The Eco-Shed: Not just a holiday

Bowen Island’s Eco-Shed is an urban escape and a model of sustainable design

Craving a break from pollution and hot pavement, and pining for a summer weekend surrounded by trees, I convinced a friend to escape our urban routine. While cruising online looking for a quick getaway from the city, we stumbled across the Eco-Shed B&B on Bowen Island.

This tiny gem, perched atop the side of an island floating in the middle of Howe Sound, has European charm in a stunning natural setting. But that’s not what hooked us: the Eco-Shed, besides being quaint, offered an eco-friendly retreat—with passive solar heating, reclaimed materials and a roof that feeds a rainwater cistern for the edible organic garden that surrounds it. 

During our stay, I read the book that tells the saga of the Eco-Shed’s journey—from idea to guest house—written by our host, James Glave. Almost Green: How I Built an Eco-Shed, Ditched My S.U.V, Alienated the In-Laws and Changed My Life Forever recounts the process of realizing the author’s dream of building an ecologically sound structure that would serve as his writing studio and a model of eco-building practices.

Beginning with a burning desire to downsize his gas-guzzling vehicle, Glave decides to ditch his mammoth carport to make way for his ideal, earth-friendly structure. He enlists the help of a local architect and consults with the Light House Sustainable Building Centre in Vancouver to discover how to approach the project. Along the way, Glave learns that most homes are constructed with each subcontractor working separately, resulting in a lack of information-flow and less efficient buildings. In contrast, integrated design includes all the players from the beginning—from the architect to the plumber—resulting in a greener, more livable home.

Deciding against using mud and straw—the most “green” options—as building materials due to Bowen’s sizable rainfall (and the author’s modest budget), Glave settles on a combination of reclaimed materials and FSC-certified wood. He recounts with humour his quest for the perfect recycled wooden beams. Through sheer luck and determination, he eventually nabs some 20-foot rafters from an old railway trestle for his slanted Eco-Shed roof.

Integrated design beyond Bowen Island

Glave is in good company. Jake Fry of Smallworks, a design/building company that specializes in converting garages into

“EcoDensity” is the term coined by the City of Vancouver for this type of building practice since it avoids urban sprawl by creatively and efficiently using all available space on a property, but in a way that avoids taxing the system’s resources. One example is laneway housing, which was recently approved for Vancouver. While it doesn’t necessarily conform to the same strict codes of sustainable design that Glave attempted to achieve in his Eco-Shed, laneway housing shares that similar inherent value of efficiency in small spaces.

Says Fry, who has designed and constructed laneway housing in Vancouver, “It’s hard to make off-the-grid housing in the city, but you can make housing that’s more effective in its use of energy, land and construction.” In other words, integrated design.

Since integrated design includes all the stakeholders in the building’s construction, this process takes more time and costs more money upfront. However, smart planning, like incorporating south-facing windows to generate heat, for example—a strategy employed by the Eco-Shed—saves money in the long run.

Fry notes that driving this market is a demand from consumers for greener products. And as demand increases, such options will eventually be more affordable.

Eco-Shed restorative

After four days of hiking, swimming, eating fresh baked muffins and picking raspberries from the Eco-Shed’s edible garden, we felt refreshed and Zen-like. A water taxi whisked us back to Granville Island in half an hour, and we disembarked on the dock immune to the crowds and sweltering heat.

Whether you’re curious about sustainable building practices or just want a break from the city, the Eco-Shed is both educational and peaceful. Even if organic gardening or solar heating does not intrigue you, the Eco-Shed is simply a restorative little space, in a beautiful setting that would placate even the most cynical urbanite.
 

Website: www.paulagrasdal.ca