Energized by Passion

Chelsah Thomas is so passionate about renewable energy it’s hard to believe she didn’t begin her education in the field. Her post-secondary journey started in the RDP Sociology program and she went on to graduate school at the encouragement of her professors, earning a Master of Environmental Management degree at Western State Colorado University. 

For her master’s project, Thomas was tasked with creating a solar social enterprise. She wanted to build an installation company, “We knew it was going to pick up crazily, which it has with all of the grants, new technologies and prices coming down. Because my degree at RDP was in Sociology, it was also important for me to include community.” Her company, Sol Invictus Energy Services, is based on that project.  

“After graduation, my husband and I were beginning to build our house and I was really enthusiastic and passionate about sustainable construction. I’d completed my master’s degree and I had a lot of learning under my belt with regard to renewables and solar. I was trying to locate consultants in the area that were familiar with energy efficiency, energy modeling, and Passive House design and there was nobody in Central Alberta. So, I took my Certified Energy Advisor course through Natural Resources Canada and my Passive House certification and became my own consultant.” She now offers consulting services through Sol Invictus Energy Services. 

Sol Invictus works mainly on energy audits, creating energy code compliance reports for new projects and providing energy consultation and assessment on both new and existing buildings. Sol Invictus can help homeowners lower current costs and can provide an EnerGuide rating. The Federal EnerGuide For Homes program encourages builders and homeowners to choose EnerGuide rated homes and to learn about their energy consumption. The hope of Natural Resources Canada is that EnerGuide ratings will become a requirement so that people can purchase homes – both old and new – without surprises in their energy bills. In her role at Sol Invictus, Thomas does a lot of energy-modelling to identify how much energy a building is using, where it’s losing energy and how these numbers compare to other buildings. “Then, at the end of the day, I can provide an EnerGuide rating so that homeowners or builders can compare that building to others.” Energy modelling is already a component of the Alberta Building Code so EnerGuide rating is a logical step.  

“There’s a lot of energy illiteracy, and not just in our area. People don’t know about the technologies, design methods, and construction methods available, so it is important to have – not just advocacy for solar and renewables and energy efficient design methods, but an education component.” 

Thomas’s personal commitment to sustainability goes even further, culminating in The Thomas House passive house project.  

The German design standard, “Passive House,” is a nod to the building’s ability to be passively warmed by the sun though design strategies like orientation. It retains this heat through high-tech and thoughtful construction including high-efficiency windows and air-tight practices. When you reduce your heat load, you reduce your need for energy consumption: the Thomas House doesn’t have a furnace. It might sound crazy, but energy efficiency is about more than how much energy you use, it’s also about how much you conserve, recycle and replace. 

“While we didn’t meet Passive House certification in some areas, there’s a lot of technology in our build that goes over and above the Passive House standard that just makes sense in our climate, including a high-performance heat recovery ventilator (HRV) which brings preheated, filtered, fresh air into the home while exhausting stale air and toxins.” A hybrid hot water heater coupled with a drain water heat recovery system recovers heat from shower and appliance waste water and transfers it back into the hot water tank. The Thomas House also accommodates personal concerns such as indoor air pollution and environmental impact by using low-VOC and low formaldehyde materials, recycled rubber roofing, and sustainably sourced cabinetry. It preserves the natural landscape by limiting tree removal and uses these features for solar access, watershed and wind protection. 

The Thomas House is more than a Net Zero home, using both rooftop and ground mounted solar panels. “We generate as much as we consume onsite through solar photovoltaic but, what is unique about our project is, we have a hybrid system where six kilowatts of our eighteen-kilowatt system are off-grid on battery back-up.” An important consideration in rural Alberta. 

The Thomas House is ultimately her family home, but will serve to demonstrate the energy initiatives, processes and products Sol Invictus can consult on. “Building a high-performance home is logistically and economically feasible in our climate,” Thomas’s numbers bear it out and the Thomas House, which will open for public tours during a number of community initiatives over the next year, makes it a reality.  

Ultimately, Thomas wants people to start thinking about energy. Whether building or renovating, consider the energy efficiency of your choices and try to take advantage of the shift toward renewable energy. Globally, solar is the fastest growing source of new energy. Advances in technology coupled with the increasing affordability of solar panels make it even more accessible. It’s important that the manpower exists to implement renewable strategies and the Alternative Energy Initiative at RDP will make sure the workforce can meet this demand. Thomas’s Passive House project highlights the need for skilled installers, knowledgeable consultants and experienced contractors. Thomas’s extensive education, passion for environmental management and personal experience on this unprecedented project give Sol Invictus a valuable perspective for consultancy, retroactive energy rating and proactive energy modelling.