Planning & Designing Sustainable Green Homes

Passive House

Multi-unit Passive House for Heiltsuk First Nation in British Columbia

Modular Passive House construction replaces hospital staff housing that burned down in 2004. Bella Bella is a small community located on Campbell Island between the northern tip of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. Approximately 90% of its 1,500 residents belong to the Heiltsuk First Nation. In 2004, a fire…

Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

Off-grid living blog: a firsthand account of building and living in a remote area

This is the first in a series of blogs we will post from Craig Anderson about the ups and downs of building an off-grid home. The following is a firsthand account of a building project by Craig Anderson and his wife France-Pascale Ménard who bought a large piece of land in West Quebec overlooking the Gatineau River…

Real estate

What to look for in a new home and location. For most of us, purchasing or building a home will be the biggest investment of our lives. This section is about knowing what to look for in new homes to get the best value for your dollar, or what to look for in a building lot for the same reasons. What to look for in a…

Real estate

This beautiful renovation in Toronto is a Canadian Green Building Award Winner

While keeping the existing footprint, the Skygarden House renovation brought a leaky old home close to Passive House levels of performance & Comfort. The renewal of this beautiful century old, 225 m2 single family residence on a small urban lot in Toronto transformed a leaky old house into a highly efficient…

Grants and incentives

Ontario announces ambitious climate change action plan to reduce emissions

The Ontario climate change action plan will invest in renewable energy, green infrastructure and incentives to reduce GHG emissions. Learn how the Ontario Climate Change Action Plan can benefit you directly. In June 2016, the Ontario government adopted a new Climate Change Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas…

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…

Healthy indoor air quality

Living walls: what they do and don't do

Bring nature into your home with a living green wall, but don't count on it for air purification. It is well-documented that indoor air is filled with contaminants, mostly due to cooking (specifically burning) and improperly vented combustion appliances (woodstoves, gas water heaters, gas ranges, etc.). Following…

Grants and incentives

Ontario's Home Energy Rating and Disclosure plan (HERD) is great news for home buyers

The HERD plan will require all homes in Ontario to include an energy rating before listing so buyers will have a better idea of what a house will cost to operate. As part of its shift to a low-carbon economy, the Ontario government just released its Five Year Climate Change Action Plan to promote the reduction of…

Architecture and plan design

Are shipping container houses environmentally friendly & good or bad to live in?

Living in a recycled shipping container home may not be all its cracked up to be. Here is a look at the ups and downs of this housing trend, and whether we think shipping container homes are good or bad as a tiny home choice. Shipping container homes are gaining popularity globally, especially as Tiny Houses , as…

Lifestyle and environment

Seven experimental homes being built at the Living City Campus North of Toronto

The BRE Innovation Park will be expanding its facilities to conduct research into advanced building products and technologies. The BRE Innovation Park (Building Research Establishment) that lies 15km north of Toronto will soon build a new series of houses in which emerging building products and technologies can be…

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…