"choosing windows"

choosing windows / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Air and vapour barriers

Choosing the right house wrap / weather barrier, which is best?

...choosing the best building materials in the Ecohome Building guide and these pages here : All about insulation- find the right insulation for the right application Is a foil radiant barrier a good investment for a home? Easy energy efficient home upgrades to save money When should you replace old windows and...

Insulation and soundproofing

Does a home need a radiant barrier in walls and ceilings? When is it worth it?

Do radiant barriers work? If you have noticed that the rough interior of some unfinished buildings or attics is covered in a layer of foil and you’re afraid that you might be missing out on some space-age new building technique, here is the skinny on what radiant barriers do. Read here about how to insulate attics pro...

Radon in Homes - Mitigation

Removing radon gas from basements and crawlspaces

...windows are closed to get an accurate reading. Normal activity like doing laundry with a dryer vented to the exterior and running ventilation equipment is to be expected, so you don’t need to change your normal behavior when testing a home for radon. If you know or suspect that your home is "at risk" for radon, then co...

Wood and organic materials

Which is better, OSB or plywood for roofs, walls & floors?

OSB v plywood - which is best? Odds are, that if you pass a housing development of wood-framed houses, it will have OSB (oriented strand board) as exterior sheathing. When you count sub-floors, roofs and wall sheathing, OSB claims about 70% of the wood sheathing market in North America over plywood. Both products have ...

Flooring and stairs

Cork flooring installation - the eco-friendly flooring choice, with "how to" video

...choosing non-toxic floor finishes to protect indoor air quality all at Ecohome, North America's Green Building Website.

Efficient home design

Are better insulated homes worth the money?

...windows worth the money? See here about choosing the most efficient windows with the best payback period Resilient design features for durable home building Learn about the benefits of a free Ecohome Network Membership here.

Concept and design

Building science for LEED v4 wall design made easy - video

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 performance building envelope developed by the Cold Climate Housing Research Centre in Alaska. REMOTE stands for 'Residential Exterior Membr...

Efficient home design

Understanding thermal performance

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 R-value, a metric which describes thermal resistance. While R-value is useful, it doesn’t tell the whole story about heat flow through buildin...

Insulation and soundproofing

Rigid insulation panels: which ones to use for different applications

...choosing, you should know exactly what you expect these foam insulation panels to do, to make sure you buy and benefit from the right one. These three products we're comparing here are all petroleum-based, but their characteristics, performance and ecological impacts vary significantly. Alternatively, depending on appl...

Insulation and soundproofing

How insulation works

...windows. Both these effects are known as natural convection, as opposed to forced convection where the wind or the use of ventilators create a greater impact. In homes with significant air leakage, heat loss occurs in two ways : 1 - As warm air leaks out it is replaced with cold air, and 2 - if you think of the 'wind c...

Electricity

Lights, appliances and all things electrical

...choosing the most efficient home appliances Power generation There are many ways to generate your own power, but what the most efficient method for you is depends largely on your geographical location as well as the topography of your property. Different regions experience different amounts of sunshine and wind, greatl...