Passive Solar Energy Home Designs
Comments (0) Sustainability features in Canadian homes?
What features do many Canadian home have or are getting more popular?
Such as insulation, passive design, solar electricity, solar hot water, water tanks, energy efficient lighting, water saving taps and shower heads, roof ventilation and compost.
I have based the suggestion on what we do here in Queensland, Australia, so I may be way of the mark given the difference in climate- Nevertheless still interested to know
R20 in the walls/R40 in ceilings for basic insulation here (Ontario)..extra in custom built is the norm.
Everyone I know has water saving taps/fixtures (taps for sinks/tubs/showers/toilets). As older home fixtures require updates people are all changing to water saving everything. All roofs are vented so as there is no condensation problem (between the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter and the humidity of many places, venting is required). Recycling is normal here and collected the same day as garbage is here….some places have to take their recycle in though so it really depends on your country location. CFL lighting is being phased in and regular bulbs are being phased out so we will not have a choice once this is completed. Composting is popular in some places..not all. We recycle clothing/furnishings with second hand shops like other areas too. Here our hydro supplier is phasing in ‘smart’ meters (this is what they call them) to charge more for usage during prime times and less for off peak hours (to be set by them of course). Canadians pretty much are good about saving water/hydro…turning off taps/lights.
As for solar..this is a matter of opinion. To make a great difference to your power usage using solar/wind/geothermal (heating), then you need to have a lot of money and will not get it back in resale return…nor can you actually say it will pay for itself for many many years. To sell back any to hydro (I am talking about Ontario now because I do not know about other provinces) you have a lot of red tape to go through…then more hassles…more forms…red tape… more forms…you get the picture. They do not make it easy and will postpone as much as possible.
True Green Building means having a near Zero Energy Home and starts with Passive Solar Home Design
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