step-house / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Aerial view of BRE Innovation Park Living City Campus
Lifestyle and environment

Seven experimental homes being built at the Living City Campus North of Toronto

The BRE Innovation Park (Building Research Establishment) that lies 15km north of Toronto will soon build a new series of houses in which emerging building products and technologies can be researched and enhanced. The Sustainable Technologies Evaluation Program (STEP) is run out of The Living City Campus at Kortright, ...

BC Energy Step Code - Builder Design Guide &  Requirements explained
Building codes

The new BC energy step code: builder design guide & requirements explained - Vancouver

The new BC Energy Step Code - The details The BC Energy Step Code is a new provincial standard intended to provide an incremental approach to achieving more energy-efficient buildings that will help the province meet its goal of having all new buildings be Net Zero Energy ready by the year 2032. The City of Vancouver S...

Bike lanes in Vancouver
Lifestyle, location and commuting

Vancouver's goal of becoming the Greenest City by 2020

In our previous article we discussed the building trend in Vancouver known as Laneway Housing, where new homes are being created in backyards, accessed by lanes in the centre of city blocks. More densely populated neighbourhoods means more efficient use of city services, and a more vibrant and active local business com...

Lasagna Gardening - How to Build an Easy Vegetable Garden
Food production

Lasagna gardening - the easiest vegetable garden at home?

Lasagna gardening - what is it? The easiest way to turn a backyard lawn into an organic food-producing garden is by building a lasagna garden, as there is no digging required. The first thing we will clear up for any rookie gardeners; we aren’t planting noodle trees where we will be harvesting penne and rigatoni. Not e...

Faulty Toilet Flappers Leak a Lot of Water - here's how to replace them
Bathrooms

Faulty toilet flappers are the leading cause of leaking or running toilets, here's how to fix them

Why fix a leaky toilet flapper? Another of the jobs that sat on my Honey-Do-List for quite a while longer than I care to admit has been to fix the leaking toilet flapper in the bathroom at the cabin - made worse by us being off grid and only having a relatively small amount of water available in our outside rainwater c...

Canada Greener Homes Grant 2022 - How to apply fiberglass attic insulation
Grants and incentives

Canada Greener Homes Grant 2022 - the "how to apply" guide - step by step

How and why to claim the Canada greener homes grant Buildings, including homes, account for 18% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. With the new greener homes grant the Government wants to encourage Canadians to make homes more energy-efficient so they can be more comfortable and more affordable to run, while also su...

Step by step guide for slab-on-grade home construction
Slab on Grade

Slab-on-grade construction: the ecoHOME A to Z Slab building guide

Slab on Grade foundation, detail design; the basics There are many different soil conditions and corresponding slab designs. This page is about how to build a thickened edge concrete slab on grade FPSF footing on soil with a high water table to prevent frost heave, by first installing drainage below the slab.  Related ...

Slab-on-grade construction technical guide
Slab on Grade

Slab-on-grade technical guide

Slab-On-Grade Construction - Technical Guide   Deciding to build your home with a slab-on-grade foundation instead of a conventional basement or raised crawlspace foundation can greatly reduce your environmental impact during construction, and has the potential to offer significant financial savings as well. By replaci...

Blower Door Tests - What's the Cost & Who Does Them?
Air and vapour barriers

What is a blower door test? What's the cost? How do you find a company to do one?

What is a blower door test? Blower door tests are becoming part of many State and Provincial mandatory building codes - the new BC Energy Step Code in British Columbia, Canada is one example.  A blower door test is often an essential part of a home audit, we don’t know for sure just yet if it will be part of the free h...

Mobile tiny house
Tiny house

Is Tiny House living in a cold climate good or bad for the planet?

Are Tiny Houses Worth it? Are Tiny houses a good investment? That depends on your lifestyle and how well you build them. Here are some things to think about before you join the Tiny House Movement and commit to life in an extremely small space.  We have featured a number of tiny houses on our pages over the past few ye...

A Tiny House for sale locally set me thinking, should I buy a Tiny Home?
Tiny house

ARE TINY HOUSES FOR SALE LOCALLY A GOOD CHOICE FOR A FIRST HOME?

To buy, or not to buy, a tiny house on wheels? That is the question... I’ve recently been looking at Tiny Homes for sale, mostly THOW's, but first, the background. As a single woman approaching the “big 3-0”, and especially with current events forcing changes in everyday life, I realize how lucky I’ve been to spend the...