An organic vegetable garden is another key component of the landscape plan. No matter how environmentally sound a building might be, the people constructing and living in it must behave in an environmentally responsible manner. So a comprehensive waste management program was undertaken during construction to reduce the impact of the house construction and operation on the environment. To encourage the residents of the house to practice the three Rs, a number of features have been designed. The kitchen contains a recycling centre which allows separation of materials for recycled and composting.
Storage space is designed to accommodate bulk buying in refillable containers.
Performance The Green Home's performance is impressive. It has a peak space heating requirement of four kilowatts, the equivalent of three hair dryers. In total, the Green Home uses only 28 percent of the energy of a similar-sized new home. Water use is only 26 percent of the standard home in Waterloo region. Accurately determining the cost of the home is difficult because several components are prototype units and not yet commercially available.