Our Sustainable Choices & Principles.
In designing our house we made many decisions with the goal of increasing the livability of the home, improving the lifespan of the building and paying attention to the environment.
- Recycling as much of the existing building as possible.
- Minimal disturbance to the site and its plantings during construction.
- Window sizes and placements for improved daylighting.
- Natural ventilation for cooling, by design.
- High-performance, high quality windows.
- Almost double the insulation required by building code.
- A contiguous insulation layer outboard of the structural framing.
- Insulation around and under the entire foundation & slab.
- A combined high-performance air & vapour barrier.
- The installation of a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV).
- Plumbing and electrical conduit-ready for solar hot water and photovoltaic (PV).
- Roofing to allow for rainwater collection and use.
- Low-flow bathroom fixtures.
- Minimized exterior lighting.
- Minimized hardscaping to allow rainwater drainage.
- Native, drought-tolerant plantings.