Maria Mak. Burnaby Realtor
@ Tofino
www.mariamak.com
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Maria Mak. Buranby Realtor - Three Canadian cities — Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary — have been named as some of the best places to live in the world, according to a report by The Economist.
Three Canadian cities — Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary — have been named as some of the best places to live in the world, according to a report by The Economist.
In the annual poll, the magazine’s Intelligence Unit ranked Vancouver as the third most livable city in the world; followed by Toronto at number four, and Calgary tied for fifth place with Adelaide, Australia.
Melbourne, Australia topped the list of 140 cities for the fourth year in a row, with Vienna, Austria coming in second overall.
The Economist ranks the cities on 30 factors across various categories, including stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.
Rounding out the top 10 were Sydney, Australia, Helsinki, Finland, Perth, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand.
The report noted the world’s most livable cities were often mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with low population density.
“This can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure,” said the report. “Eight of the top 10 scoring cities are in Australia and Canada, with population densities of 2.88 and 3.40 people per square kilometres respectively.”
It also pointed out that although crime rates may be on the rise in some of the top-tier cities, it wasn’t in the case in all the top 10 cities. Vancouver was an example where crime has been steadily decreasing after the city hit a decade-long record for homicide rates in 2012.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, human rights violations and conflict were responsible for many of the reasons for the bottom 10 cities on the list.
Damascus, Syria was ranked the least livable city in the world, preceded by Dhaka, Bangladesh, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Lagos, Nigeria and Karachi, Pakistan.
“Conflict is responsible for many of the lowest scores. This is not only because stability indicators have the highest single scores, but also because factors defining stability spread to have an adverse effect on other categories,” said the report.
“For example, conflict will not just cause disruption in its own right, it will also damage infrastructure, overburden hospitals, and undermine the availability of goods,services and recreational activities.”
Top 10 Most Liveable Cities
1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Adelaide, Australia
6. Calgary, Canada
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Helsinki, Finland
9. Perth, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand
The Bottom 10
131. Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
132. Tripoli, Libya
133. Douala, Cameroon
134. Harare, Zimbabwe
135. Algiers, Algeria
136. Karachi, Pakistan
137. Lagos, Nigeria
138. Port Moreby, Papua New Guinea
139. Dhaka, Bangladesh
140. Damascus, Syria
© Copyright (c) THE CANADIAN PRESS
Photography by
Maria Mak. Burnaby Realtor
www.mariamak.com
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Maria Mak.Burnaby Realtor - 50 ways to green your home
| Location | Office |  | ||
| Home improvement | Yard improvement | |||
| Water | Green and clean | |||
| Lighting | Living green | |||
| Kitchen | Financing | |||
| Bathroom | Resources |
Location |
1. Green neighbourhoods |
| Buy a home in a neighbourhood close to work, transit, shopping, community centres and other services. |
2. Transit-oriented density |
| New, compact, complete green neighbourhoods are being built with transit as their focus. Instead of owning a car, join a car share cooperative, take transit, cycle or walk. |
3. Score your location |
| Walkable neighbourhoods offer health, environmental, financial and community benefits. Enter your address or the address of a home you want to buy at www.walkscore.com. This tool calculates a walkability score based on the home’s proximity to transit, grocery stores, schools and other amenities. |
4. Lower-cost luxury |
| If it’s features such as a gym or pool you want, buy a strata unit with these amenities and share costs. |
| Back to top |
Home improvement |
5. You choose, you save |
| BC Hydro and FortisBC offer a variety of incentive and rebate programs for home upgrades and rebates. |
6. Install a high-efficiency heating system |
| Make sure it’s ENERGY STAR rated. |
7. Weatherize your home |
| From windows to doors to insulation and weather stripping. Don’t forget to seal your ducts. |
8. Insulate your pipes |
| It will prevent costly heat loss. Here’s how. |
9. Insulate your hot water heater |
| Buy a pre-cut jacket or blanket for $10–$20. You’ll save up to 10% on heating costs. Learn more. |
10. Install a programmable thermostat |
| Set it lower at night and during the day when you’re away. Lower the temperature. Each degree below 20C saves you 3-5% on heating costs. |
11. Replace your furnace filter |
| This optimizes performance, as clogged filters reduce airflow, forcing your furnace to work harder. |
12. Get the most from your fireplace |
| Here's how to make it efficient. |
13. Use curtains |
| In the daytime during summer, close to help cool your home. Learn more. |
14. Use an electric fan |
| Skip the air conditioning. On hot summer days, place a bowl of ice in front of a fan to cool down. |
15. Install ceilings fans |
| The energy it takes to run a fan is less than an air conditioner. In summer, make sure the fan’s blades are rotating anti-clockwise for a cooling effect. In winter, the fan should be running clockwise, pushing the warm air down. Learn more. |
| Back to top |
Water |
16. Fix leaks, fix leaking taps |
| One drop per second equals 7,000 litres of water wasted per year. Learn more. |
17. Install a filter |
| Stop buying costly bottled water which adds to the landfill. |
Lighting |
18. Change your light bulbs |
