Planning & Designing Sustainable Green Homes

Felled trees in residential areas have most often been either burned as waste, or taken to landfills. With the help of portable mills and tree salvage companies, better use is being made of this valuable resource. Milling lumber from your own trees It's always a bit sad to watch an old and seemingly healthy tree…

Targeting LEED Gold, Architects Superkul Inc. Drop a Green Building Smack Into the Lap of Luxury. LEED Platinum home in Ontario As described by the Architects: Designed for a client with environmental sensitivities, +HOUSE is a manifestation of a sustainable and healthy approach to building that does not sacrifice…

Built on an infill lot surrounded by postwar military homes in one of the harshest climates in Canada, this LEED Gold duplex is one of, if not the most energy efficient buildings in the city. The Yukon's first LEED certified home was born of new city policies designed to develop people-friendly neighbourhoods…

With a southern orientation and well placed windows, passive solar homes can potentially reduce heating requirements by an easy 25% without adding any cost by designing around a good Passive Solar Index score. Homes heated by the sun's free heat! Passive Solar Houses are aptly named because there are no wires…

Seeking to balance function, efficiency & budget is not an easy task; but this was the brief provided for the Warburg house. The question posed by the client was simple: could a contemporary & energy-efficient home be built for less than $100,000? Yes. How to build a high performance home on a low budget On a wooded…

A well-constructed home will stand long enough to see many families come and go in its lifetime, and they won't all have the same needs. When drawing floor plans, flexible design can make future changes easier. Design basics for flexible housing: Depending on the stage you are at in your life, you might have kids…

Tiny House, Big Living, Tiny House Hunters & Tiny House Nation are all big on the affordability of the Tiny home lifestyle - But is that the whole Story? An investigation into buying a Tiny Home on wheels. To buy, or not to buy, a tiny house on wheels? That is the question... I’ve recently been looking at Tiny Homes…

Since 2009 for homeowners in Canada and the United States, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Homes certification system has been a benchmark for designing and constructing healthy, sustainable, and highly efficient homes. LEED ® for Homes: A Guide to the v4.1 version of this Green Building…

Are there LEED Certified builders? There are no LEED certified builders, only LEED certified buildings. To build a home to LEED certification is something that is accessible to anyone , no accreditation is required to undertake the process. It is simply a matter of registering your project and successfully…

The LEED for Homes program promotes sustainable, durable, healthy home building. What is LEED for Homes about? LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized rating system for commercial buildings and homes administered by the CaGBC (Canada Green Building Council)  to encourage…

Historically, prefab homes have not had a reputation for high performance, but with the help of the sleek and sexy Beachaus I from Inhaus Developments Ltd., prefabs are securing their place among the smartest and most sustainable homes on the market. Prefab homes are a very credible option for high performance home…