Off-grid / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

While developing pages on passive heating and cooling and writing about Passive House, we were in contact with Harold Orr, a world-renowned environmental engineer, pioneer of the very concept of 'green building'. and who was recently awarded the Order of Canada for his pioneering contribution to energy-efficient home c...

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 shorts, you already understand passive solar heat gain. It is a very simple concept that as a building technique dates back thousands of years. You simply need to find out where south is...

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 ...

Alex Wilson is the founder of the journal Environmental Building News, Green Building, GreenSpec and recently the Resilient Design Institute. The following is a brief description of his vision, and the steps our team took as designers, builders and homeowners to meet that criteria for the Kenogami House. The acronym: E...

The Kenogami Net Zero Energy off-grid house is a virtual energy laboratory, and in constant evolution. Every system of this award-winning home is innovative from the heating and ventilation systems to the production of domestic hot water. Energy systems as advanced as this have never been seen together before, and coll...

...off-grid homes Tidal hydroelectric generation  Learn more here about the benefits of a free Ecohome Network Membership.    

There seems to be a design trend of trying to out-cool the previously coolest tiny house, and as long as that keeps happening we will keep having great stories and photos to share. Today's winner is the Fun Box, available for a luxurious weekend rental as of the summer of 2013. Made by Le Vertendre, the Fun Box is a 36...

...off-grid in a coastal setting, to avoid expensive system failures and frequent membrane replacements, learn about the best watermakers and maintenance strategies for off-grid homes before you buy. Justin Fortin graduated from Carleton University with an Honours Degree in Political Science. His primary focus is environm...

...off-grid. It's equipped with solar power generation, carries its own water, has a full kitchen and bathroom, but is also capable of plugging into the grid at an RV Park if need be. The Tacks are currently running their home on 100% solar power and loving it. This is not an entirely common lifestyle, but Chris and Malis...

...off-grid in some tiny town in the back of beyond. Tiny Houses for sale - a historical rail car may not be everyone's cup of tea All the same – if you do find that Nirvana where you can park or build a Tiny House that you can afford and that’s legal, it goes without saying that a smaller home is going to be easier to ...

How to set up a home solar energy system Our future truly depends on us continuing to develop and implement renewable energy systems. In Canada, Ontario is at the forefront of that movement by offering strong financial incentives for homeowners to produce their own energy. Some of the other provinces seem to be lagging...