Housing affordability is one of the biggest issues facing B.C.

Sally Hollingsworth, a Kelowna realtor, has been intrigued by the interest shown in earth homes since shesa国际传媒檚 been researching the viabilities of one in the Okanagan for a client.

sa国际传媒淭hey want to find an efficient green home, that saves on heating and cooling,sa国际传媒� said Hollingsworth. sa国际传媒淚 think people are getting more interested because there is this whole element of society that wants to leave a lighter footprint.sa国际传媒�

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Earth homes are smaller sized houses that are often built underground or built into a slope of a hill. Often times, a container house will be built into a caved hill and covered with soil and dirt to insulate the house.

The insulation allows less heating and cooling of the house, said Hollingsworth, as the earth homes have average temperatures of 16 C year round.

Construction costs are less; the lot sizes are smaller and the containers, which cost around $4,000, can be stack-able and constructed into a comfortable home.

sa国际传媒淚 started envisioning a whole development that they can become. It would need forward thinking in our municipalities, as itsa国际传媒檚 more minimalistic. Less might be more,sa国际传媒� said Hollingsworth.

While researching the possibility of earth homes in the Okanagan is one thing, getting the right work done to start building one is a different story.

Research of the desired lot, working on building schemes, finding out if there are environment sensitivities close to the desired lot, and communicating with an environment planner before the building planner are all necessities when it comes to building earth homes, as well as any new home on a lot.

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sa国际传媒�(People) need to do research, and find whatsa国际传媒檚 allowable by the regional district,sa国际传媒� said Hollingsworth. sa国际传媒淎 place where you can buy a lot where they are less expensive is because theysa国际传媒檙e (often) off the beaten path.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淔inding (more) places where people can use these means communities need to open up to accommodate them.sa国际传媒�

One of the big concerns is that the sa国际传媒渦glysa国际传媒� containers could drop the surrounding prices of property value, but grass and gardens on top of the earth homes will add a cosmetic appeal to the already large financial appeal, especially during this time of discussing affordable housing, she said.

Since her research has begun, Hollingsworth said that there has been more and more interest from other realtors in the Okanagan looking to get more information.

Information on Okanagan reality can be found at Hollingsworthsa国际传媒檚 .

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