kenogami-house / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Alex Wilson is the founder of the journal Environmental Building News, Green Building, GreenSpec and recently the Resilient Design Institute. The following is a brief description of his vision, and the steps our team took as designers, builders and homeowners to meet that criteria for the Kenogami House.  The acronym: ...

Performance: Passive Solar Index 15 Registration date: February 12, 2015 Region: Saguenay, Quebec Type of construction: Single-family New home PSI rating: 15 kWh / m² Method of calculation: Modelled Built by owner Alain Hamel, the Kenogami House is located at Lac Kenogami, Saguenay, Quebec, and is a winner of the Green...

Along with its unprecedented achievements, the Kenogami House continues to act as a laboratory for resilient, cold climate building practices. Through software energy modeling it was determined that the Kenogami House would likely require 14.6 kWh of heat per square metre per year, but its actual performance seems to b...

The Kenogami Net Zero Energy off-grid house is a virtual energy laboratory, and in constant evolution. Every system of this award-winning home is innovative from the heating and ventilation systems to the production of domestic hot water. Energy systems as advanced as this have never been seen together before, and coll...

A resilient home for Sustainability Northern Quebec isn’t a place where one might expect to look for a model of resilience. It’s bone-chilling cold in the winter with 10,450 heating degree days per year (Fahrenheit degree-days, base 65°F); there isn’t all that much sunlight in the winter, and Quebec—let alone northern ...

Are Tiny Houses Worth it? Are Tiny houses a good investment? That depends on your lifestyle and how well you build them. Here are some things to think about before you join the Tiny House Movement and commit to life in an extremely small space.  We have featured a number of tiny houses on our pages over the past few ye...

To buy, or not to buy, a tiny house on wheels? That is the question... I’ve recently been looking at Tiny Homes for sale, mostly THOW's, but first, the background. As a single woman approaching the “big 3-0”, and especially with current events forcing changes in everyday life, I realize how lucky I’ve been to spend the...

  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 ...

Passive House design, how does it work? If you've ever sat in a car with black leather seats in the summer, particularly when wearing shorts, you already understand passive solar heat gain. It is a very simple concept that as a building technique dates back thousands of years. You simply need to find out where south is...

Vancouver has been fighting the good fight in a battle against urban sprawl that arguably started in the 1960's when citizens stopped a major highway from being built through the city, which would have been similar in scale to the Gardner Expressway in Toronto. Instead of a major artery allowing cars a quick exit from ...

In the fall of 2015, the City of Ottawa conducted a public-consultation survey to gauge interest in a change of bylaws to allow secondary dwellings (Coach Houses or Tiny Houses) to be constructed on existing residential properties when space allows for it. The result was positive, with 60% of respondents in favour. Thi...