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SPECIAL NOTE!
ATTENTION LEADERS & LEADERS TO BE:
If you are interested in leading EDRS into a new future (and we hope you are), please contact us ([email protected]). We look forward to hearing from you! In meantime, some brief information about EDRS can be found below.

EDRS has always sought to position itself as a source and promoter of leading-edge and beyond leading-edge best sustainable design practices. Since its inception as the first 'green design' not-for-profit organization, EDRS has responded to evolutions in professional practice and social contexts.

In the beginning as the only 'green building' resource locally, we established a library and newsletter to promote and provide information on green design. In later years with the burgeoning of green resources and developments in e-technologies EDRS moved to e-news, web-based resources and hosted the very popular intimate dinner salons to help build and share knowledge and experience related to new sustainable design policies and practice.

In more recent years, various projects seeded by the Board have come to fruition and/or are in ongoing evolution (e.g., Our GreenGuide Project was taken on & completed by the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability. Feel free to contact us for further info and/or to purchase copies at slight discount.)

EDRS TRANSFORMATION

The last time EDRS re-defined itself was in the late 1990s; EDRS is now poised to redefine itself again.

We at EDRS have been pleased to see the increased interest in sustainability and resultant developments of sustainability policies, changes in practice and market response. In the process, a multitude of sustainability-oriented businesses and not-for-profit organizations have emerged. Many of the new enterprising not-for-profit organizations have taken on and far-extended the range of services and resources that EDRS has provided in its history. Sustainability has become mainstream. As such, aside from our listserve, other activities have been postponed pending identification of a new direction, a new Board and the re-casting of EDRS.

TAKE THE LEAD

If you are interested in leading EDRS into a new future (and we hope you are), please contact us ([email protected]). We look forward to hearing from you! In meantime, some brief information about EDRS can be found below.


WHAT IS THE ECODESIGN RESOURCE SOCIETY?

The EcoDesign Resource Society (EDRS) is a not-for-profit organization which promotes environmentally responsible ('green') design, planning and development practices through research, education and communication. In the main, EDRS acts as a resource and forum for discussion on green design. As a non-profit, non-political, professionally-oriented group, it has been instrumental in promoting more environmentally-responsible development practices in B.C. EDRS is solely supported by membership fees and grants from foundations for specific projects.

The EcoDesign Resource Society began in 1992 as a grassroots non-profit organization encouraging environmentally sensitive design and construction. During the first seven years of its existence it operated as a resource centre offering a library of select publications on green design, product literature and samples, as well as publishing a journal and the EcoLines Newsletter. In 1999, in response to the changing terrain of information on green design and development, EDRS chose to shift from an emphasis on assembly, housing and development of resource materials, to a more interactive form.

EDRS currently acts as a local network to share information about green design through the EDRS listserve, website, EDRS events and projects. Events include, for example, invited speaker talks and discussion on building guidelines and performance criteria, exemplary models/cases, and best practices; slide shows; facility tours; dinners, beer nights, and summer barbeques. EDRS's current projects include the preparation of a Primer on Green Design for use as a resource tool for schools and as an introduction to green design for the public. (This project was financed in part by a grant from VanCity Environmental Fund.)


MISSION STATEMENT

EcoDesign will assist the public and the design, building and manufacturing industries to make informed, sustainability-supportive and responsible choices through a range of activities including:

a) Promoting dialogue on design, planning and development issues related to health, the environment, and sustainable development more generally;

b) Providing information on ecologically responsible approaches to designing, planning and developing buildings and communities; and

c) Encouraging demand for healthy and environmentally responsible buildings, products and practices.


EDRS BOARD

Thanks for the many years of vision, guidance and hands-on work from our soon-to-be-outgoing Board.
Fiona S. Crofton President
Mark Holland Vice President
Thomas Mueller Board Member