fiberglass-shingles / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Metal roof with solar panels
Roof coverings

How to choose roofing materials

1. Asphalt shingles: Asphalt shingles © Ecohome We’ll start with shingles to get it out of the way, because choosing an eco-friendly, durable roof covering starts first with dismissing any idea of installing asphalt shingles. High-embodied energy, rarely if ever recycled, they deteriorate rapidly with UV rays, emit s...

Tesla Solar Roof shingles
Solar photovoltaic

The Tesla Solar Roof: we love the hype, but we'd like to see some actual facts.

Tesla is a powerful brand that when riding on its track record of Electric Vehicles needs to do little but step into a market to get glowing accolades. Some of it is well-deserved, but in the case of their solar shingles that are flooding news feeds, we found very little hard facts behind the big marketing push. To get...

Tesla Solar Roof Tiles installation just got easier
Solar photovoltaic

Tesla solar roof gains ground with target of 1000 solar roofs / week

The Telsa solar roof tiles are in the news again. They now have solar panel shingle installations going in 8 states so far - with what's becoming competitive pricing. If news of these PV roof shingles is also news to you, check out our Tesla solar roof review from when it was first announced in 2016. What was missing b...

Photovoltaic solar panels
Renewable energy

Solar heating and energy generation

Solar energy Our future truly depends on us continuing to develop and implement renewable energy systems. In Canada, Ontario is at the forefront of that movement by offering strong financial incentives for homeowners to produce their own energy. Some of the other provinces seem to be lagging behind, offering artificial...

How to Vent Roofs - the Methods, Vent Types, Fans
Walls and Roofs

Why Roofs need to be ventilated and how to ventilate a roof properly

It is pretty much inevitable that at least some warm, moist air from living areas will find its way into the roof of a building and bring with it the very real risk of frost and ice forming in a cold climate, or mold and rot in a temperate climate. This is a simple product of physics and the realities and limitations o...

Tesla Solar Roof Cost Comparison, Competitors & Reviews
Solar photovoltaic

Are Tesla solar roofs worth the money? Are there any competitors? Our take on the future of BIPV

Rooftop solar-power production is fairly commonplace now, and you always know exactly which roof has them because they are highly-visible and somewhat clunky looking. They aren’t ugly but, they aren’t really beautiful either.  As a follow-up to our original article on the Tesla solar roof here, the next phase of solar-...

Siding Choices - Board and batten siding
Exterior cladding

Choosing the right exterior siding for fitting, cost comparisons & appearance

Siding is important! There is no stage of home construction that you should rush through, but if there were, it shouldn't be siding. Whatever type of siding product you choose, purchase and installation is not cheap, so you don't want to do it again anytime soon. Your siding needs to protect your home from the weather,...

Basement Design for walls prevents mold & midlew when renovating & finishing
Healthy indoor air quality

Basement renovations: How to prevent mold when finishing basements

Basements don't have to be moldy, that is the first thing to realize. It's easy to build a basement better, or to finish an existing basement correctly, we just need to realize that they behave differently than above grade walls and to build accordingly to effectively deal with the humidity found underground - and by d...

Roxul mineral wool batt insulation in LEED Homes
Insulation and soundproofing

Choosing the right insulation: the pros, cons and applications for walls, slabs & basements

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...