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Workshop

Rainwater Harvesting with Gord Baird LIVE 2023

Date/Time

April 6, 2023 - May 11, 2023
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm

Related Publication

How to Guide for a Community Food Forest

This handbook is designed to help you build a micro food forest tied to your community. It is the culmination of a program put together by the Cowichan Green Community to design a community food forest on a steep, underutilized space around their urban building.

This publication was produced by Cowichan Green Community.

50% of the proceeds from the sale of this publication goes directly back to Cowichan Green Community's efforts.

Learn more and purchase this guide.

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Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

The global water shortage and many local restrictions are becoming all too common. What was once an unimaginable situation, is now a common occurrence for countries, regions, cities and people - not enough water to live on.
Rainwater harvesting is a viable and now practiced trade that anyone can learn to apply at the personal, professional, municipal or institute level, if you have the right information and instructor.
Gord Baird is an American Rain Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) Accredited Professional ASSE  Certified International Rainwater Designer and Installer and has actively designed and installed dozens of rainwater harvesting systems for potable and irrigation use at all scales of application.
This course is for anyone who sees that learning how to safety harvest, store and use rainwater is a valuable skill for their professional or livelihood.
WORKSHOP OUTLINE
Session 1: Introduction to Rainwater Harvesting
  • Why Rainwater Harvesting?
  • Scarcity
  • Climatic influences and considerations
  • Resiliency in a time of scarcity
  • Rainwater Harvesting for fire mitigation
  • Governmental influence on regulations
Session 2: Rain 101
  • What’s in our rain?  Myths and Realities
  • Classification of rain systems (rooftop collection, stormwater)
  • Types of end uses for Rainwater Harvesting
  • The Canadian and USA standards for design
  • Understanding risk assessment when considering the end-use
Session 3: System Components
  • Collection
  • Conveyance
  • Storage
  • Supply
  • Detention/Retention considerations
Session 4: Design Steps
  • Site assessment for suitability for desired end use
  • Water budget
  • Precipitation
  • Collection potential
  • storage sizing
  • Treatment requirements
  • pump sizing
Session 5: Non-potable and Potable
Non-Potable
  • 3 tiers of end-use
  • Tier 1
  • Tier 2
  • Tier 3
  • Irrigation - more detail
Potable
  • Standards, Regulations, Gorvernance
  • Materials
  • Treatment
  • Water testing - What to test and frequency (raw, treated)
  • Commissioning a system
  • Documenting operations and maintenance
  • Residential vs multi-connection
Session 6: Alternative Storage and Responsible Strategies
  • Water Impoundments: Ponds
  • Soil
  • Microbes
Rainwater Harvesting Challenges
  • costs
  • responsibility to manage
  • expanded development
Open Class Discussion - Personal Rainwater Harvesting Scenarios
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WHO THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR

-- Anyone faced with dwindling or limited water sources
-- Regulators that are seeking to learn more about alternative waste management trends
-- Professionals working remotely who've moved to their summer cottages and now need to address their lack of water,
-- Home Builders/contractors (timberframe, loghome, natural builders) working on remote islands,
-- Engineers,
-- Homeowners who are thinking about building,
-- Tiny homes on wheels seeking to ensure their systems are mobile
-- Temporary camps seeking a responsible method to deal with otherwise harmful wastes,
-- Architects - Water Designers, professional associations seeking course to meet annual training needs
-- People with water issues and a lack of water and want to decrease their water usage,
-- Permaculture designers and educators,

NOTE - No previous knowledge of rainwater harvesting is required for this workshop.

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WORKSHOP EDUCATORS

Gord Baird
Gord Baird’s background and experiences stem from building the Eco-Sense homestead, a Living Building Challenge project that includes net zero water and waste systems, located in the District of Highlands on Vancouver Island. Addressing sustainable building, waste and water systems in the context of conventional codes and standards spawned an interest to change policy. Gord Baird is an American Rain Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) Accredited Professional and has actively designed and installed dozens of rainwater harvesting systems for potable and irrigation use at all scales of application.  An unexpected career developed from the passion to stir the pot of sustainable water stewardship, compost toilets, policy and governance.  Gord’s policy work includes being a technical editor the Province of BC’s regulations on compost toilets and greywater, consulting for municipal and regional governments on rainwater harvesting for potable use and developing non-potable water reuse guidebook for commercial and multi-family residential building for a regional government. He sits as an elected municipal councillor, is the 4 year vice-chair for the CRD Regional Water Supply Commission, and is an 8 year commissioner for the Juan de Fuca Water distribution Commission.  Hands on work include co-authoring the Essential Composting Toilets  book, designing and installing over 30 residential potable rainwater systems,  strata small water systems, and is an ASSE internationally certified rainwater harvesting designer and installer.

Eco-Sense
www.eco-sense.ca

Javan Kerby Bernakevitch
Javan Bernakevitch is a life and land designer, speaking, writing, teaching and consulting with clients, businesses and farms all over the world through All Points Design and RegenerativeLiving.online.

He believes if we don't design our lives, they'll be designed for us, and not for our benefit. In his words “If humans want to have a long life here on our planet we best act like we are part of the ecology.” He works to ensure that his client's lives and landscapes get better every year.

All Points Land Design
https://allpointsdesign.ca

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LOCATION

This LIVE series will be conducted ONLINE in the comforts of your own home via Zoom video conference software. You will receive an email link to the workshop one week before the start date.

All sessions are recorded.

You'll have lifetime access to all course content after the series completes.

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WHEN

Thursdays 7pm PT, 8pm MT, 9pm CT, 10pm ET

1 Hour Presentation
30 Q and A

April 6th - May 11th 2023

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COST

REGULAR PRICE $299 USD
EARLY BIRD $199 USD
PRE-LAUNCH PRICE  $149 USD (This is a one time price that will be offered to anyone on this list before the public course launch for a limited time)

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THANK YOU

Thank you for taking the time to note your interest.

We'll be in touch when registration is open.

We are looking forward to having you in the course.

Gord and Javan
Regenerative Living: Rainwater Harvesting

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