lac-megantic / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

The vision: a brighter future for Canada and North America through an evolving mid-rise construction industry Canada is the country of wood and we are all invested in the successful future of this sustainable industry. The construction of mid-rise buildings (between 6 and 10 floors) is the most important sector of the ...

Located in the bustling Griffintown neighborhood of Montreal, Canada, the mass timber Arbora mid-rise project is the largest complex of its kind in the world built with a wood-based structure. This innovative mid-rise development's time-lapse video of Arbora's frame and floor construction demonstrates how mass timber c...

After a difficult first half to 2020, heat waves then took hold across North America, from Canada down into the Southern and Central USA. These extreme summer temperatures pose a very real health risk to the most vulnerable members of society.   There are some tips to help keep a home cool during a heat wave, but faced...

Geothermal vs. ASHPs - what's the difference? Heating and cooling systems play a crucial role in maintaining comfortable indoor temperatures in homes everywhere . With advancements in technology, homeowners have various options for energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. Two popular choices are geothermal heating...

How do the best heat pumps work? A heat pump works very differently than other home heating systems, in that it doesn’t ‘generate’ heat the way a furnace, boiler, radiator, oven or even a toaster or hair dryer would; instead, it collects heat from one place and transfers it to another. Think of your refrigerator as an ...

How well does a mini split heat pump work in a LEED or Passive House certified home?  Really well as it happens, see a great example of a split system heat pump installation in the Edelweiss LEED Platinum V4 Home below: The Edelweiss House has a radiant floor to keep our feet comfortable but we rely on a Mitsubishi Mr....

Our previous update covered aspects of the building envelope, which allowed us to reduce the annual heating requirement to about the Passive House standard of 15 kWh per square meter. Windows are a part of that but they are also part of our energy performance strategy. The house is laid out south facing to maximize pas...

Heat Pumps explained simply When it comes to residential heating and cooling systems, few types of heating systems are as energy efficient as heat pumps. But what exactly are heat pumps and how do they work? In short, a heat pump is simply an electrically powered device that is capable of transferring heat from one pla...

SEER v HSPF v COP (& SCOP): Understanding Heat Pump Ratings Many people are considering making the switch to a heat pump, for a variety of different reasons, including the heat pump grants available in Canada and the USA to offset the cost and the potential cost savings of buying and installing a single unit that c...

Geothermal Heating Systems for Homes Domestic Geothermal heating systems can be a great way to heat a home, replace a furnace, and are labeled as money savers. Question is, are they worth the hype? Here's a quick view first of how they operate. Starting at depths of between 6 and 10 metres, the temperature of the earth...

The University of British Columbia has opened the most sustainable building in North America, a $37 million 'living laboratory' that will help to regenerate the environment and advance research and innovation on global sustainability challenges. The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) is one of onl...