Monthly Archives: January 2011
Vancouver Green Building Code Tip#3 – Future Solar Conduit
As the typical dwelling can be in use for half a century or more, some allowances for the adoption of future technologies is prudent. One such technology that will be undergoing widespread adoption in the coming years is that of on-site solar energy generation, namely roof-mounted photovoltaic or solar thermal … Read more
Efficiency in Your Home – Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are a unique kind of heating system, because they can do the work of both a furnace and an air conditioner. Thus, there’s no need to install separate systems to heat and cool your home. Heat pumps can also work extremely efficiently, because they simply transfer heat, rather … Read more
Vancouver Green Building Code Tip#2 – Car Plug-Ins
Over the past 5 years there has been a growing market for electric bicycles and scooters. It is also expected that plug-in electric hybrid vehicles will be available to the public in the near future, followed soon after by the widespread availability of fully electric vehicles. The adoption of this … Read more
Efficiency In Your Home – HRV’s
Heat Recovery Ventilator Heat Recovery Ventilators commonly referred to as HRV systems/units are used when you want to introduce large amount of outside air in to occupied environment to increase actual level of indoor air quality. The air in many homes is 2 to 5 times more polluted then the … Read more
Efficiency in Your Home – Tankless Hot Water
When you turn on a hot water faucet or have a hot shower in the home, cold water travels through a pipe into the tankless hot water unit, where a gas burner heats the water. The faucet acts as a key for turning on the gas to heat the hot … Read more
Vancouver Green Building Code Tip#1 – Home Energy Monitors
As part of the City of Vancouver’s recently adopted “Green Building Code” all new homes must have an energy use monitor installed to pass final inspection, but it is also a really neat gadget to help everyone in the house be more aware of their hydro consumption and easy to … Read more
Piledriving in Trout Lake, Vancouver
We recently started a new home and laneway project for a client in the Trout Lake area of Vancouver. The land surrounding the lake is essentially a peat bog with the water table 3 feet below grade. Houses un-anchored to the rock solid glacial till 28-38 feet below grade will … Read more
Building Green Mind Map
Found this interesting flowchart for green home building outlining the key players and processes. We would tweak it a bit when considering our our own systems, but love the graphical presentation which gives anyone who is considering a new home build a feel for all of the integrated parts required … Read more
Welcome to our Blog
We hope to cover a lot of interesting topics on our blog. Top level categories we are considering: Green Building, Construction, Red Tape, Renovation Ideas, Planning and Design, Vancouver Real Estate, and Home Building. Feel free to send us a note if you have any ideas or a question which … Read more
