heating-cooling-ventilation / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

What is passive solar heating and 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 sun ...

Homes built in the last 40 years in Canada are relatively airtight. Before that we generally relied on leaky uninsulated walls to provide fresh air and prevent mold and mildew, and they did that very well. Cost and comfort had us adding insulation, but not necessarily sealing our walls. The folly of this was quickly re...

How solar air heaters work: Solar air heater diagram © Ecohome The above diagram indicates the basic concept of a solar air heater, and while there are many designs, the basic principle is the same - a small fan feeds interior air into a south-facing wall-mounted panel. Air is heated as it passes behind a black surfa...

Homes designed for passive heating and cooling offer noticeably lower utility bills, not to mention increased comfort and security during power outages. In our humble opinion, the first thought for any home being designed or built, should be - which way is south and how do I use that knowledge to passively reduce the f...

How to protect indoor air quality from smoke during wildfires in homes with HVAC? As we move towards summer in Canada and the USA, we're hoping that the last few year's wildfires are not going to be as bad again this year - but unfortunately in areas of Canada and the Midwest of the USA, there have already been air qua...

It is pretty much inevitable that at least some warm, moist air from living areas will find its way into the roof of a building and bring with it the very real risk of frost and ice forming in a cold climate, or mold and rot in a temperate climate. This is a simple product of physics and the realities and limitations o...

Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) are an essential component of any air-sealed high performance home, bringing in fresh air and removing moisture. An HRV uses the heat in stale exhaust air to warm incoming fresh air. Until now, this has meant a centralized heat transfer core and a network of ducts feeding and drawing ai...

What is radiant cooling? Radiant cooling is an alternative to typical forced air home air conditioning systems. Radiant home air conditioning involves reducing the temperature of floors, ceilings, or walls so they absorb heat from the air, rather than cooling the air itself as with normal A/C systems. By cooling surfac...

Attic conversion: a homeowner's and pro's guide Transforming an underused attic into livable space can be one of the most rewarding home renovations because it is just waiting there for you to come and claim the space. If your home layout allows for it without much structural modification, turning attics into additiona...

Is electric heating eco-friendly? Determining whether or not electricity is an efficient and ecologically responsible means to heat a home should include the initial electricity production as well. Burning fossil fuels to fire electric power generation is only around 30-60% efficient. There is also significant loss fro...

More and more homebuyers are starting to demand energy-efficient new homes and are pushing the building industry towards building better homes with lower fuel costs. Building Zero Net Energy homes is also a trending subject, and they are becoming more common as societies transition away from carbon-based economies and ...