Planning & Designing Sustainable Green Homes

See the LEED Platinum Kenogami house with a Passive Solar Index rating of 15. Performance: Passive Solar Index 15 Registration date: February 12, 2015 Region: Saguenay, Quebec Type of construction: Single-family New home PSI rating: 15 kWh / m² Method of calculation: Modelled Built by owner Alain Hamel, the Kenogami…

Some forward thinking developers are designing homes that are ready to handle the more severe weather caused by a warming climate. While governments have a role in shaping and improving the built environment through zoning, development bylaws and other means, developers also play a large role. They choose where to…

Not only are these sustainably manufactured tiny pre-fab houses affordable, they're ready to go off grid and look good doing it. With write-ups in Gizmag, Inhabitat, Tiny House Design, FastCoExist and well, too many other places to recount, one could say it's clear that the green building world is enamoured with…

The risks and costs of climate change: since insurance companies are becoming more aware of the greater threats posed by more severe weather, we had best become more aware as well. How to build homes ready to face climate change? We often think of the land underneath our feet as fixed and unmoving. On a calm day, if…

With the help of the Ecohome design team, home builder Alain Hamel builds "The Most Resilient House in North America". The most resilient house in North America The first house designed under our Passive Solar Index (PSI) program won "Most Resilient House" in the 2013 Green Builder® Home of the Year Awards. The…

Harold Orr introduced us to some of the most essential components of durable and energy efficient homes. Here is a look back at the passive solar heated house he designed that revolutionized the housing industry. While developing pages on passive heating and cooling and writing about Passive House, we were in…

The Conservation House in Saskatchewan was built in 1977, and was a revolutionary building design that introduced passive heating and cooling to modern Passive House home building. Passive House design, how does it work? If you've ever sat in a car with black leather seats in the summer, particularly when wearing…

The New Frontiers School Board (NFSB) in Ormstown, Quebec wants to give their graduating students a leg up in the world of green home construction, by building a LEED house that they plan to donate to Habitat for Humanity. After completing a design workshop for high performance wall systems, teachers at the New…

An Australian report finds sustainable building is helping to create stronger and more prosperous communities. Sustainable building practices are doing more than just helping the environment - they are also helping to create stronger and more prosperous communities. This is according to the Green Building Council of…

The basics on passive heating and cooling homes, as when building a green high performance & healthy home, free heat is a good start. 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…

Developed by Alex Wilson, ENDURE is an acronym for a design concept that defines the essence of sustainable and efficient construction, and the foundation of our building philosophy for the Kenogami project. Alex Wilson is the founder of the journal Environmental Building News, Green Building, GreenSpec and recently…