• Sunday, February 15th, 2009
This looks like a very exciting project. I have been discussing a home like this with my sister, who is an architect in New York.
Via: Canada.com
Imagine living in a house that produces as much energy as it consumes; a house unaffected by power failures or ice storms?
That house is now a reality. The Alstonvale Net Zero Energy House, under construction in Hudson, Que. will demonstrate the attainability of a net-zero energy lifestyle without the use of fossil fuels or production of greenhouse gases.
The ANZEH was one of 12 winners chosen in 2007 by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s nationwide EQuilibrium initiative, a sustainable housing program launched in 2006 and geared to net-zero emissions of carbon dioxide.
The merits of the proposals were measured on the basis of how well they achieve: Net-zero energy consumption, a healthy indoor environment, a reduction in resource consumption, a low impact on the environment, affordability and the potential to build a similar house elsewhere in Canada.
Six of the houses have already been built and the rest are under construction.
When completed in June, the ANZEH house, some 60 kilometres west of Montreal, will be the “poster boy” of environmentally sustainable housing.
“The ANZEH kills two birds with one stone. It converts sunlight to electricity, and usable thermal heat,” explained architect Sevag Pogharian, the head of the ANZEH project. more…
• Tuesday, January 06th, 2009
Sounds like a great evening! January 20th, 7-9PM at the Masion Verte Coop (5785 Sherbrooke West in N.D.G.)
From Maison Verte:
BOOK LAUNCH: Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A do-it-ourselves Guide by Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew (South End Press, 2008).
Join author Scott Kellogg in a discussion on urban ecological survival skills. Explore the cross-section of permaculture and social activism including the design of tools and techniques used to secure people’s access to life’s basic necessities: food, water security, shelter, waste management and energy production.
These systems are simple, affordable and are built from salvaged, waste and recycled materials.
They include:
- Soil building and asphalt removal
- Bioremediation (cleaning contaminated soils using plants, fungi and biological processes)
- Rainwater harvesting
- Aquaculture (ponds, plants, fish and algae)
- Passive solar and bicycle windmills
- Biogas and veggie oil biofuels
- Natural construction methods (straw bale, clay woodchip)
- Do-It-Yourself air purification
Biography:
Scott Kellogg is a co-founder of the Rhizome Collective (Austin, Texas), and the director of its sustainability program. A teacher, activist, ecological designer and father, he divides his time between Texas, and the Albany Free School Community in Albany, New York. Scott is currently earning a Masters in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University.
