房屋被毁vs.房屋在野火中幸存指出，余烬和小火焰控制是帮助防止房屋在野火中被点燃的主要方法。这里有一些建议，供房主和建筑商准备房屋抵御野火。Let’s start by pointing out that this post is mostly about fire coming from…

As much as we want to see homes that are built sustainably - they must also fulfil their primary function - to provide safe, comfortable, healthy shelter for families to thrive - so durability and good design is key. I’m writing this during a heat wave in June, 2021, as much of the US and Canada seem poised to…

Spray foam insulation has been used primarily for home renovations as a way of sealing and insulating in one step, but spray foam is now even finding a home in new build - but, is it safe? Is spray foam insulation the best idea. There is a plethora of home improvement shows demonstrating how easy it is to buy…

Drywall is the most common interior finish surface inside homes due to ease and affordability. But there are options! see below for the best natural healthy alternatives to drywall for finishing interior walls. Walls in residential homes are almost exclusively finished using gypsum board (either recycled or…

Deep home retrofits through grants and interest-free loans to make your home more energy-efficient were a promise by Trudeau and the Liberals and now in 2021, it looks like they're becoming a reality. The Canada Greener Homes Grant scheme is investing $2.6 billion over 7 years to help up to 700,000 Canadian…

The Canada Greener Homes Grant 2021 is to help homeowners make their homes more energy-efficient, create new jobs across Canada for energy advisors, grow domestic green supply chains, and help fight climate change. Canada launches $2.6B of home improvement grants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Natural Resources…

Canadian homeowners, with 2022's grants it's time to improve home insulation, to upgrade heating systems to more efficient ones like heat pumps, to install solar panels and replace old and leaky windows and doors. How and why to claim the Canada greener homes grant Buildings, including homes, account for 18% of…

Ecohome encourage anyone building with some ready mix concrete to check if there is a local supplier of CarbonCure to help reduce the carbon footprint of your build. A while back Ecohome was pleased to find and report on some upcoming technologies that were producing Low-carbon and carbon-neutral concrete…

Raising taxes is usually something that dips into all wallets - but the Carbon tax, applied correctly to target consumption, may be the best thing that ever happened for the North American construction industry and homeowners. I was a carpenter/contractor for decades, during and in between university. In 2008 an old…

When we think of Big-Box Stores & Retailers we don't generally think of sustainability - we think of a "pile it high & sell it cheap" disposable mentality - but we've been discovering that Ikea, the worlds largest furniture retailer, is at least trying. So here’s a new situation – We find that a certain corporation…

Swimming in your own home pool is a great way to stay fit, enjoy time with the family, and top up your vitamin D. But beyond the purchase price, what does it cost to run and clean swimming pools, and how can we best reduce energy costs. Energy efficient & Eco friendly swimming pools - are they even a thing?! The…

With the cost of lumber at an all time high, and some suggesting it may hit +300%, we decided to look at how we can still build high performance yet affordable homes. The cost of lumber is at an all time high, and because of that fact, other wall assemblies are showing themselves to be more affordable in comparison…

After the 50th anniversary of Earth Day last April kind of fizzled out in the face of impending viral doom, what does Earth Day 2021 mean for the Planet. Under a previous US administration, the environment seemed to have taken a back seat to nationalism, industry, jobs, and the economy. Initiatives like the Paris…

Following on from our recent article on how putting old coffee grounds on gardens will not help them grow. We thought it would be useful to take a look at what coffee grounds are good for - like skin care. As we mentioned in our previous post, coffee has many magical properties but its magic should never be used on…

With our international perspective of construction and home pricing trends, it's time to stress the importance to the homeowners of North America and Canada of home performance. If buying a home, or thinking about it - please read this first. A recent report in the UK by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has…

When we were spring gardening and had azaleas to plant, we remembered reading that coffee grounds might help certain garden plants so thought we'd check it out. We all know that coffee has many a wonderful benefit, from that ever-so-necessary espresso first thing in the morning, to rubbing it on your skin for a bit…

The impact of 2020 and working from home has a lot of people considering moving away from urban centers to the countryside. How do we stave off an environmental disaster of losing greenspace to housing. With so many of us being forced to work from home, this has brought many changes to our economy, our priorities…

How to live a zero-waste lifestyle - reduce your climate impact and carbon footprint with simple lifestyle choices , learn more here. Garbage is a major contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions heating up the atmosphere and causing climate chaos. People generate over 3.5 million tons of solid waste every day…

Coles Supermarket partners with Cleanaway to convert waste into fuel to divert all waste from landfills. I’m not the first and I definitely won’t be the last to say that there is far too much (unnecessary) plastic packaging on foods. It’s everywhere! As soon as you step foot through the automatic doors in the…