The link video above is the first in a series of six that document an April 2010 talk by Peter Amerongen about how to build a Net Zero residential house, at the lowest possible cost, in a cold climate like Edmonton’s.

Peter is Edmonton’s foremost authority on energy efficient residential building, and his talk gives details about his experience as the project manager on Edmonton’s first three net zero houses. This stuff is pure gold.

All of the videos can be accessed right here on youtube.

The importance of air tightness in building construction cannot be overstated. Very few factors affect energy performance in a cold climate more than air moving in and out of a building.

The Mill Creek Net Zero Home (MCNZ) has achieved an air tightness test result of 0.36 air changes per hour (ACH) at a pressure of 50 Pascal. In other words, when it’s really cold out, which creates a big pressure difference between the inside and the outside of a house, the 0.36 of the air in the MCNZH would leak out and be replaced with cold air over the course of an hour. It has the equivalent of a 13.8 square inch hole in it leaking air all of the time.

To put the number (0.36 ACH @ 50 Pa) into perspective, here are some average numbers:

Source: Biggs et. al. 1987

The 0.36 number is extremely small. In fact, the MCNZH is probably one of the most air tight wooden buildings in the world.  read more... »

We’re having an open house next Saturday. Please stop by if you like. We’ll have the main and second floor concrete floors poured by then, and we hope to have the wood stove installed too. I’d love to meet you if you’ve commented on the website before. Actually, I’d love to meet you regardless!

The idea is that you can see the two houses in different stages of construction. The Riverdale house is completely done. If you haven’t been down there yet I highly recommend it. My house uses many of the same techniques as the Riverdale house, and many of the construction details are still visible.

See the flyer attached to this post for more details. See you on the 14th!

This is Gordon Howell (www.hme.ca). He is Alberta's (Canada's!) leading guru on solar electricity.  He is my first choice for a series that I'm writing on Edmonton's Green Leaders. 

Gordon has been working tirelessly on the issue of solar electricity (among other solar-related topics) for as long as I've been paying attention. He lectures often in the city, and his talks are always full of topical, relevant information. The man is thorough, too. His information is always very accurate.

Gordon is a key member of the Riverdal NetZero Project, and he has worked on my own Mill Creek NetZero Home.

If you're interested in learning more about how to live greener in Edmonton, I highly recommend going to one of Gordon's talks. Better yet, email him (ghowell [at] hme [dot] ca) and find out when he'll next be teaching his multi-day solar energy course.

Like many of the true leaders in our city, Gordon has contributed countless unpaid hours. He has added tremendously to the public knowledge and discourse regarding solar energy. I for one am very grateful for his contribution.

To learn about renewable energy applications in our city and province, visit Gordon's website today.

The Riverdale NetZero Project is having its grand opening on Friday, October 3rd, 2008. It will be open to the public from 11-4 on Saturday, October 4th, 2008 (more details here).

This duplex is a revolutionary project, one that has already had an influence on other building projects, and one that should be replicated thousands of times in the coming years. I'm grateful to CMHC for sponsoring it (as one of the winning entries in CMHC's EQuilibrium Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative), and more importantly to people like Gordon Howell and Peter Amerongen for putting so many hours of volunteer labour into the project.

The duplex is a marvel of beautiful aesthetics and super-efficiency.  This graph compares each unit to a conventional home:  read more... »

The Riverdale NetZero Project, one of twelve projects to emerge from CMHC's EQuilibrium Housing Initiative, is now complete. It is a groundbreaking project that is the result of many people putting in many volunteer hours. It looks like the duplexes will each actually be NetCredit homes, because their performance is exceeding expectations so far.  read more... »