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…]
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, Part 2: Self, Family, Community
A little while ago I posted about circles of care, and how we can widen the concept of “home”. How do we meet the challenge of caring for ourselves, our communities, and beyond in the design and construction of our homes?
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…]
PASSIVE HOUSE: The ‘savings factory’
“Every Passive House building is a savings factory offering future security against rising energy prices.” – from the Canadian Passive House Institute website
I’ve just come back from a really exciting weekend training program in Passive House Design taught by Dr. Guido Wimmers. This renowned Austrian architect came to Whistler to create the Austria Passive House during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now he’s spreading the word to other industry professionals about the many benefits of the Passive House. [Read more…]
The Model Urban Homestead
This year our office has submitted an entry in Habitat for Humanity’s annual gingerbread house contest and fundraising raffle. Entitled “Modern Urban Homestead” our delicious little dwelling tries to present many of the ideas that would go into making our homes more sustainable. The main concept is to change the orientation of the home from being a consumer outpost in a global food/energy/manufacturing system, to being about producing, giving back, taking responsibility, and turning wastes into food and energy – just like nature does. [Read more…]