diamond-schmitt-architects / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

The high performance almost ZNE Warburg house by bioi - built for under $100,00
Efficient home design

A High Performance Home on a Shoe String Budget (Almost ZNE!)

On a wooded Canadian farmstead in rural Alberta, the new house replaced an old home that was no longer able to fulfill its function. The architectural concept for the new home was simple: open, flexible, efficient (almost Zero Net Energy), and for an economical budget - not everyone can manage to build affordable net z...

Beautiful LEED home in Mulmur, Ontario.
LEED Homes

A beautiful lakeside LEED Platinum home

As described by the architects: Designed for a client with environmental sensitivities, +HOUSE is a manifestation of a sustainable and healthy approach to building that does not sacrifice design. Sited facing the bank of a stream-fed pond, this four-season house is nestled into a natural slope. Extensive 14-ft high gla...

The Affordable Architect-Designed Modern Green prefab 2 Bed kit home
Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

Le Refuge - An Architect-Designed modern Green prefab 2 bed kit home

The tiny house movement is on the far end of the scale of a very encouraging and growing trend towards modern smaller home sizes. Small homes take less materials to build than large homes, and they consume less energy to operate. Ergo, smaller homes are ‘greener’ homes. At least most of the time…  Tiny houses are on on...

Le Refuge - An Architect-Designed Modern Green prefab tiny house kit home
Tiny house

Le Refuge - An Architect-Designed modern Green prefab tiny house kit home

The tiny house movement is on the far end of the scale of a very encouraging and growing trend towards modern smaller home sizes. Small homes take less materials to build than large homes, and they consume less energy to operate. Ergo, smaller homes are ‘greener’ homes. At least most of the time…  Tiny houses are on o...

Home construction
How to Find Qualified Green Building Professionals

Hiring professionals or doing it yourself

1. Hiring an architect: We discussed previously the idea of choosing an architect that specializes in high-performance Eco-friendly home design and can co-ordinate the work. They should be able to help you find general contractors and subcontractors that can help you carry out your work according to plan. This route is...

Efficient green home design choices
Concept and design

Efficient home design, or how to design a home to use less energy

The  principles of green building: High performance, energy efficient homes may include features like geothermal heating, wind power and solar panels, but these are not the defining features of green living. They come in second, and some you can even do without. A green home starts with being well-designed, well-insula...