At our small office, the quest for carbon neutrality continues, and what a complex task it’s proving to be! We’d agreed that the first and most obvious step would be to calculate our current footprint. This would give us a baseline against which to measure our progress over the remainder of the year. Hiring a consulting firm to come in and do the job seemed costly, so we decided to do as much research as we could to come up with a baseline ourselves. This is proving to be easier said than done. [Read more…]
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: The Road to Carbon Freedom, Part 1
Recently, in the wake of the COP21 meetings and the publication of the Paris Agreement on climate change, we posted a few ideas about reducing carbon impacts in this “post-Paris” era. At the top of that list was the suggestion to read “How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything” by Mike Berners-Lee. The book contains lots of excellent advice on how to contribute to the health of the planet. Freshly inspired by its message, my coworkers and I agreed to set out on a new adventure in sustainability: we would try to become a carbon-neutral workplace in 2016. [Read more…]
Canada’s EnerGuide: the energy cost of your home
What is the true energy cost of your home? How do you go about calculating it? If you’re trying to cut your carbon footprint in planning a building project, where do you find reliable information?
Whether you’re a prospective home buyer, planning a renovation, or work in the construction or realty sectors, here’s something you definitely should know about. Canada’s new EnerGuide system is a wide-reaching initiative by the federal government. It will provide the world’s most accurate system for determining the energy efficiency of a home. A report by a trained third-party inspector can now provide the total annual consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of any house. It’s high time that such considerations become integrated in a meaningful way to the construction and real estate industries. More info at:
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/en…/efficiency/housing/new-homes/5035
MOVING BEYOND PARIS: When less is more
Now that COP21 is over and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change has been written, what’s next? John Kerry suggests that there’s potential for economic growth in the development of new technologies to mitigate climate change. I prefer to see the potential for moral growth by all of us – individuals, corporations, and nations alike – if we abandon this model of growth as a value to be pursued. [Read more…]
‘Damn Near’ Passive House, then and now
Three years ago, Roy deVries approached us about helping him to design a future-friendly new home in Kaslo, BC. He affectionately nicknamed it the Damn Near Passive House because strictly speaking, it was not intended to be a certified PH design. However, we set out to make it come as close as we could. [Read more…]
Tiny Tale of a Small House
While John’s on the road, I’ve accepted his invitation to do a first-person post. Working in John’s office is a lot of fun – our politics mesh, and fortunately we like the same music! Best of all, I’ve learned much about living well from someone who really walks the talk. My job is a primary influence in the ongoing journey to a more sustainable life.
A year ago, my spouse and I were house-hunting with a view to reducing our overall footprint. [Read more…]
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