LATEST POSTS

Latest Posts for Sustainable Home Building - Minimalist Interior
Canadian Green Building Awards SABMag Entry

Canadian Green Building Awards 2024 - Deadline March 11, 2024

The Awards recognize excellence in the design & execution of all types of sustainably-designed, high-performance Canadian residential & non-residential buildings & interiors, both new & renovated. Ecohome are collaborating with SABMag, here's more info. It's that time of year again, when Architects, Designers and…

Standardized Home Design Directory Canada, a Good or Bad Idea? Image © Robert J

Standardized Sustainable Homes, Enhancing Canada's Housing Landscape

The federal government has proposed a groundbreaking solution to the Canadian housing crisis: the establishment of a standardized home directory. Ecohome would like to see the accent on performance and sustainability. In Canada, the pursuit of homeownership faces formidable challenges, including escalating…

Carbon-Negative Home Bahama Stands Against Storms

World's First "Tree-like" Home Unveiled: Carbon-Negative and Built to Withstand Extreme Weather

Beyond Bricks and Mortar: Partanna's Carbon-Negative, Storm-Resistant "Tree-like" Home Offers Self-Sufficiency for a Changing World. Imagine a home that embraces nature's wisdom, not just mirroring its beauty but also actively healing the environment it inhabits. This isn't a futuristic fantasy; it's the…

Canada Greener Homes Grant Ending March 2024

Canada's Greener Homes Grant Program may be Finishing in 2024

Insights, impacts, and industry perspectives on the early end to the seven year initiative to encourage greener Canadian homes. Starting March 2024, the Greener Homes grant program in Canada will stop accepting new applications, as reported by the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada…

Natural Gas vs Propane

Natural gas vs propane, what is the difference and which is less harmful?

While electric powered homes, using high efficiency heat pumps and heat pump water heaters are the preferred option for green homes, if your home is too far from the natural gas supply or it's mobile home or tiny house, propane may be the only option. While Ecohome is a firm advocate of decarbonizing homes by the…

Buying a Fixer-Upper vs. Move-In Ready or New Home, Which is Best?

Buying a Home: Is a Fixer-upper, New, or Move-in-Ready Renovated Property the Best Choice?

An in-depth guide with checklists to help make the best choices when buying a home, by outlining the advantages or disadvantages of buying a Fixer-Upper vs. Move-In Ready or New Property for sustainability, health and investment potential. The classic dilemma when buying a property is whether to buy new, to buy…

Construction of a 3D printed concrete home © all3dep.com

3D Printed Homes: Is this the Future of Residential Construction?

What is a 3D printed House? What are the pros & cons of 3D printing homes? Ecohome takes a detailed look at the printed home idea using new technologies and gives its verdict on this innovative construction technique that is very popular in the media. We've seen more and more headlines calling 3D Printed homes, "the…

Top Ten Home Renovation Shows on TV

North America's Top Ten Home Renovation TV Shows

A guide to the best home renovation shows for aspiring DIY enthusiasts and first-time home buyers and where to stream them. Are you considering buying a first home, a fan of home renovation shows on TV, and so perhaps pondering embarking on your own fixer-upper adventure? If so, you're somewhat in luck! North…

Sustainable Habits at Home Make a Difference

Simple and affordable ways to live more sustainably every day

Firmly convinced that we can make better choices every day (and that this would actually make a difference), here's an Ecohome checklist of easy ways to learn sustainable habits at home. Let's be inspired, every day According to a recent survey sponsored by Google of more than 3,000 Americans by using a type of AI…

The Third Space Commons building UBC

BC's Budding carbon zero building ambitions on track for success at UBC...

Holistic design, recycled materials, hempcrete, pushing the boundaries beyond Net-Zero, all of this and more at the UBC Vancouver campus in the form of the Third Space Commons building by Third Quadrant Design. Officially billed as displaying the best of 'carbon minimalism', Third Quadrant Design's Third Space…

Bill S287 in New Jersey to encourage use of low carbon concrete

State of New Jersey passes Tax Credits Bill for Lower Carbon Concrete

Bill S287 was signed on Jan 30th and signals State sanctioned incentives for the decarbonization of the concrete industry - including the supply, delivery and use of lower carbon concrete. In a breakthrough for reducing the carbon footprint of North American construction, Bill S287 was signed on the 30th of January…

Mid-rise construction with reduced embodied carbon wood v concrete

Infographic of the mid-rise wood v concrete construction comparison report

High performance energy efficient homes help to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool them, but this is only half of the story! The embodied carbon in the construction is also important, especially when building mid-rise high density homes. Embodied & operational carbon comparison for mid-rise…

Wooden mid rise construction time lapse video

Mid-rise construction time-lapse video with CLT & glulam beams

The construction of mid-rise projects with mass timber products like glulam beams and CLT panels is a quick, durable and cost effective way to significantly reduce embodied carbon in our cities buildings. See more in the mid-rise wood v concrete report. Located in the bustling Griffintown neighborhood of Montreal…

How to Handle a Power Outage in Cold Weather

How to handle a power outage in cold weather

As North America accelerates the electrification of homes and reduces our reliance on fossil fuels like oil and gas for heating and cooking, this also increases the potential for power outages in cold weather to disrupt our daily lives. Why be prepared for power outages in cold weather? From celebrating holidays to…

Do you need a backup heat source with central heat pumps in a power outage?

Do heat pumps need a backup heat source?

Heat pumps are still perceived as a new concept to many homeowners in the US and Canada and as they've improved considerably in performance over the years there are many misconceptions about heat pumps needing backup heating. Ecohome investigates. Having a backup heat source that can operate without electricity…

A Renewable Natural Gas refinery built in Quebec with misguided public funding?

Renewable Natural Gas (or not), RNG or Biogas Under The Microscope...

Many recent press releases are selling us on using public tax dollars to fund private enterprise in the shape of biomethanization plants to "revalorize" food waste and feacal sludge into biogas - what is Renewable Natural Gas & is RNG even a good idea. Recent articles have praised major public investments in…

Canada OHPA Grant up to $5,000 to upgrade from an oil furnace to a heat pump

New Grant for Heat Pumps announced in Canada - the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) Grant 2023

A new grant scheme for heat pumps for 2023 of up to $5000 has been announced in Canada to help low and middle-income Canadian households switch from oil fired heating to electricity. This $5000 can be added to existing home improvement grants. The federal Government of Canada recently announced details of a new…

Charging Ev's - the options for charging in public places

Charging EVs without a private parking space or on the move - the best options

Many of us live in cities where homes like apartments built from subdivided older houses don't have a private parking spaces - as EVs become the preferred option for commuters, what are the solutions for charging an EV in public places or on the move. Any of us who've owned gas powered vehicles over the years know…

Wood is certainly the future of construction for mid-rise buildings in Canada

The construction of mid-rise residential buildings in Canada - wood or concrete?

In order to help the mid-rise construction sector, Ecohabitation our Quebec partners have conducted a large-scale comparative study in 2022 demonstrating that the construction of mid-rise wood buildings is a winner on all fronts for all stakeholders. The vision: a brighter future for Canada and North America through…