People who know of my long-standing interest in Green Building often ask me whether there’s much uptake on sustainable building strategies these days. My answer is, frankly, no; beyond a few courageous early adopters, there’s not much uptake. To explain why, allow me to briefly detour to a recent article in the Globe and Mail… [Read more…]
‘Damn-Near Passive House’ revisited
Our client, Roy de Vries, asked me to share my perspective on the experience of designing his Damn-Near Passive House. Roy is well into the construction of his new home, and I’m taking a few days off, so I thought it was a good time for reflection. It’s been a long and winding road, to be sure… [Read more…]
The Resilient Home: an update
Recently, I posted a few thoughts here about the resilient home in response to extreme weather events across the eastern provinces. Some former clients (and now friends) responded by sharing a bit of their experience living in the home that we designed together in Smithers, BC. [Read more…]
Weathering the Storm: Thoughts on the Resilient Home
I had the pleasure of attending parts 1 & 2 of Dr. Guido Wimmers’ training in Passive House design. It was easily one of the best courses I’ve taken, anywhere, and deepened my insight into how to create a truly resilient home. [Read more…]
CIRCLES OF CARE, THE FINALE: Thinking Beyond the Present
A new report has been issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. At a press conference, the IPCC chair, Rajendra Pachauri, said “If the world doesn’t do anything about mitigating the emissions of greenhouse gases and the extent of climate change continues to increase, then the very social stability of human systems could be at stake.” We couldn’t agree more. [Read more…]
CIRCLES OF CARE, Part 1: Defining ‘Home’
I’ve been thinking about other places where we’ve drawn the line too close to ourselves and pursued a self-interest that may eventually come back to bite us. How and where we live and build our homes has an ultimate impact everywhere — socially, economically, and environmentally. The choices that we make, from buying a brand of cereal to building a home, matter in ways that we may not comprehend in the moment. Whether or not we know it, we exercise a lot of power as individuals and as a society. [Read more…]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Next Page »