"Net zero"

Net zero / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Planning and Design

Climate Zones in USA & Canada for Building Homes

...Net Zero Homes is knowing your climate zone. Just as we need to wear different outfits in different climates, homes need to be properly designed to meet the temperatures, humidity levels and extreme weather events of their specific climates as well. How are climate zones divided in USA & Canada? Using information ...

Green building certifications

Net zero energy homes Canadian pilot results

...Net Zero Home Pilot program beginnings, and here we will cover the results. ZNE Zero Net energy / Net Zero Homes built for the Canada Zero Energy Pilot Project Net Zero Energy Homes pilot program results Under the pilot program, 23 individual Net Zero Energy Houses were built by six different builders (two from the ...

Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

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

...networks, which is the most economical option in every respect, particularly in terms of maintenance and repair. Words of advice offered in hindsight from one of the original designers of the 1977 Saskatchewan House that inspired the global Passive House movement always seem to ring true – ‘passive is better than acti...

Green building certifications

Powerhouse: the new standard for positive energy design

...Net Zero home for example, by offsetting the energy costs of operation AND construction. So there is no free ride with ecologically harmful materials that are not recyclable at their end of their functional lives. Insulation and even solar panels aren’t plucked from trees, they have a carbon footprint of their own, whi...

Green building certifications

The first Net Zero-labelled homes in Canada

...net zero homes in Canada. The Program provides the industry and consumers with a clearly defined and rigorous two-tiered technical requirement that recognizes Net Zero and Net Zero Ready homes, and identifies the builders and renovators who can provide them. The Net Zero and Net Zero Ready certification provides homeow...

Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

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

...net zero energy home construction project, we acted as both the designer and general contractor. The objective for the new home (to replace a 1950’s bungalow with all the imaginable problems that could come with it) was to design and build a home for a family of 4 that is fun, comfortable to live in, aesthetically plea...

Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

CaGBC's Zero Carbon Buildings Initiative explained

...Zero Carbon Building verification program before it is released into the marketplace. The Zero Carbon Building verification program is being designed concurrently with the pilot program and will include specific methodologies for assessing carbon and other key metrics. The program will be launched by CaGBC at the Net Z...

Efficient home design

Are better insulated homes worth the money?

There are probably only two general desires we share when imagining a dream house - we all want the nicest one possible for the least amount of money. And we want both of those things right away, rather than waiting a lifetime to see the 'payback' for noble design choices we might have made to save polar bears, bees, p...

Passive solar home design

Ecohome Kenogami House wins Home of the Year Award

...zero heat demand is not always the best use of resources. Regardless of your building envelope, in terms of resiliency we would always recommend an additional heat source to ensure comfort in even prolonged overcast conditions. However, at levels of thermal performance like that of the Kenogami House, a centrally loca...

Efficient home design

New Brunswick's most energy efficient home is Passive House designed

...Network Membership here. Finished Passive House standard home This article was written by owners and builders Win and Tim Naugler, and first published by our print magazine partner EcoHouse Canada. All images are courtesy of Bang-on Photography.

Passive solar home design

Ecohome design wins House of the Year Award from Green Builder Magazine

...Net Zero Energy - which refers to the ability of a building to produce as much energy as it consumes. Not satisfied with that, they set out to create a building envelope designed specifically for his northern climate, one that could rely exclusively on the sun for its heating needs. Net Zero Energy, meet Net Zero Heat....