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Concept and design

  • 23 - 33 of 58 Guides
Balanced insulation levels in a green home
Efficient home design

Insulation in green home building, a balanced approach to putting it where it does the most good

Homes are often over-insulated in some parts and relatively under-insulated others. Balanced insulation when building a green home means applying your insulation dollars where they are most needed. Home insulation - how much do you need and where to put it: Think of the heat in your home as if it were water behind a…

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Mobile tiny house
Tiny house

Is tiny house living in a cold climate good or bad for the planet?

The tiny house movement is an inspiring green home trend, but are tiny houses on wheels green? Find out more about tiny house living in cold climates and whether they are a good or bad idea. Are tiny houses worth it? Are Tiny houses a good investment? That depends on your lifestyle and how well you build them. Here…

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Related products

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Focus 3600 wood burning fireplace
By ICC Industrial Chimney Company Inc.

Wood burning stoves and fireplaces

Official partner
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transitional exterior doors
By Richmond Building Supplies Co. Ltd.
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PassivCanada windows
By NZP Fenestration

Windows & Glazing

Official partner
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kitchen cabinets
By FGT CABINETRY LLC (IOWA)
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Jade 2.0
By Surgically Clean Air

Air Purifiers

Official partner
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Fence Panels
By Cedar Island Forest Products Ltd.
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SP500 Pellet Stove W/Remote & Blower
By Stoves Direct

Pellet Stoves & Furnaces

Official partner
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PATIO DOORS 600 SERIES
By Inline Fiberglass Ltd
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GE Connect 24-36 MBtu
By ProDuctAir

Heat Pumps

Official partner
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Decking
By Thermalwood Canada
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Standard
By SuperForm
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Grate Wall of Fire
By Grate Wall of Fire
The Fiction Factory Wikkelhouse tiny house made of carboard
Tiny house

Wikkelhouse: A tiny house made of cardboard

The Cardboard Wikkelhouse from Fiction Factory falls under our 'too cool not to share' category. Seriously, no pun intended - it's just hard not to describe the cardboard Wikkelhouse as anything other than an extreme case of thinking outside of the box. It's like there is some kind of one-upmanship going on in the…

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Earthship in Taos, New Mexico, shame they don't work in cold climates
Concept and design

Do Earthships work in cold climates?

Despite the good intentions, Earthships in cold climates can't work because they contradict the laws of physics. I'm not the Mike Reynolds who invented the Earthship, I'm the Mike Reynolds who thinks Earthships in Canada and other cold climates are a bad idea. A coincidence of names; just putting that out there so…

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Ecohome's passively heated Edelweiss House
Efficient home design

Are better insulated homes worth the money?

Better houses can be cheaper to live in from day one. Why build a less comfortable, and less efficient home if it actually costs more. Is it worth insulating a home past building code requirements? There are probably only two general desires we share when imagining a dream house - we all want the nicest one…

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The off-grid Ecocapsule accessory dwelling unit
Tiny house

The off-grid Ecocapsule tiny house

The fully off-grid Ecocapsule has its own micro-power generation and rainwater treatment system. If your fantasy is to live totally off the grid anywhere around the world, that dream just got one step closer to reality. Nice Architects just unveiled the first photos of their incredible egg-shaped Ecocapsule home…

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Building science for LEED v4 wall design made easy
Concept and design

Building science for LEED v4 wall design made easy - video

Understanding building science basics will help you design and build durable and efficient wall systems, in this instance LEED Platinum v4. LEED Platinum V4 Wall Design: Building Science The wall we designed for the Edelweiss house, Canada's first LEED Platinum V4 Home is best categorized as a 'REMOTE' wall, a high…

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R values and insulation performance
Efficient home design

Understanding thermal performance

Study shows there are more factors at play beyond simply the R value of materials in determining the thermal performance of buildings. First published in ecoHouse Canada What does the R value of insulation mean? The thermal performance of wall assemblies and insulation products has long been characterized using…

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Snowboarder, Mike, Basich's, off-grid cabin in the woods with hot tub
Tiny house

Off-grid tiny house in the heart of the Sierras.

With a hot tub, personal chairlift and the mountainous playground in his back yard, snowboarding pioneer Mike Basich re-defines what a truly rich life looks like. Snowboarding pioneer and photographer Mike Basich built himself an epic Tiny off-grid cabin. Without a bedroom or bathroom per se, but equipped with a hot…

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How to Build a Passive Solar Home with EcoHome, the Green Building Resource
Passive solar home design

Passive solar home construction

This is the first in a series of videos on how to build passively-heated homes. WATCH MORE VIDEOs about passive solar home design and construction here This is the first in a series of videos on passive solar home construction, we begin with passive solar design basics, orienting the future house on the site to take…

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Resilient home construction - Kenogami House of the Year
Efficient home design

"The Most Resilient House in North America"

A case study by Alex Wilson of the Resilient Design Institute on Ecohome's Kenogami House in Northern Quebec. A resilient home for sustainability Northern Quebec isn’t a place where one might expect to look for a model of resilience . It’s bone-chilling cold in the winter with 10,450 heating degree days per year…

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