seedlings-started / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

LEED Homes

Getting Started

Getting Started with LEED The LEED ® Canada for Homes certification program is based on documentation of the building process and visual inspections by LEED certified Green Raters. Upon successful completion of your project, your home can be awarded a level of either Certified, Silver, Gold or the highest possible le...

Lifestyle and environment

Resources and getting started

Choosing between buying, building or renting  1. Building a new home. Building a sustainable and energy efficient house is not necessarily more expensive than building a house simply to meet provincial building codes. Many new home starts have achieved far superior performance while still coming in the same or lower in...

Passive home designer Harold Orr, one of the original high performance homes
Passive solar home design

The principal designer of the house that inspired the global Passivhaus movement reflects on the project that started it all.

While developing pages on passive heating and cooling and writing about Passive House, we were in contact with Harold Orr, a world-renowned environmental engineer, pioneer of the very concept of 'green building'. and who was recently awarded the Order of Canada for his pioneering contribution to energy-efficient home c...

Why Radon maps by state or province shouldn't replace testing

Radon Levels by State & Province - Why a Radon Test is Essential

Radon gas maps - levels by State or Province Radon maps show where the risk of radon contamination in homes is the highest, But finding the local risk level on a radon map is not a clear indication of safe or dangerous levels of radon gas in a home. For example, below are official maps of the high-risk radon gas areas ...

Tiny Houses encouraged Washington State for Affordable Housing WA
Tiny house

Tiny Houses - Washington State promotes tiny homes & Eco-villages for Affordable Housing in WA

WA Paves the Way for Tiny Home Eco-Villages: Tiny houses, also colloquially referred to as tiny homes, are both an increasingly attractive and affordable housing option as well as a trending alternative lifestyle choice across North America and Canada as people realize that “quality of life” doesn’t depend on surroundi...