heating-systems / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized rating system for commercial buildings and homes administered by the CaGBC (Canada Green Building Council)  to encourage sustainable building practices. While the commercial program has been in effect for much longer, LEED for Homes C...

  There are 8 LEED categories with a total of 136 available points, and a minimum amount is required to achieve certification. This point threshold is determined by the size of the house compared to the amount of bedrooms. To encourage increased housing density, homes with more bedrooms per total square foot have lower...

This post is courtesy of Hutchinson Builders Sustainable building practices are doing more than just helping the environment - they are also helping to create stronger and more prosperous communities. This is according to the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), with its chief executive Romilly Madew explaining ...

Similar to electric baseboards, hydronic heating systems facilitate zone heating as you can keep different rooms at different temperatures. Though different from electric resistance heating, hydronic systems are ultimately still using electricity to generate heat, so all the same environmental realities apply. Heating ...

Electric heating is the best option in Quebec. The downside? Hydro-Québec struggles to meet demand during peak hours. Bi-energy heating systems address this problem by using another energy source, which unfortunately is often a fossil fuel. To reduce GHGs and meet environmental targets, fossil fuels must be eliminated ...

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...

What is the Living building challenge? The Living Building Challenge is the most rigorous and comprehensive of all building rating systems. Performance requirements include net zero energy, water and waste, measured after a full year of operation only. LBC is broken down into 7 performance areas,  which are then subdiv...

More and more homebuyers are starting to demand energy-efficient new homes and are pushing the building industry towards building better homes with lower fuel costs. Building Zero Net Energy homes is also a trending subject, and they are becoming more common as societies transition away from carbon-based economies and ...

Is Electric Heating Eco-friendly? Determining whether or not electricity is an efficient and ecologically responsible means to heat a home should include the initial electricity production as well. Burning fossil fuels to fire electric power generation is only around 30-60% efficient. There is also significant loss fro...

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...

Radiant heating systems are very common in concrete floors now because they provide a very balanced and comfortable distribution of heat. Those systems are most commonly hydronic, meaning heated liquid is pumped through tubing in the concrete which then radiates that heat into the house. View the slab on grade foam for...