| Lighting accounts for 15% of your energy bill. Replace old bulbs with ENERGY STAR rated bulbs. |
19. Motion detector lights |
| Turn lights off outside when not in use. |
20. Keep it dark |
| Light pollution is an increasing problem. Turn off outdoor lights to save energy and encourage night life such as bats and frogs. A single bat can eat tens of thousands of mosquitoes nightly. If you have safety concerns, use motion detector lights – which come on, only as needed. |
21. Holiday lights |
| Use LED lights. |
Kitchen |
22. Replace your fridge |
| An old energy guzzling fridge costs you about $90 a year to operate. Replace it with an ENERGY STAR fridge. BC Hydro will also not only come and pick up your old fridge free of charge, they’ll give you $30. |
23. Replace your freezer |
| Buy an ENERGY STAR freezer and save money with lower operating costs. |
| Back to top |
Bathroom |
24. Low flow shower |
| Hot water accounts for 25% of your energy costs. Showers can be the largest single contributor to overall hot water use in a home, accounting for 15% of total household energy use. Save with a low-flow showerhead. |
25. High efficiency of dual flush toilets |
| These are now required in new homes because of water savings. |
Office |
26. Use smart strips |
| Also known as power bars, this lets you power off all equipment at the same time. |
27. Buy energy smart electronics |
| Buy energy smart electronics and save. |
28. Recycle your old electronics |
| Here's how. |
| Back to top |
Yard improvement |
29. Conserve water |
| Fresh water comprises just 3% the world’s total water supply, so conserve. Get a rain barrel and harvest water you can use in your garden. Local governments such as Coquitlam and Richmond will subsidize the cost. |
30. Less lawn and low-maintenance lawns |
| Lawns waste water. Instead, conserve and beautify using indigenous plants such as ferns, tiger lilies and hostas. Or try a low-maintenance lawn that is made up of a diverse mix of hardy, drought-tolerant, slow-growing turf grasses, that require less mowing, fertilizing and watering than conventional lawn species. |
31. Elbow grease |
| Don’t power wash your driveway. Sweep it or use a scrub brush and pail. |
32. Drip irrigation |
| It saves water compared to sprinklers. |
33. Grow your own |
| How much more will you spend on food this year? Even a few miniature fruit trees and a small vegetable garden in a raised bed or in containers on your deck will help keep you healthy and save you dollars. Lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and blueberries thrive in our climate. Learn more. |
34. Preserve your poduce |
| Invest in home canning jars and equipment and a small freezer and enjoy your produce year round – at considerable savings. Here’s how. |
35. Bee friendly |
| We need bees to pollinate, so plant a few bee-friendly annuals such as asters, marigolds, sunflowers, zinnias; or perennials such as clematis, foxgloves, hollyhocks, roses or shrubs such as Buddleia. Consider becoming an urban bee keeper, some municipalities like Vancouver allow bee keeping in your backyard. |
36. Go chemical-free |
| “Get rid of weeds without using chemicals that harm us and our pets,” advises REALTOR® and Richmond City counselor, Derek Dang, who led the way to a bylaw banning cosmetic pesticides. His suggestion, “Use dish detergent or weed by hand.” |
37. Plant fruit trees |
| They’ll give you shade and fruit. Growing guide. |
38. Compost |
| It will make your garden grow and divert waste from the landfill. |
| Back to top |
Green and clean |
39. Clean green |
| Vinegar, baking soda and lemons clean as well as expensive, chemical-filled cleaning supplies for a fraction of the cost. |
40. Upgrade your washing machine |
| Replace your old washing machine with an ENERGY STAR washer that gets clothes clean using cold water. Wait until you have a full load instead of washing clothes as you need them. Clean the lint trap of your dryer after every use. |
41. Green laundry detergent |
| Use phosphate-free, biodegradable detergent. |
42. Install a clothesline |
| Dryers use a large amount of energy. |
43. Get a rack |
| If your neighbourhood or strata prohibits clotheslines, buy a small drying rack. |
Living Green |
44. Recycle |
| Recycling keeps materials that can be recovered (paper, glass, metals, plastics, food etc) out of the landfills; and in the case of organics like paper, food, yard waste, it significantly reduces greenhouse gases from landfills. Learn more. |
45. Buy local |
| Buy local, organic and fair trade food. Your food doesn’t travel long distances, you support local farmers and the local economy and you consume less pesticides. |
46. Don't use paper or plastic |
| Use cloth bags when you shop or reuse your plastic bags |
47. Backyard chickens and bees |
| Become involved in your own food production, raise chickens for their eggs or bees for their honey in your backyard. |
| Back to top |
Financing |
48. Borrow green |
| Most financial institutions offer “green” mortgages, including: • BMO Eco Smart Mortgage offers home buyers preferred interest rates on qualifying green properties. • RBC Energy Saver™ Mortgage gives home buyers a $300 rebate for a home energy audit and preferred interest rates. • Vancity offers a Bright Ideas Home Renovation Loan at prime +1% to home buyers and owners making green renovations. • CMHC offers a 10% Mortgage Loan Premium refund and possible extended amortization for buyers purchasing an energy-efficient mortgage or making energy saving renovations. |
49. Loan programs |
| Pay-as-you-Save (PAYS) loan program will help home owners and businesses finance energy efficiency improvements through a loan from BC Hydro or FortisBC. Pilot programs starting in November 2012 in certain BC locations. |
Resources |
50. Green Tool Kit |
| BC Real Estate Association’s Green Tool Kit provides information, references and links. It also provides comprehensive information on rebates and incentives. |
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