r-2000 / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

...R-2000 & Net Zero Home Label: This is the mainstream path for many Canadians, often supported by federal programs like the Canada Greener Homes Grant. It starts with an EnerGuide rating to benchmark energy performance, which is the gateway to achieving the well-respected R-2000 standard or the top-tier Net Zero Hom...

...R-2000 is a government run program that encourages energy efficient building techniques, with an energy performance of 50% better than code. Certified homes can only be built by licensed R-2000 builders. Like many of the earlier programs, R-2000 focused solely on the building envelope and performance until very recentl...

...R-2000 standards for energy efficiency, indoor air tightness quality, and environmental responsibility in home construction. The Midori Uchi will be a show home for showcasing green home design for approximately one year. Some notable design features of the Midori Uchi: Rammed earth walls (first time in a single famil...

What does the R value of insulation mean? The thermal performance of wall assemblies and insulation products has long been characterized using R-value, a metric which describes thermal resistance. While R-value is useful, it doesn’t tell the whole story about heat flow through building enclosures such as walls and roof...

Understanding U-values, how are they different to R-values? Most homeowners have a general idea of what R-value mean, and it is the most commonly understood metric for detemining insulation values of wall assemblies and other building envelope compoments. R-values for insulation typically range between about R3.5 per i...

  This guide provides a comprehensive look at the key aspects of this topic. Below is an overview of the sections we will cover, allowing you to jump directly to the information you need. What is graphite-enhanced EPS (GPS/G-EPS)? Performance metrics: R-value and R-per-inch Global market and terminology Key applicatio...

Aerogel in sustainable building: Is this the best new insulation material?  Aerogel is often called 'frozen smoke' because of its wispy, translucent appearance and extremely low density, and it provides extremely high R-values when incorporated into building materials. While it sounds like science fiction, this materia...

Thermal drift in insulation: are insulation R Values accurate and why do they change? Thermal drift is the phenomenon where the initial, high R-value of certain foam insulation products decreases over time until it stabilizes at a lower, Long-Term Thermal Resistance (LTTR). For those that think in 'R-value per inch', w...

Best practices for attached garages: a homeowner's & pro's guide Designing an attached garage requires a sophisticated approach to building science to ensure that convenience does not compromise indoor air quality or thermal performance. Because these structures share a common wall and often a ceiling with the prim...

What is the two thirds rule? How insulation and wall assemblies work best In the world of durable, high-performance green building, few concepts are as little understood as the two-thirds rule. It's pretty much common knowledge that in cold climates the vapor barrier goes on the inside of insulation, and in hot humid c...

The pursuit of a sustainable and fire-safe building envelope involves weighing complex trade-offs between different rigid insulation boards. While fossil-fuel-based materials like XPS and EPS face scrutiny for their embodied carbon and chemical blowing agents, they remain dominant for valid performance and cost reasons...