automated-home / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Smart homes take advantage of smart phone technologies to provide you with automated control of your homes systems such as heating and lighting.  This guide provides a comprehensive look at the key aspects of this topic. Below is an overview of the sections we will cover, allowing you to jump directly to the informatio...

As the effects of climate change become more pronounced every year, it is becoming virtually impossible for the most ardent climate change deniers to dismiss it, despite their valiant efforts. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): "Rising global average temperature is associated with widespread change...

Spending more time at home in the last few months since Covid-19 redefined our reality has presented many with an opportunity to clean, rearrange furniture and make lifestyle modifications. One thing we noticed at home was that some of the items that found their way into our recycle bin, or worse, the trash bin, really...

Countless inventors are stepping up to the plate with the latest and greatest green technologies that will save the planet. This is great to see, but the waters of sensible change will no doubt be muddied along the way by some failed attempts, some questionable claims, and perhaps even a little snake oil!  We found the...

The first thought of home lighting design should be the orientation of windows for quality of life, but also passive solar heat gain. Not only does the sun offer free heat, but free light as well. Natural and certain types of artificial lighting can reduce the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.). Studies s...

The low carbon footprint of the S1600 kit house The Ecohabitation Eco-Habitat S1600 prefab kit home was designed by PARA-SOL Architecture & Development and built by Batiment Pre-Fab Inc. The experts of Ecohabitation recently calculated the total carbon footprint of this surprisingly affordable prefab eco home, whic...

Not all insulation materials are the same, and they are not always interchangeable A basic understanding of how walls work is needed to help you understand what you can reasonably expect insulation and building materials to do for you when they are part of a wall assembly. If you have a working knowledge of building sc...

Proper planning is the key to successfully building a sustainable green home. An energy-efficient ‘eco home’ doesn’t necessarily need to cost a lot more than a code-built home because a lot of that depends on design, but choosing and finding green building materials can take a bit longer as they often need to be specia...

Find non-toxic adhesives and sealants: Modern homes have a lot more caulking and adhesives than older homes. Adhesives are liberally applied to many surfaces for ease and speed of job completion, as well as to prevent squeaking between flooring and joists, for example. Functionally speaking, caulking is used to prevent...

Acoustic panels in homes: do they help make homes less noisy?  Unwanted noise transmission and echoes in homes can be frustrating. There are easy ways to sound proof new homes under construction, but that does little for older homes. While many people turn to acoustic panels to improve the acoustic wellness in homes, t...

Basements, downstairs in more ways than one For those wishing to become homeowners, one of the decisions you'll face when buying a new property is whether or not to choose a home with a finished basement. This decision can have significant implications for your lifestyle, your finances, and your quality of life. We wil...