Building a house / Guides

...Ann Cavlovic is a writer living in the Ottawa area. Her fiction and essays have appeared in several Canadian journals and newspapers including The Fiddlehead , The Globe and Mail , and PRISM international. Find her at: www.anncavlovic.com . Article first written in Canadian Architect Magazine,

...act that we don’t all live in temperate, gray central Europe. Germany’s standards are tailored to their location - remaining stringent while allowing for the fact that, for example, Canada’s temperature range is 65°C compared to Germany’s 30°C range. Also, PHIUS’s total allowable energy load, rather than being evalua...

...ars ago ago a team of visionaries and construction engineers designed and built a house in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was able to operate using only a fraction of the energy other homes required. The premise was to rely as much as possible on the energy freely available from the sun. The Saskatchewan Conservation Hou...

...at hand: larger-sized rocks that are unearthed during excavation may be useful, and even valuable. They can be used for natural landscaping and retaining walls; not only can this be a nice aesthetic look, but it can save you having to purchase materials for that purpose. Assessing trees: You may have to fell a few tr...

...atrick is trained in business administration and information management, and is an experienced green building project manager. JP – Patrick, please tell us about your business and what drives you . PR - I became aware at a very young age of the global environmental challenges we face as a society. I was raised to b...

...ally hard to say; there are so many variables and criteria to consider. Eidelweiss is a simply designed yet elegant Scandanavian feel, passively heated slab-on-grade rancher capable of housing a family of 4 comfortably in a sustainably sized home, without resorting to building a Tiny House . And best of all, it was d...

...ant to note, any home can be planned and built to Passive House standards, but Passive House Certification is mandatory to call a home "Passive House Certified." Allow us to explain... What are the problems of Passive House in North America? The original Passive House certification program originates in Germany and...

...atural wood planks Formica Canada - Green Laminate Products Clean indoor air quality and ventilation Both the EPA & Health Canada recommend healthy Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) for the short and long-term health of homeowners and their families. Beyond carefully selecting the materials in a kit home for a healthy int...

...anguage Quebec affiliates of EcoHome, in conjunction with experienced Architects & Kit home manufacturers, have launched a series of Canadian Manufactured stylish & affordable, prefabricated sustainable green kit homes that are able to meet Passive House certification standards in North America and attain LEED V4 Plati...

...at pumps etc. In a house that doesn't hemorrhage heat the way we are used to seeing, you may only need a small centralized heat source such as a single electric radiator, purchased and installed for perhaps only a few hundred dollars. This is the great equalizer that makes building super-insulated homes a wise fina...

...altered many times, how difficult and expensive those changes will be depends largely on the initial design. In this case the teachers are looking to create a versatile house ready for easy transformation, universal access, healthy indoor air quality , easy maintenance and comfort, all in one affordable little package....