lumos-energy / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Wind turbine © Jinterwas, Flickr
Lifestyle and environment

Clean energy infrastructure and efficient-housing for Canada's Indigenous communities

Representatives from 18 communities across Canada attended three week-long intensive sessions last summer as part of the clean energy capacity-building 20/20 Catalysts Program, sharing knowledge and experience in the development of clean energy infrastructure. Riding on that success, this summer the focus will be on en...

Heat Recovery Ventilation - Lunos video
HRV and ERV

Lunos ductless air exchanger

Almost daily, new products come on the market that are more efficient, more effective, and/or more innovative. The ones we are really impressed with will make it here to our product of the month feature. Today we look at a new solution for changing the air in your home while maintaining excellent energy efficiency in h...

DIY air exchanger installation video
HRV and ERV

DIY Lunos HRV air exchanger installation video

This heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system is very different than what people are probably used to seeing, where air is directed to a centralized core for a heat exchange before being exhausted from the house. Lunos is a decentralized system with a series of self-contained units, each with their own ceramic heat exch...

Renewable energy wind farm
Renewable energy

What is clean energy?

What is the cleanest energy?  Despite how commonly  the term ‘clean energy’ is used, there is actually no such thing. At least not in the power delivery market; there are only various levels of ‘dirty’ energy. Starting with the worst and moving up, that would in general be - coal, oil, natural gas and propane, wood and...

Solar panels power the Kenogami House in Saguenay, Quebec
Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

The Kenogami House: Energy systems in Net Zero Energy Home Design

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 Renewable Natural Gas refinery built in Quebec with misguided public funding?
Renewable energy

Renewable Natural Gas (or not), RNG or Biogas Under The Microscope...

Recent articles have praised major public investments in biomethanization plants around Canada and North America. These huge chemical plants produce renewable natural gas (RNG) which is a pipeline-quality gas that is fully interchangeable with conventional natural gas and so can also be used in natural gas vehicles. RN...

Solar Electricity Generation & Storage with no Batteries, Azelio
Renewable energy

Azelio Solar solutions combine electricity generation & storage without Batteries

New technology combines solar power generation & battery free power storage The forever-changing landscape of the green home building industry sees ideas come and go, and on occasion a game-changing technology or product emerges. The big news lately is in renewable energy - solar power generation, solar power stora...

Decentralized Energy Generation for LEED, Passive House & Green Homes
Renewable energy

Which is the Best Type of Home Energy Generation for Green Homes?

Home Energy Generation, which option is best? How the electrical grid is fed near you will be a huge factor in determining the carbon footprint of your home, with or without your own renewable power generation such as having solar panels on your roof. If you live near a windfarm, that's where most of your power comes f...

60 Minutes On This Bicycle Can Power Your Home For 24 Hours (In Theory Anyhow)
Renewable energy

Can you really power your home with a bicycle generator?

Mitigating climate change at home, get on your bike! As we look for ways to mitigate climate change, improving home energy efficiency and decentralising power generation is something we can do to reduce our personal energy consumption and carbon footprint. Theoretically then moving towards home solar, wind power and ev...

Product of the month: Aquion’s Aqueous Hybrid Ion saltwater home batte
Renewable energy

Aquion’s saltwater home battery

Updated: Aquion as a saltwater battery is no longer available in North America having moved to China after being bought out. But we've heard about a Dutch company who are starting to commercialize something similar - subscribe to the EcoHome newsletter here and be the first to find out when salt water batteries are ava...

Transparent solar power producing windows
Renewable energy

transparent solar panels

When considering solar cells as thin as laminate and completely transparent, the possibilities seem endless. Imagine every glass or laminant surface in our built environment and all of our devices, large and small, harvesting solar energy. In a world of passive, self-sustaining mini-power stations, would the need for f...