Passive Solar & Net Zero

Passive heating, off-grid and Net Zero homes

Guide

The Affordable Architect-Designed Modern Green prefab 2 Bed kit home

Le Refuge - An Architect-Designed modern Green prefab 2 bed kit home

Architect-Designed Modern & Minimalist homes always attract attention - especially ones that are super efficient, stunningly beautiful and that ooze quality - But Le Refuge is all that and more - It's Affordable too. The tiny house movement is on the far end of the scale of a very encouraging and growing trend…

Affordable Modern Prefab Eco Homes Available - The S1600

The S1600 - affordable modern prefab eco homes for families

The S1600 Modern prefab kit eco home provides a Stylish & Affordable green home for young families looking for great Value, Comfort & Healthier Living. Affordable prefab eco homes are a growing green home building trend across the US and Canada, as you may have already seen on our pages or in the press. Economies of…

A Toronto Off-grid home 20 years later; how did it fare? How could it be optimized?

The Toronto Healthy House was built in 1996, completely independent of municipal water, sewer and electricity systems. Here is a look back at it, with some tips on optimizing an off-grid home. In 1996, this off-grid house designed by architect Martin Liefhebber was one of two concept homes selected by the Canada…

Passive House in Quebec

The Passive-Aggressive House - Our History of a Passivhaus Build

Recounting the trials — and joys — of building a Canadian home to meets the "Passivhaus" standard. First, the background to this Passivhaus My partner and I are geeks. Our idea of a romantic dream was to build a house so well insulated you could heat it with a hairdryer. For added fun, we wanted to do this on a…

Passive House certification - PHI or PHIUS? The Spring House Passive House

Everything you need to know about Passive House certification

A certified Passive House in North America & Canada can be certified by the Passive House Institute PHI or PHIUS, the US certification system. Discover the differences to decide which Passive House certification is best for you. What is Passive House certification? The term “Passive House” was once obscure jargon…

Net Zero Energy Home ZNE in Edmonton Alberta

Award winning Net Zero Energy house in Edmonton Alberta Leads the Way

The Windsor Park Net Zero House in Edmonton won 2017 Canadian Green Building Award in the Technical category, proving that Green Building a home is both possible and Beautiful. As owners of this net zero energy home construction project, we acted as both the designer and general contractor. The objective for the…

Zero Carbon Building

CaGBC's Zero Carbon Buildings Initiative explained

Mark Hutchinson, Vice President of Green Building Programs at the CaGBC, speaks about the new Zero Carbon Buildings Initiative.   SAB: What does the CaGBC hope to achieve with the Zero Carbon Buildings Initiative? Mark Hutchinson: The CaGBC launched the zero carbon building initiative in 2016 to champion the move to…

Building a Passive House that's LEED Certified too - an Owner's Tale

An owner/builder's account of building a Passive House

Follow owner/builders Sarah Cobb and William Murray as they build a home targeting both Passive House and LEED Certification. Building a Passive House that's also LEED certified This is an owner blog EcoHome posted following the personal experience of Sarah Cobb and William Murray of Rocket Construction Inc. as they…

Passive House design Vancouver

The city of Vancouver is actively promoting Passive House construction

As a part of their Greenest City Action Plan, Vancouver is helping builders get homes certified under the Passive House Standard. Vancouver has set a goal of being the greenest city in the world by the year 2020. Some of the policies included in that plan are expanded public transportation, bike lanes, encouraging…

Multi Unit Passive House design Vancouver Island BC

The North Park Passive House on Vancouver Island, BC

The North Park Passive House is a six-unit urban-infill condominium on Vancouver Island, BC. Passive House construction on Vancouver Island Building the first certified Passive House on Vancouver Island, a duplex shared with our son Mark’s family, convinced us that the market in Victoria was ready for Passive House…

Passively-heated off-grid LEED Gold home

Off-grid living blog part 6 - energy modeling projections and real performance

Off grid living blog part 6: Energy modeling can help find the weak links in a building envelope & allow tweaking the design before starting to building an off grid home. This is the fifth piece in a blog series written by Craig Anderson as he documents the design and construction of an off-grid LEED Gold…

News

The tallest Passive House in the world will soon be built in Vancouver BC

Passive House reaches new heights in Vancouver Canada!

Ecohome has a number of awards for building groundbreaking sustainable homes, but Passive House projects on this scale are breathtaking in the way they are pushing the boundaries - Hats off to Architect Tom Wright. Vancouver, Canada established their place as a leader in reducing carbon footprints of cities and…

Sky Group to open carbon neutral film studio by 2022

Media giant Sky set to build carbon neutral film studio just outside London, UK

Sky Group attempting to reach status of Net Zero Carbon by the year 2030, and their new Carbon Neutral studio will help them reach that sustainability goal. The Sky Group claims that their new UK studios will be the most eco-friendly and sustainable TV and film production hub in the world. We tend to believe that…

Vancouver tests Passive House efficiency with the Ice Box Challenge

The Ice Box Challenge compares Passive House construction to standard code-built construction by measuring the volume of melted ice after weeks in the sun. A Passive House uses very little energy to stay warm and comfortable, regardless of the season and regardless of weather conditions. The requirements for Passive…

Advice