choose-bettween-hrv-erv / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

All homes need ventilation, whether natural or mechanical with an ERV or HRV system. Buildings and houses are no longer constructed leaking heat and moist air the way they used to be; we now build them as airtight as we can, especially Passive House or LEED certified homes. This makes mechanical ventilation essential i...

Why cleaning HRV units is so important  When any machine has its normal operation hampered, it will reduce its efficiency and ability to function properly. Many of us are probably guilty of forgetting about basic maintenance of some of the mechanical equipment in our homes; keeping your HRV (heat recovery ventilator) c...

This heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system is very different than what people are probably used to seeing, where air is directed to a centralized core for a heat exchange before being exhausted from the house. Lunos is a decentralized system with a series of self-contained units, each with their own ceramic heat exch...

Almost daily, new products come on the market that are more efficient, more effective, and/or more innovative. The ones we are really impressed with will make it here to our product of the month feature. Today we look at a new solution for changing the air in your home while maintaining excellent energy efficiency in h...

Homes built in the last 40 years in Canada are relatively airtight. Before that we generally relied on leaky uninsulated walls to provide fresh air and prevent mold and mildew, and they did that very well. Cost and comfort had us adding insulation, but not necessarily sealing our walls. The folly of this was quickly re...

Do house plants clean indoor air? The idea that house plants filter and clean indoor air is at best a mini-truth, and at worst a total myth, and like any pseudo-science health trend, it can have a negative impact as well. Providing false solutions to human health issues gives people a false sense of security. Having pl...

What are home air filters used for?   Air filters on air handling units such as furnaces, HRV and ERV systems are intended to clean and purify the air before it enters the ducts of your home, to protect indoor air quality from being contaminated with airborne particulate. Dust, dirt, and pollen in the air of homes is s...

Vapor Barrier + Air-Con = Damp Moldy Walls So here's a little known fact that most HVAC installers won't tell a potential new client for central air; Polyethylene vapor barriers in combination with air conditioning in homes can rot walls because of the condensation they may cause. This is why if you have a newer home w...

How to protect indoor air quality from smoke during wildfires in homes with HVAC? As we move towards summer in Canada and the USA, we're hoping that last years wildfires are not going to be as bad again this year - but unfortunately in areas like Calgary and the North East of the USA, there have already been air qualit...

Air Tightness in Houses - All about Balancing Air Pressure in the Home We go on incessantly here about the importance of air barriers in home construction to reduce air leakage, but no matter how hard you worked to make a house airtight, if the pressure isn't balanced you will be sucking air in or forcing it out and, d...

  Inspired by the Tiny House Movement, Chris and Malissa Tack designed a 140 Square foot home that sits on a 7’ x 20’ trailer bed. This traditional looking home with gable roof and dormers just happens to be mobile. Though neither Chris nor Malissa are builders by trade (he's a photographer and she's a 3D artist), the ...