A sustainable building advocate is trying to encourage Kelowna residents to downsize through his tiny house workshop.

Kenton Zerbin has been living in an off-the-grid tiny house for seven years. He has travelled all around the world studying permaculture, the art of living sustainably with nature and has been an educator since the beginning of his career. When the pandemic hit, he was forced to move his sustainable living classes online and discovered a new passion in the process.

sa国际传媒淚 enjoyed learning how to make videos. After the online course was made, I thought, sa国际传媒榃ell, I still cansa国际传媒檛 teach in person, so I may as well keep working in the video world,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� said Zerbin. sa国际传媒淎nd so we made a reality show.sa国际传媒�

The Tiny House Master Plan documents the start to finish process of constructing and designing a state-of-the-art tiny home. The first season shows the team building the tiny home from the trailer up. The second season will be a sa国际传媒渢ightersa国际传媒� season, said Zerbin and will show audiences the furnishing and design of the home. Then, the team plans to take the home across the country on a nationwide tour.

sa国际传媒淚t has a theatre stage that drops down from the back of it, so we can actually do concert events and workshop events with people doing a drive-up movie theatre experience,sa国际传媒� said Zerbin.

After the tour, they will be giving away the tiny house to a subscriber of their YouTube channel.

Zerbin hasnsa国际传媒檛 let his reality show halt his passion for teaching. Over the weekend, he gave Kelowna residents a crash course in the ins and outs of living tiny by hosting a workshop.

sa国际传媒淎 lot of people are excited [about tiny houses], but they want to learn a little more,sa国际传媒� said Zerbin. sa国际传媒淭he course is meant to be a crash course. To really help them [the course takers] learn what they are about to get into if they are considering building a tiny house.sa国际传媒�

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During the three-day course, participants learned how to design a tiny house to suit their needs, live legally in a tiny house and the steps in constructing a tiny house.

Adrien, a participant in the weekend workshop, has been passionate about sustainability since he was a kid. He said he would sa国际传媒渄efinitely considersa国际传媒� living smaller, but he feels that the City of Kelowna needs to help out tiny home hopefuls.

sa国际传媒淐ity council needs to get involved to change the zoning to make tiny homes more accessible,sa国际传媒� he said.

Tiny homes may also help create more space for Kelowna renters, at an affordable price.

sa国际传媒淚t is very expensive to develop a new neighbourhood,sa国际传媒� Zerbin said. sa国际传媒淏ut to allow a secondary suite, or whether thatsa国际传媒檚 RV parking in the back or an Auxiliary Dwelling Unit, a permanent tiny house sa国际传媒� that offers the ability for more residents to be in the city.sa国际传媒�

While tiny homes arensa国际传媒檛 for everyone, there are definitely some indisputable benefits that house owners may not have considered.

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The essence of a tiny home is quality over quantity. This shines through in the high-end finishes present in many tiny homes, despite their full cost being less than the down payment of the average home.

sa国际传媒淚 got my dream house in an affordable way,sa国际传媒� said Zerbin. sa国际传媒淚t allows me to live the life I want and not work a 40-hour workweek for a job I donsa国际传媒檛 want.sa国际传媒�

For anyone interested in a tiny home, Zerbin has a few pieces of advice.

sa国际传媒淒o a lot of research,sa国际传媒� he said, chuckling. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 fine to look at dream pictures and see them on Pinterest and watch the shows, but if you get your heart set on something that isnsa国际传媒檛 allowed, that can be quite soul-crushing.sa国际传媒�

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isabella.harmel@kelownacapnews.com
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