Boot camps are all the rage these days. Usually, they target the moderately out-of-shape looking for discipline, instruction and washboard abs. But a new breed of boot camp has sprung up in Edmonton to teach wanna-be handymen/women how to convert their homes to eco-palaces.

According to the Edmonton Journal, since the "clean energy" training centre began in June, classes of about 20 students, have crunched the numbers on energy consumption before picking up wrenches and learning what it actually takes to install different types of solar collectors that produce hot water, or photovoltaic modules that create electricity on a rooftop. One instructor, Harold Verburg, is an electronic technologist who has worked with cooling systems for industrial electrical equipment, so he has plenty of experience with the technology. Other courses taught by a variety of experts include wind power, biodiesel systems and straw bale building that actually ends with the construction of a small structure.  

Very cool idea.