green-building-grants / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Lifestyle and environment

Resources and getting started

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...

Green building tax credits & grants 2023
Grants and incentives

Green building tax credits & grants 2023

Important to note: some programs may be discontinued, some new ones may be out there. Please help us keep this page updated if any of these don't work out or you know of others out there and drop a note in the comments at the bottom. According to the EnerQuality Green Building survey in October 2009, 40% of Ontario hom...

Artistic rendition of the 2000 square foot sustainable home being buil
Living Building Challenge

Taking the Living Building Challenge

The Living Building challenge is one of the toughest green building certifications to complete, and has yet to be achieved in Canada. The Endeavour Centre, a not-for-profit trade school in Peterborough Ontario, is setting out to change that when they begin construction this spring on a 2,000 square foot three bedroom h...

Ontario’s first LEED certified hospital
LEED Homes

Ontario’s First LEED Certified Hospital

Bluewater Health announced today that it has been selected as one of the first Canadian hospitals – and the first acute care hospital in Ontario – to achieve LEED® certification. Bluewater Health’s construction of a 588,000-square-foot complex at the hospital’s Sarnia location consisted of a new addition attached to th...

Canada one of the top 10 countries building LEED homes
LEED Homes

The top 10 countries outside the U.S. certifying buildings with the LEED rating system

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released its list of the top 10 countries for LEED® outside of the United States, on which Canada ranked No. 1. The list demonstrates the global reach of the movement that is transforming the built environment into healthy, high-performing structures that benefit the planet a...

Natural Building Insulation Made of Grass - Eco-friendly, Green
Insulation and soundproofing

Non-toxic natural building insulation made of grass

Natural building insulation materials In order to combat the climate change impact of the built environment, natural insulation materials such as hemp insulation, cellulose, wood fiber and grass insulation help us meet emission targets because they act as carbon storage. We are living in a time when the embodied energy...

Net Zero Energy Homes Pilot Canada
Green building certifications

Net zero energy homes Canadian pilot results

Net Zero Energy Homes pilot program goals The goal of the R-2000 Net Zero Energy homes pilot program in Canada was to improve the performance standards of homes, and to raise awareness of energy-efficient green home building techniques among builders. Through participating in this pilot project, every builder became li...

Green building certifications

Powerhouse: the new standard for positive energy design

Powerhouse Paris Proof is a relatively new building standard that originated in Norway that is based on the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°Celsius  target. The standard lists maximum and total CO2 emissions per square metre, which includes the construction phase, energy in operation, material use and disposal. The standard spec...

Net Zero Homes - Canada's first certified Net Zero House in BC
Green building certifications

The first Net Zero-labelled homes in Canada

Net Zero Homes - the design & certification process In May of 2017, the Canadian Home Builders Association [CHBA] officially launched its Net Zero Home Labelling Program, following the successful completion of a 15-month pilot project to validate technical and administrative procedures for building net zero homes i...

Leed platinum plaque
Green building certifications

All about green home certification programs and rating systems for USA & Canada

Why pay for a green home certification? As more people pursue high efficiency green home rating certifications, they become increasingly well known and trusted. Consequently, more people seek them out. Developers build smarter homes when consumers demand them, and the existence of certification programs raises the bar ...

Off-grid LEED Gold house in Low, Quebec
LEED Homes

Canada Ranks as the top country for LEED green building for second year in a row

Washington, D.C. and Ottawa, ON — (July 22, 2015) — Today, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that Canada ranks first on USGBC's second annual ranking of the Top 10 Countries for LEED, the world's most widely used and recognized green building rating system. The Top 10 list highlights countries outside o...