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Built to ENDURE: the Net Zero Heat Kenogami House
Efficient home design

The Kenogami House: designed to ENDURE

...building, how energy efficient a building is largely depends on the building envelope. It controls heat loss, air leakage and the movement of moisture. What i...

Net Zero Homes - Canada's first certified Net Zero House in BC
Green building certifications

The first Net Zero-labelled homes in Canada

...building as an integrated system, the basic principles of building science and how they can be used to design reliable, high performance building assemblies. ...

UBC's Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability
LEED Homes

UBC Lab Exceeds LEED Platinum becoming one of North America's greenest buildings

...buildings worldwide that will provide “net positive” benefits to the environment. It reduces UBC ’s carbon emissions, powers itself and a neighboring building w...

Building science for LEED v4 wall design made easy
Concept and design

Building science for LEED v4 wall design made easy - video

...Building Science The wall we designed for the Edelweiss house, Canada's first LEED Platinum V4 Home is best categorized as a 'REMOTE' wall, a high perform...

Efficient home design

Phase change building materials - natural heat storage in buildings

...building science makes mundane tasks like folding laundry a joy. This particular episode was about phase change building materials (PCMs) and how they can be in...

R values and insulation performance
Efficient home design

Understanding thermal performance

...buildings. Lorne Ricketts is a Building Science Engineer [EIT] with RDH Building Engineering Ltd. and has significant experience with the thermal performanc...

Energy modeling simulation of heat loss through thermal bridging
Efficient home design

What is a thermal bridge and why is it so important to break it?

...Building Science Corporation , " The R-value of 6 inch deep steel studs installed at 16 inch centers with cavity insulation of R-21 is reduced to R-7.4, a value...

Vapor retarder latex primer instead of polyethylene sheet
Air and vapour barriers

Replacing polyethylene vapour barriers with latex paint vapor control

...building failures than building successes. It's time that the cult deprogramming started." - Joe Lstiburek, Principal of Building Science Corporation ...

Poly vapour barriers in air conditioned houses can cause mold and rot
Healthy indoor air quality

Why you should Never Install Air-Con in a Home with a Vapor Barrier

...Building Science expert, Joe Lstiburek. Why are old homes with air-con in great shape while new ones rot? A century ago, houses were made of rocks, brick an...

Shipping container home
Architecture and plan design

Are shipping container houses environmentally friendly?

...building envelope. Given that metal would pass continuously from the exterior through interior division walls in a shipping container home, it will still be nec...

Prefab frost-protected shallow foundation insulated form kit
Slab on Grade

Raft slabs - How to build Insulated Frost Protected shallow foundations (FPSF) on problem soils

...building surface. Building sites with poor soil conditions (disturbed soil, expansive soils, low-bearing capacity, high water tables, etc.) may require signif...

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