passive-solar-heat-gain / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Homes heated by the sun's free heat! Passive Solar Houses are aptly named because there are no wires, panels or batteries and nothing to break down. It's just about design, and it isn't a new concept. Humans around the globe have been incorporating passive solar design features into their homes for thousands of years. ...

Heating when the grid is down: Beyond lighting, cooking and general home operation, the biggest risk to home comfort and security in a power outage is not being able to heat your home. Lighting with candles and eating a cold dinner is manageable, but not being able to keep your house warm in winter is another matter al...

What is Passive House certification? The term “Passive House” was once obscure jargon used solely by construction engineers & technically-minded home designers, but now "certified Passive House" is being increasingly specified by construction professionals and homeowners across North America. The concept of Passive...

What is a thermal battery? Thermal mass of any kind can by definition be called a thermal battery, as it has the ability to store heat. In the context of a house, that means dense materials like bricks, masonry and concrete. Even a jug of water sitting in a sunny window is a thermal battery of sorts as it captures and ...

There are many ways to build a slab-on-grade (or frost-protected shallow foundation), the following is a step-by-step walk though of a thickened-edge slab floor we built. XPS or EPS rigid foam is typically used under concrete slab floors, in this case we used mineral fiber insulation. Note: our mineral wool was provide...

Solariums have been gaining in popularity over the last 20 years, as many homeowners have found them to be a very enticing solution to brightening up a long winter. They are made even more appealing by the many manufacturers who offer solariums at very attractive prices - especially when compared to adding a home exten...

What is Passive Solar Heating & Cooling? Passive heating and cooling of homes is not new. The above image is of Mesa Verde National Park, the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in Colorado, occupied from 700 to 1300 AD. This early North American settlement was shaded from the summer sun, but fully exposed to the su...

The following is a firsthand account of a building project by Craig Anderson and his wife France-Pascale Ménard who bought a large piece of land in West Quebec overlooking the Gatineau River and explored the potential options for creating an off-grid passively heated home. This is the first of many posts that will foll...

First, the background to this Passivhaus My partner and I are geeks. Our idea of a romantic dream was to build a house so well insulated you could heat it with a hairdryer. For added fun, we wanted to do this on a tight budget while raising a young child. The hairdryer part wasn’t a pipe dream – it’s a common way of de...

Passive House construction on Vancouver Island Building the first certified Passive House on Vancouver Island, a duplex shared with our son Mark’s family, convinced us that the market in Victoria was ready for Passive House market condominiums. To follow through, we built the North Park Passive house, a six-unit urban ...

Material choices for window frames: Window frames can be made from a variety of materials offering different levels of performance and insulation values. Air in the cavities between panes expands as it heats up and contracts as it cools, which puts pressure on the seals and frames. When we speak of durable and sturdy w...