buying-building-house / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

For most of us, purchasing or building a home will be the biggest investment of our lives. This section is about knowing what to look for in new homes to get the best value for your dollar, or what to look for in a building lot for the same reasons. What to look for in a home location: Being close to where you work an...

Buying a house in retirement Are you planning to downsize, move closer to family, or relocate to your dream retirement destination? While changing homes is typically associated with younger adults, many seniors are making the decision to buy a home in retirement. However, buying at 65 isn’t quite the same as buying at ...

For most of us, purchasing or building a home will be the biggest investment of our lives. This section is about knowing what to look for in new homes to get the best value for your dollar, or what to look for in a building lot for the same reasons. What to look for in a location: Being close to where you work and pla...

Choosing between buying, building or renting  1. Building a new home. Building a sustainable and energy efficient house is not necessarily more expensive than building a house simply to meet provincial building codes. Many new home starts have achieved far superior performance while still coming in the same or lower in...

It is not illegal to sell an unbuildable lot, so buyers beware. Any number of roadblocks can prevent you from building the house you want, or any house at all, so before you make a purchase make sure you can proceed with your plans. Issues to consider before making an offer: Zoning: First check that you are allowed to ...

A market study by AVID Ratings Canada for the Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) surveyed 12,000 homebuyers across Canada to see what Canadians are looking for when they go house shopping. We were pleased but not at all surprised by the results - here they are: The top 10 assets that homebuyers value: 1. Walk-i...

The following are some things to think about while evaluating a home before making an offer. If you're a driver: Check the route from the house to your place of work on Google traffic maps to estimate how much time you will spend in a car every day. If you're a cyclist: Check maps for bike lanes, bike paths and general...

Officially billed as displaying the best of 'carbon minimalism', Third Quadrant Design's Third Space Commons building combines the best of sustainable design with intelligent recycling of materials, a portland cement / concrete-free build and extensive use of innovative green building materials like hemp and hempcrete ...

Using materials found on Craigslist and salvaged from the landfill, Jenine Alexander built herself this super affordable Tiny House. Since first building this sweet little home on wheels, she has actually completed two more. If you're interested in DIY Tiny House projects, be sure to check out her blog where she writes...

  The environmental advantages of wood frame construction: As just about the only renewable building material, wood has many advantages over other materials. It requires less energy to produce in terms of resource extraction, manufacturing and transportation. While still prevalent in residential construction, wood has ...

Building a Passive House that's also LEED certified This is an owner blog EcoHome posted following the personal experience of Sarah Cobb and William Murray of Rocket Construction Inc. as they built a home in Abercorn, Montérégie, Quebec. Setting the bar about as high as you can, they targeted both LEED certification an...