How to build a green home / Guides

...arn about What Renovations add the most value and What Homebuyers are Looking for and what Green Home Renovation Tax Credits and Incentives are available to help you pay for those! And don’t forget commuting - there are Electric Vehicle Rebates as well as Solar Panels Financing from Tesla . Learn all about Green Home c...

...buildings; Any builder who has successfully navigated a performance-rating system would be knowledgeable in the area of green home building , so is a good bet when searching for a contractor who knows how to correctly weather seal & air seal windows and doors , for example, which is an essential part of building a mo...

...to have a financial buffer-zone in place. See our page on how to stay on budget with a green home build . Timeline delays are also very common. It is impossible to anticipate accurately delays in material shipments or missed days due to poor weather, so with planning the various stages it is also good to allow a real...

...ave material selection to the last minute as product availability can be a problem at times, and even more so with higher quality materials that aren’t usually available at the average big box store. Buying materials yourself is an option, but general contractors will often have preferential rates due to continuing r...

...are best for where when building a Green Home home here . We are so accustomed to a house having a basement that the idea of building a slab-on-grade creates an instant sense of fear and doom in many. We assure you this is not new, and it works. The reason we build basements and stay 4 to 5 feet below grade is to a...

...anada have begun to favor more efficient and sustainable homes, we still have a long way to go in terms of making quality homes easier to identify. In Europe, they have introduced mandatory home-energy labeling for new homes and resales – similar to the label you’d see stuck to a new appliance - so that homeowners ca...

...ancial assistance is available. Built Green (Alberta, B.C., and Ontario): Originally developed by the Alberta Home Builder’s Association, Built Green is a Canadian-developed rating system administered by Built Green Canada, a private not-for-profit organization. Similar to LEED for Homes, it covers a wide range of ...

...ade and the materials used. You can build junk houses in a manufacturing plant just as easily as all the junk houses being built in urban subdivisions, and you can build high end ones as well. It’s just a matter of choosing a quality build over mass produced low-quality homes that are built to minimum standards to ma...

...as able to avoid the cost of installing a furnace and ductwork, instead opting for a modest amount of baseboard heaters - not our favorite as baseboard heaters can be noisy, but if fixed they can be a reasonable choice for zone heating . So the cost to build this home actually came in under market rates for a comparabl...

...a green and electrically-powered home, there is always the option of a Zero Energy Ready home that has the infrastructure installed already. That is an affordable way to prepare now for a cheaper and easier transition in the future where you can also add solar photovoltaic panels or roofs and battery storage. Switchi...

...an aspect that you are really not familiar with, you can always find a subcontractor on your own to get past intimidating hurdles. To learn more about Green building design basics , how to stay on budget while building a home , visit the Ecohome green building guide pages at North America's Green building design webs...