FAQ

What is a GREEN home?

  1. A green home is a building that achieves a healthy harmony and balance with nature, it’s occupant’s and its surrounding environment. It includes aspects of a large continuum of choices of sustainable building materials, alternative energy resources and/or healthy materials & systems. These choices can be entirely voluntary or they can comply with a system to meet a certain goal or to achieve a status of recognition for personal or professional reasons.
  2. There is currently a R2000 national standard voluntary program & a USA, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system that evaluates the environmental performance of a building against a set of criteria that act as a benchmark for comparison of projects. This system should be available in Canada in 2008 or 2009.

What are Healthy Building Materials?

  1. What does the term off-gassing refer to?
  2. Why should I use non-toxic low-odour paints?
    • Non-toxic low-odour paints ensure that you do not contaminate your indoor environment with VOC’s. If a paint, finish or lacquer products has VOC’s listed in the label, it will smell and likely affect your health. At the very least, look for products that say low VOC’s – you often can find them in your local hardware store for prices comparable to regular paint.
    • The best paints to use are ones with ‘0’ VOC’s, such as Milk Paints, Bio Shield Paints, Green Seal Certified, or Farrow & Ball’s clay pigment paints. However, be aware that the colour range is not as bright or dark with more natural systems.

What are the STRAWBALE FAQ’s ?
(Sourced from Chris Magwood & Camel Back Construction www.strawhomes.ca/building.asp)

    1. Strawbale walls have insulation values of 0 to R-45, more than double that of standard frame homes
    2. Straw bale homes consistently use less than one half of the heating and cooling energy required by standard frame homes.
    3. Straw bale walls are also less expensive than wood-frame ("stud") walls. Environmentally, the use of straw bales replaces the majority of the framing lumber, manufactured insulation and plastic barriers with an annually renewable, agricultural waste product.
    4. Straw bale buildings [can] use the same foundation, flooring and roofing technologies familiar to builders of frame homes.
    5. There are two basic styles of straw bale construction.
      • Post and beam style uses a structural framework to support roof loads, and the bales are either wrapped outside the framework or in filled between the framing members. While wooden post and beam systems are the most common, concrete and steel frames would also be suitable.
      • Load-bearing (or Nebraska) style bale buildings use the bale walls themselves to support the roof. [not common in Ontario as Building Code issues are harder to meet & thus Permit Drawings are more difficult to get]
    6. Over 500 strawbale homes have received bank mortgages and regular home insurance in Ontario. See www.strawbalebuilding.ca for more info.
    7. Much testing has been done on straw bale wall systems, and all tests to date show that they outperform the standard 2x6 frame wall. A strawbale wall has a 2 hour fire rating & fire tests show a burn time more than double that of a frame wall, Moisture & structural tests show similar advantages. The CMHC has been responsible for some of this testing, and they are generally supportive of straw bale building.
    8. To date, most building inspectors have required either an architect's or engineer's approval of drawings for straw bale buildings before issuing permits.
    9. A strawbale building can be designed and built in any style an owner chooses.
    10. Are there any concerns for mold or rodents?
      Experience in both old and new bale houses has shown that this is an unfounded concern. Straw bales provide fewer spaces and havens for pests than conventional wood framing. When plaster is applied and maintained, access for even small insects is significantly reduced. Clean, bright straw has very little mold or allergy potential, asthmatics have had problems with moldy straw which should be avoided; even the less clean straw seems to be acceptable once sealed in a wall. Painted stucco plaster repels moisture but allows vapour to pass through the walls allowing for healthy internal air. For more info. see:
    11. For even more strawbale building FAQ's, see; http://www.strawbuilding.org/sb/faq.html

What is my carbon footprint?

  1. There are six main ways that we contribute to global warming – that we can change:
    • Driving. (Take the TTC or bike more)
    • Flying. (Holiday & do business more locally)
    • The energy we use in our homes. (Increase insulation, energy efficiency of walls, windows, leaks & invest in off-grid renewable energy resources)
    • The wastes we send to the landfill. (Be conscious of what happens to the final product you select if it has to be demolished. Try to use materials that are biodegradable or reusable.)
    • The stuff we buy. (Question your needs of how much you consume & why.)
    • The food we eat. (Focus on unprocessed, natural, local, organic foods as much as possible.)
  2. Here are links to calculate your carbon footprint;