How to design a green home / Guides

...assive solar design basics, orienting the future house on the site to take full advantage of the free heat available from the sun while keeping it cool with natural shading in the summer. See more about Solar Batteries, how to store passive solar heat , Passive House Design & Certification in Canada or America , or f...

...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...

...at is accessible to all of us. And just because someone has been building homes for a couple of decades does not automatically mean they understand all the issues of durability and home performance. Architects, designers and technologists: Another avenue is to begin with a home designer who has a experience with pe...

...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...

...alk-ability Emergency services: Hospitals, fire and police Municipal services: Access to power, water and sewage (this is more relevant for building lots) Green space: Being close to parks and water ways Soil conditions and topography to avoid flooding Stay away from flood plains Backyard privacy and greene...

...als you may need on your team – architects, designers and general contractors. Once you have that preliminary team in place, get them all in one room – or at least electronically - to make sure they play well together and are all on the same page. This is such a valuable step in green home design that it even earns a p...

...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 ...

...ands, provide urban green space and mitigate storm water flows in urban areas. See our DIY Green roof installation video here. In a statement issued by the Canada Green Building Council, President and CEO Thomas Mueller stated: "I am very proud of how far we’ve come; it is a testament to the growth of the Canadia...

...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 automated mill that cut the plywood wall components to an accuracy of within 1 mm, and allowed pieces to be friction fit during assembly. "With such a fine tolerance of accuracy, we were able to achieve complex curvature that would be too complicated to do in any other way", says Hayward, who goes on to compare th...