Urban / Guides

...urban developments—have embraced this ethos of high performance and low environmental impact in both new construction and renovation projects on existing buildings. And this transformation has not taken place in one country, one type of economy or one type of climate. It is occurring in all corners of the world. In o...

...urban areas as they may not have sufficient space to implement some key elements of the design. Canada: Powerhouse or CaGBC Zero Carbon? Just over a year ago, the Canadian Green Building Council officially launched the new standard on Zero Carbon buildings . Not only is that certification awarded by third party, th...

...urban areas. Each year 11 million tons of shingles go to U.S. landfills, which amounts to an estimated 8% of total construction waste. Shingles are the default roof covering, mostly because of price, but in a short time when you have to replace them, they won’t seem so cheap. And as the least durable of options, th...

...Urban logging: Trees removed by city workers have more often than not found themselves ending up as landfill. Entrepreneurs are popping up in different regions and are now turning those trees into usable products. Sunken timbers: Generations of logging has left unfathomable quantities of wood sitting at the bottom of...

As founder of the Resilient Design Institute , Alex Wilson is an internationally renowned authority on resilience in home design. Beyond just homes, 'resilience' can in a way describe a lifestyle, or perhaps a life philosophy. Sure, 'green' homes can help save the planet, but some of them may also save the individua...

...urban cores. Hydroelectricity is without a doubt renewable, but the ecological impact of setting up a system can be quite heavy, certainly if you intend to extract enough power to have a noticeable impact on your consumption. So we don't strongly advocate it for personal projects, as the ecological damage often outwe...

...Urban farming - a guide to growing edible perennials in your yard How to build a backyard greenhouse in cold climates Find more about green lifestyle choices and home construction in the Ecohome Green Building Guide pages and find out about the benefits of a free Ecohome Network Membership here .

Growing Fruits and vegetables all year round in Canada or the colder parts of North America would be wonderful but, sadly, our climate limits us to a few growing months in the summer. And even that would be in the balmier areas of our country; at high altitudes and further north it is difficult to grow any edibles wit...

...urban cores), firewood is fairly easy to come by, along with manufactured pressed-wood logs that can be found at most hardware stores. Manually-operated pellet stoves: Most pellet stoves require power to feed the hopper. You could rig up a small PV solar panel to run it; optionally, there are a couple of models of pe...

...urban survival ‘bug-out bag’ that is always ready to go so you don’t have to dig for rain gear if the weather looks ominous. For a high tech commuting solution Then for those looking for the ultimate in compact and high tech commuting , there's the Segway Ninebot S-Plus - billed as 'your personal self-balancing tra...

...urban legend that stuck in my head most my life is that 90% of body heat is lost through your head . It just ain't so, for your head or your roof. You won't gain heat from an un-insulated basement floor in winter. Heat moves from warm to cold seeking equilibrium, and the ground in Canada is roughly 4-7° Celsius when ...