Large Georgian home leaves small enviro footprint

Ottawa’s first LEED Platinum detached house is located in the city’s upscale Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood northeast of downtown. It replaces an older, much modified and energy inefficient home that the owners had occupied for many years.

By Linda Chapman

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The Art of working with the Sun

Taking control of an essential utility service, by becoming your own power provider, can be an empowering experience, especially when it is also sustainable.
This article focuses on the use of naturally produced electricity rather than on its production. Sustainable methods of electricity generation include photo voltaic [PV] panels, wind generation or hydro generation. See the book review section of this issue for more on this subject. Some simple design rules to follow are:
• do not heat anything with electricity,
• eliminate all wasted power sources,
• consider mechanical rather than electronic, and
• be open to alternative methods.
Keeping these points as the basis for all your decisions will avoid complications and unnecessary cost

By Hugh Perry

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Modest home relies on skilled detailing and passive design

This modest 2,000sf house is located on Bowen Island, which lies at the mouth of Howe Sound, a 20-minute ferry ride from West Vancouver. The site is in a west-facing rural lot framed by a ridge of exposed granite to the north, and forest to the south and east. Due to the western exposure and bowl-like topography, the site has a distinct microclimate and can easily reach temperatures of 30oC on sunny days from early May through late September.

By James Tuer, MAIBC, LEED AP

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Passive solar design, low-impact materials make award winner

Situated in Toronto’s Forest Hill, an old established neighbourhood of imposing, yet reserved residential architecture, the Cascade House disarms, with its bold rectangular forms and its striking material palette of green glass and dark slate.

By Paul Raff

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Simplicity, adaptability delivers more space and efficient footprint

This infill project in Vernon, BC replaces a neglected 1950s era single-family home with a duplex that that affects a five-fold increase in conditioned floor area from the original 1,100sf, yet increases site coverage by little more than half that figure. It is one of the few houses in Canada to achieve the highest possible rating, LEED Platinum, from the Canada Green Building Council.

By  Hugh J. Bitz

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Heritage home morphs to open modern

The renewal of this 125-year old small Victorian home presented a typical challenge in Toronto – altering and updating the existing residential urban fabric while preserving the historic character of heritage neighbourhoods.

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