(Updated Nov 4 2009) There was a bit of a stir lately within the building science online communities when a well-known and respected building scientist published a review of the Passive House standard. John Straube published a review of the Passive House standard on BuildingScience.com compared to standards and practices applicable in the U.S. and [...]

Being concerned about resource depletion such as peak oil, peak natural gas, and overall energy production and natural resource decline, I thought it would be interesting to see if the Ontario Building Code acknowledges these very serious and imminent issues. I say imminent, because even if a resource peaks and enters decline 25 years from [...]

I’ll be delivering the Friday night keynote presentation at the sold-out CIRQUE’09 conference, January 30-31 2009. CIRQUE is the annual Conference on Industry and Resources at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. This year’s theme is “Extreme Engineering”. My talk is going to be about industry and resources alright, about the permanent decline of both and [...]

An elegant new green home is nearing the final stages of construction in Burlington, Ontario. Barry Imber and Leslie Aske’s are aiming to have their home certified as part of the LEED Canada for Homes Case Study, and Barry has been blogging the experience at ImberAkseHouse.ca. In Why sustainable building is upside down and may [...]

Joe Lstiburek does it again, in an article published simultaneously in ASHRAE Journal and online at BuildingScience.com that’s bound to ruffle some feathers of green building aficionados. In Prioritizing Green—It’s the Energy, Stupid Lstiburek blasts the designers and developers of green buildings who insist on using lots of glass (I’m looking at you, Tridel and [...]

No matter what you may think about the nature of nuclear power itself, anyone who considers themselves fiscally conservative should realize that nuclear power isn’t “cheap” by any stretch of the imagination. The Ontario Clean Air Alliance has this to say: The Ontario Government is apparently having a hard time getting nuclear companies to agree [...]

U.S. Green Building Council president distributed some stirring words by e-mail to all members on October 17 2008 making it clear the Council has set its sights on the existing buildings market. The time has come. Dear USGBC Constituents: In recent weeks, a wave of fear and pessimism propagated by the world financial crisis has [...]

Phil McNeely, MPP (Ottawa-Orléans) introduced Bill 101 – Home Energy Rating Act in late September 2008. If the bill becomes law, Ontario will join B.C. and several other progressive jurisdictions in requiring energy evaluations for all new homes and at time of sale for all existing homes. This is an important step towards recognizing the [...]