Planning & Designing Sustainable Green Homes

Adding insult to injury - trying to mask the smell of airborne contaminants with more airborne contaminants is pretty much a nonsense idea - an in-depth look at commercially available plug in diffusers and aerosols and the effect on health and air quality. Given that we spend about three quarters of our time indoors…

As a part of their Greenest City Action Plan, Vancouver is helping builders get homes certified under the Passive House Standard. Vancouver has set a goal of being the greenest city in the world by the year 2020 . Some of the policies included in that plan are expanded public transportation, bike lanes, encouraging…

Don't leave your house sitting on the market, learn the top things homebuyers look for to make a quicker sale. Which house features are the best sellers? A market study by AVID Ratings Canada for the Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) surveyed 12,000 homebuyers across Canada to see what Canadians are looking…

Dense materials hold more heat than light fluffy stuff does. This can work for or against you. Materials in a home that act as thermal mass are things like concrete, masonry, ceramic tiles, even a large volume of wood like timber frames. All materials inside the insulated building envelope will store and release…

A simple checklist for home buyers - visual clues that can help indicate the quality and durability of a home. The following are some things to think about while evaluating a home before making an offer. If you're a driver: Check the route from the house to your place of work on Google traffic maps to estimate how…

The effects of our changing climate aren't just coming anymore, they are here. Building resilient homes helps deal with climate change events, storms, floods, heatwaves, extreme cold, and saves us all money. Future-proofing homes for climate change: Anticipating future climatic challenges and constructing resilient…

Whether you're buying or building, here are things to look for in a new home and location. For most of us, purchasing or building a home will be the biggest investment of our lives. This section is about knowing what to look for in new homes to get the best value for your dollar, or what to look for in a building…

The North Park Passive House is a six-unit urban-infill condominium on Vancouver Island, BC. 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…

When a substance melts or solidifies, it absorbs or releases energy. Materials that do that at room temperature can help regulate temperatures in homes. This article was inspired by a podcast I heard at Positive Energy , where I have yet to hear a podcast that I didn't want to listen to a second time, so check them…

Last summer the 20/20 Catalysts Program kick-started a clean-energy initiative for Indigenous communities. This summer the focus will be on improving community housing. Representatives from 18 communities across Canada attended three week-long intensive sessions last summer as part of the clean energy…

Want to learn what how to slow climate change by altering your diet a bit? Learn what foods have the lowest climate impact. How does diet affect climate change? Dwindling water is the next big global resource crisis looming over us, and soil depletion isn't far behind. Living in a green home doesn't instantly equate…