How to / Guides

...tors that will determine how comfortable your home is, or more accurately how much you will have to spend to keep your home comfortable. Understanding R values The R value applied to a material refers to its capacity to resist heat transfer. The R value of most commercially available insulations varies in the range...

...how to prevent it , read more below about other home humidity problems and solutions: How to fix and prevent mold in homes Top tips for getting a home ready for winter Frost in attics: what causes attic ice and how to fix it? What causes ice dams & how to fix them And see more Green Buildi...

...to spark them, this leads to raised levels of the kind of emissions we don’t really want to shoot up the chimney and gas passing birds with. We said it before, but we’re going to say it again – first rule of wood burning? Burn Dry Wood! (Oh, and the right wood for maximum heat output too, if you want to get toasty.) ...

...How to spot an Ice Dam on a Roof © Ecohome Ice Dams can cause damage to homes and buildings © Ecohome Now you know what causes Ice Dams and How to Fix Them, find more Tips for Getting a House Ready for Winter , Why is there ice in my attic, and how to fix it? and the Best Energy Saving...

...to find out how to improve it if so, or see here for more information on insulating crawlspaces . To learn how to prevent mold in basements, see here – or how to prevent humidity and radon gas in crawlspaces see here . To learn how to build a home on a slab-on-grade foundation which is our preferred option, see here. ...

...how to stay on budget during a construction or renovation project? PR - Obviously it is important to be rigorous in monitoring costs at every stage. It’s not enough to establish a detailed budget – you need to comply with it, and track all the expenses during construction and renovations to ensure that the establishe...

...today and how this technology is being applied throughout Canada and the world. About solar - how it works While the specifics behind solar power are perhaps a bit on the technical side for some homeowners, the basic principles are straightforward and easy to understand. Standard solar panels - or photovoltaics (PV...

...to 30 tons of concrete, releasing between 10 and 30 tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Yes, one ton of concrete results in one ton of green house gas emissions, and it is the most commonly used building material on the planet. So how do we reduce that? Easy – build smaller homes, and homes with less concrete. No mat...

...to reduce your environmental footprint in these pages : How to sort and dispose of compost and household waste Use your kitchen waste as compost to grow food in a backyard lasagna garden How to dispose of construction waste responsibly Where to buy and sell used building materials online F...

...today simply to meet code could be a costly decision in the long-term if you ever want to sell your home, as you may need to perform energy efficiency upgrades (like adding more insulation) before doing so. Better to just do it now! Now you know how to save money by building homes with less lumber, find more ...

...to PM2.5 has been associated with respiratory and cardiac issues. When patients who already have respiratory or cardiac conditions are exposed to PM, their symptoms can worsen. For example, asthma patients may suffer flare-ups. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, outdoor particle levels increase t...