What is the best way to renovate and make a self sustaining eco friendly family house?

To determine where to start with home renovations you need to assess the current state of the house. With that I mean, you would need to determine first if there are any durability issues that should be address first – leaky roof, cracked foundation, moldy basement etc. That way you can apply your renovation budget to the most pressing issues. If you are talking about solar panels as well in this upgrade that tells me you are planning to drop a significant amount of money.

I would suggest you get an energy audit and blower door test to determine the current energy consumption, that also tells you were your weakest points are so you know where your money is bet spent.

I would first point you to our Free Green Home Building Guide,  they are categorized, so between that and the keyword search box you should find all you need.  But I would point you specifically to these pages as a starting point –

How to plan and budget for home renovations and new builds

How to create a house building budget and stay within it

Free Energy Audits, Net Zero Home Grants & Interest Free Home Retrofit Loans Canada

I would also weigh in on your solar panel point – If you are looking to install solar panels for home resiliency in the event of an outage, go for it, but if its about doing your part as a global citizen and lowering your carbon footprint, remember that Quebec is powered by renewable energy so as long as your heating system and water heater are powered with electricity you will already be powering your home with clean energy. For finding contractors, our Quebec site has a green building directory you could look through, hope that helps!  

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