent.

Effective April 1, 2011, the increased incentives include:

Up to $1,500 for exterior wall insulation, up from $400. Up to $1,200 for basement insulation, up from $500. Up to $750 to install attic insulation, up from $310. Up to $70 per window, door and skylight replacement, up from $40 each. Up to $500 to replace a supplementary heating system with a pellet burning appliance, up from $250.

In all, rebates have increased for 35 of 54 different items, and to further encourage participants to reduce a home’s heat loss, 12 new items have been added to the program.

To access the rebates, homeowners must hire a certified energy advisor to conduct an energy-efficiency assessment prior to and after making any eligible improvements. The advisor will handle all the paperwork in applying for provincial incentives after the post-retrofit assessment.

Quotes:

Rich Coleman, Minister of Energy and Mines and Minister Responsible for Housing –

“For most families, their most important investment is their home. The LiveSmart BC program aims to help more than 40,000 B.C. families protect that investment while fighting climate change. Improving your home’s energy efficiency is a smart way to make it more comfortable, to increase its value, and generate ongoing energy savings.”
 
David Cobb, president and CEO, BC Hydro –


“Anything we can do to make it easier for people to conserve electricity is beneficial not only to

individual homeowners but to our province’s energy future in general. Individual efforts all add

up and will help us achieve our goal to meet two-thirds of new demand through conservation

and efficiency by 2020.”

Doug Stout, vice president, energy solutions and external relations, FortisBC –

“Energy conservation is important to our customers, and we’re proud to continue our

association with the LiveSmart program to offer broader incentives to British Columbians. Our

PowerSense and Energy Efficiency and Conservation programs are also helping gas and

electricity customers manage energy use, reduce costs and lower greenhouse-gas emissions.

Throughout B.C., we provide our customers with advice, programs and workshops, rebates and

other money-saving incentives.”

Quick Facts:

Over the coming two years, the LiveSmart BC: Efficiency Incentive Program will provide up

to $30 million in provincial funding for upgrades, with a further $11.7 million available from

BC Hydro and Fortis BC.

The new incentives are for homeowners entering the program on or after April 1, 2011.

40,000 new entrants are expected to enter the program.

The rebates vary by region – typically 25 per cent higher in the Interior/Northern region for

improvements to insulation and draft proofing windows and doors.

Homeowners are encouraged to use certified installers to improve the quality and value of

the work, with a new $100 rebate for heating systems installed by a certified professional.

The program continues to pay $150 toward each initial energy assessment, lowering the

cost for families to access this $325 service.

Since its inception in 2008, the LiveSmart BC: Efficiency Incentive Program has:

o Stimulated growth green economy jobs, such as manufacturers, distributors, energy

advisors, contractors and tradespeople.

o Grown the number of full-time energy advisors from about 30 to over 125 today.

o Helped more than 65,000 participants in communities throughout BC.

In January 2011, the Province launched the LiveSmart BC: Small Business Program, a new

$15-million, three-year program to support small businesses through energy efficiency

advisors, enhanced product incentives, equipment installation and funding for innovative

energy solutions.

Learn More:
For a full list of the changes and incentives available to homeowners through the LiveSmart

BC: Efficiency Incentive Program visit:
www.livesmartbc.ca/rebates
 
To learn more about the LiveSmart BC: Small Business Program visit: www.livesmartbc.ca/green_business/index.html