Meet Samantha Shannon, mom, wife, daughter, entrepreneur, photographer — and now an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her film, No Demo Net Zero, took the Audience Award for Best Short Doc at this year’s Central Alberta Film Festival.
As she greets me, her first words are, “This stupid door! It’s never worked properly!” as she slams it shut.
Raised in Brockville, Ont., where everyone is “related to everyone else,” Sam ducked out of her high school graduation party early, jumped on a Greyhound bus and arrived in Alberta for a two-month stay before heading off to university in Kamloops. There she met her husband, Kevin, and it was there where they finished their bachelor’s degrees. After completing their master’s in Australia, they chose Airdrie as their home in 2012.
“We loved it from the beginning,” says Sam. “It was cute, affordable and offered more opportunities. Airdrie quickly became home.”
Sam was always interested in how things worked, thinking she might be a mechanical engineer someday. And she was always keen on sustainable stuff.
“As a kid, we lived well below the poverty line, so saving money is deeply ingrained in my DNA,” she says. “And I decided to see what it would take to get to net-zero energy consumption.”
Kevin, her greatest supporter, was on board and she went from there. Doing online research, they started with one thing at a time. New windows. More attic insulation.
“As I learned more, I did more,” says Sam. “As an HGTV junkie, I found out about a product called aero barrier, to create a more airtight house.”
And that is how she found Amelie Caron, founder of EcoSynergy, and agreed to film Caron’s attempt to create a net-zero home. Caron wanted videos taken of her project. As it unfolded, Sam could see the documentary in the making.
“She is a building scientist. She is brilliant. She is my mentor,” enthuses Sam.
Learning as she went, Sam saw what worked and what didn’t with Caron’s home.
When the furnace died in her own house, Sam got down to serious business. Taking equity from their home and receiving a Green Homes loan for $40,000, the Shannons installed 42 solar panels, double the average. They also dug down 250 ft. to put in a ground-source heat pump, allowing them to remove natural gas.
“The neighbours definitely wanted to know what was going on!” Sam says.
Looking for more in the way of grants, Sam discovered Canadian Geographic’s Live Net-zero home improvement challenge and was accepted into the competition in June 2023. Eight Canadian families participated in the eight-month challenge to reduce emissions, lower their carbon footprint and energy costs.
The Shannon family was shocked to learn they had won the challenge, which came with a $50,000 cheque.
“We found out in April, and I thought it was a late April Fool’s joke!” Sam says.
With these funds, she says they installed an air source hybrid heat pump for water, donated a thermal camera to the Airdrie Public Library and, finally…
“We got a new front door!”
For more information on the challenge, go to canadiangeographic.ca.
