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As more green-minded Canadians look to spend their vacation dollars in eco-friendly places, environmentally sensitive resorts, hotels, inns and lodges are popping up like organic mushrooms.
Whitewater Village, a year-round eco-resort of 38 cottages planned by Windmill Developments, one of Canada’s top green builders, is the latest addition to the growing list of vacation venues across the country.
Featuring geothermal heating and cooling and solar hot water, the development will break ground next spring along the Ottawa River, northwest of Ottawa near rapids that draw whitewater rafters and kayakers from around the world.
It will be adjacent to the Wilderness Tours whitewater business near Beachburg.
Whitewater Village, which will be surrounded by a 4,000-acre land trust to keep further development at bay, aims to be carbon-neutral and will have a peat moss sanitation system. The exterior of the cottages, generally two-storey structures of 1,700 square feet, will be constructed of logs certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Interior features will include bamboo floors, wool carpets, formaldehyde-free kitchen cabinets and recycled-paper countertops.
“It’s a fairly untapped market,” says Jonathan Westeinde, Windmill’s managing partner. “It’s a little outside the box for what we do, but part of the reason we’re there is it interests me a lot.
“When you look at the market for green and sustainable, you’re getting downtown urban condo dwellers and you’re getting a lot of cottage owners.”
Urban condominiums have been the principal focus of Windmill, which has built such projects as Dockside Green in Victoria, The Bridges in Calgary and The Currents in Ottawa, all to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. Windmill will apply those principles to the eco-resort.
“All the interior finishes will be the same as if it was a LEED home,” says Mr. Westeinde.
Whitewater Village is aimed at families who might not be able to afford the rising cost of a cottage property, or be willing to put in the year-round commitment to a property that is actually used for only a portion of the year.
The 38 cottages will be sold on a fractional ownership basis—akin to a timeshare, but the owner can sell and buy just as with any other real estate, says Mr. Westeinde. People can buy five weeks of cottage time, spread through the year, for prices ranging from $60,000 to $85,000.
The market for eco-resorts is growing and will continue to do so, says Joseph Hnatiuk, president of the Saskatchewan Nature and Ecotourism Association, which has been accrediting ecotourist lodges, parks, hotels and tourism sites since 2000 under a program approved by the International Ecotourism Society.
The combination of millions of retiring baby boomers and the growing interest in environmental issues are behind the burgeoning market, he says.
“I’ve seen tremendous progress, but not as fast as I’d like to see it develop,” says Mr. Hnatiuk. “With the (current) attitude regarding the environment, it’s getting a little easier.”
Laurie Adams, owner of E’Terra, a five-star inn built to LEED Gold standards within the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve on Ontario’s Georgian Bay, says she has proven that high-end eco-resorts attract clients.
“It does work, it’s on the ground and I think there should be more of it.
“It is a big growing trend because the awareness that’s being put out there now is in people’s consciousness. I would like to see that it goes beyond ‘flavour of the year.’ ”
To ensure it does, Ms. Adams tries to educate guests about eco-friendly materials and methods so they can make changes in their everyday lives.
For more information, visit whitewatervillage.blogspot.com
© The Ottawa Citizen 2007