Planning & Designing Sustainable Green Homes

This section of the Green Building Guides helps define the steps for building resilient, sustainable & healthy homes. If building a new house, improving or renovating an existing home, choosing a building lot or finding Green homes for sale, there are priorities to set & decisions to make - like what's the best wood to use for framing, whether to choose a basement or slab on grade foundation & especially, how to fix and keep to a home building budget. Think to ask questions too!

Buying a Fixer-Upper vs. Move-In Ready or New Home, Which is Best?
Real estate

Buying a Home: Is a Fixer-upper, New, or Move-in-Ready Renovated Property the Best Choice?

An in-depth guide with checklists to help make the best choices when buying a home, by outlining the advantages or disadvantages of buying a Fixer-Upper vs. Move-In Ready or New Property for sustainability, health and investment potential. The classic dilemma when buying a property is whether to buy new, to buy…

Construction of a 3D printed concrete home © all3dep.com
Architecture and plan design

3D Printed Homes: Is this the Future of Residential Construction?

What is a 3D printed House? What are the pros & cons of 3D printing homes? Ecohome takes a detailed look at the printed home idea using new technologies and gives its verdict on this innovative construction technique that is very popular in the media. We've seen more and more headlines calling 3D Printed homes, "the…

Top Ten Home Renovation Shows on TV
Real estate

North America's Top Ten Home Renovation TV Shows

A guide to the best home renovation shows for aspiring DIY enthusiasts and first-time home buyers and where to stream them. Are you considering buying a first home, a fan of home renovation shows on TV, and so perhaps pondering embarking on your own fixer-upper adventure? If so, you're somewhat in luck! North…

Sustainable Habits at Home Make a Difference
Lifestyle and environment

Simple and affordable ways to live more sustainably every day

Firmly convinced that we can make better choices every day (and that this would actually make a difference), here's an Ecohome checklist of easy ways to learn sustainable habits at home. Let's be inspired, every day According to a recent survey sponsored by Google of more than 3,000 Americans by using a type of AI…

The Third Space Commons building UBC
Zero Carbon Building

BC's Budding carbon zero building ambitions on track for success at UBC...

Holistic design, recycled materials, hempcrete, pushing the boundaries beyond Net-Zero, all of this and more at the UBC Vancouver campus in the form of the Third Space Commons building by Third Quadrant Design. Officially billed as displaying the best of 'carbon minimalism', Third Quadrant Design's Third Space…

Wooden mid rise construction time lapse video
Wood and organic materials

Mid-rise construction time-lapse video with CLT & glulam beams

The construction of mid-rise projects with mass timber products like glulam beams and CLT panels is a quick, durable and cost effective way to significantly reduce embodied carbon in our cities buildings. See more in the mid-rise wood v concrete report. Located in the bustling Griffintown neighborhood of Montreal…

How to Handle a Power Outage in Cold Weather
Lifestyle and environment

How to handle a power outage in cold weather

As North America accelerates the electrification of homes and reduces our reliance on fossil fuels like oil and gas for heating and cooking, this also increases the potential for power outages in cold weather to disrupt our daily lives. Why be prepared for power outages in cold weather? From celebrating holidays to…

Charging Ev's - the options for charging in public places
Commuting

Charging EVs without a private parking space or on the move - the best options

Many of us live in cities where homes like apartments built from subdivided older houses don't have a private parking spaces - as EVs become the preferred option for commuters, what are the solutions for charging an EV in public places or on the move. Any of us who've owned gas powered vehicles over the years know…

Wood is certainly the future of construction for mid-rise buildings in Canada
Wood and organic materials

The construction of mid-rise residential buildings in Canada - wood or concrete?

In order to help the mid-rise construction sector, Ecohabitation our Quebec partners have conducted a large-scale comparative study in 2022 demonstrating that the construction of mid-rise wood buildings is a winner on all fronts for all stakeholders. The vision: a brighter future for Canada and North America through…

How to reduce gas, electricity, and grocery bills easily this winter
Efficient home design

How to Reduce Energy Bills this Winter to Help Reduce the Cost of Living...

Faced with the rise in the cost of living that is hitting Canada and North America, reducing energy use and bills has become a necessity. To stay positive, the Ecohome team explores ways to save money while living better and greener. The current economic situation is pushing many Canadians and North Americans to…

World carbon emissions by country global overview
Lifestyle and environment

COP26 and world carbon emissions by country per capita - which countries top the charts?

It's a common misconception that Canada & the US are doing ok 'ish' on carbon emissions - as looked at in terms of absolute emissions the usual suspects are there on top. However, looking at per capita CO2 emissions reveals a different story. With the recent COP26 Global Climate Change Conference in Glasgow…

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Planning and Design

While building LEED certified houses, Passive House, Passive Solar, ZNE - or any other types of Green certifications & rating systems for better homes can be complicated, the guides are designed to help make building better homes easier by providing practical guidance and information... Even experienced contractors may find building sustainable, resilient, high-efficiency homes daunting so it's probably going to look complicated, but there are many simple, affordable, energy saving & "good practice" home-building construction tips in the Green Building Guides that will improve just about any home.

If building a Sustainable home for your family looks daunting, you can also find more information on Architect designed prefabricated Passive House & LEED ready Kit Homes available in Quebec, Ontario, New York, Vermont, Maine or New Hampshire here that helps make choosing a Green Home easier.

Build Better, Renovate Better, Live Better - with EcoHome...