Sustainable Home Catalyst

This is a difficult episode for me.

As you may have noticed, I haven't put out an episode since the very beginning of the year. I have wanted to.... but apparently haven't wanted to enough to get the drive to get it done despite all of my other commitments in life.

I really, truly believe that this message is important to get out into the world. I just have realized in the past couple weeks that I may not be the right one to be doing this.

I have spent a lot of time trying to focus on what I am really meant to do in my life, what my dreams are, and what I am UNIQUELY gifted to be able to do.

There are a couple resources that have helped me tremendously in being able to figure these things out.

The first is a book called The Big Leap by Gay Hendrix (non-affiliate Amazon link). This book talks about us all having different zones of skill or abilities in our lives. Zones of incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius. The zone of genius is essentially what you were created to do in this world. When you are doing activities within that zone you truly come alive. You enjoy it more than anything else and you know it is what you were put on this earth to do.

I used to think thats the zone where this podcast fell into but reflection in recent weeks has revealed that this was just in my zone of excellence. I don't know exactly how it will take shape but in the past couple weeks I have realized that my zone of genius is to help other parents with special needs children (I have three) be able to gain proper perspective and thrive in their lives. Whether I will be doing one-on-one coaching or building an online community where parents can really join together to help each other out and have a space to know that there are many others in similar situations, I don't quite know yet. But in the coming weeks I will be reaching out to some parents of special needs kids to have conversations and see how I can really help.

There is one man that is responsible for helping me see that there is something greater that I need to be doing with my life and that by changing my inner perspectives I can truly thrive and achieve my dreams. That man is Cliff Ravenscraft. I will be going to his Free the DReam Conference this September and I am already growing so much in recent weeks and months from the content he is producing. I strongly encourage everyone to watch his opening speech from his conference last year. It will change your life!

Finally, I will be ending my contributions to this podcast and website at the end of August. If anyone is interested in picking up the torch and carrying it on please email me at [email protected]. I do have a lot of content outlined for future content that I would be sad to see entirely go to waste. If no one steps up by the end of August this website will just be shut down and podcast pulled offline.

I know many of you many be disappointed to hear this but it is what I need to be doing for myself and for my family.

In this episode I discuss my content plans for 2019 and beyond

For the past several decades a movement has been slowly growing. This movement is toward taking better care of our planet, toward not depleting its many natural resources and not poisoning its delicate ecosystem through the chemicals we use or garbage we produce. Efforts to protect earth by the way we live and work have often been called “being environmentally friendly.”  Another term often used is “being green.”

Many have applied this movement of being green to the homes we live in. They apply these green principles in 2 main areas:

Using materials that do not deplete natural resources and are not harmful to the earth during their useful life or when they are disposed of.Designing a home that does not require as much energy to operate and be comfortable in and also utilizes the sun to provide energy through solar electricity and passive or active solar heating.

Homes that apply these principles to be more environmentally friendly are often referred to as green homes.

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

Due to the fact that green homes help preserve and sustain the earth’s ecosystem compared to standard homes they have also earned the title of being sustainable homes. Thus the term sustainable home is a reference to how the home sustains our planet as opposed to destroying it through it’s construction and use.

I personally like to take the term sustainable home a bit further though.

The definition of sustainability describes the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

While the initial intent of referring to green homes as sustainable homes refers to the home being sustainable to the natural environment, green homes are sustainable in many more ways.

How are Green Homes Sustainable?

Green homes can be sustainable to your health, your finances, and your lifestyle.

Sustainable to Your Health

How often do you get sick or just not feel good when you are. at home?

Have you ever wondered if there might be something in the air or materials in your home that might be bad for your health?

Most older homes and even many new homes are not built very “airtight” which means that air can leak uncontrolled through the exterior walls, roof, and even the foundation. This most often occurs around windows, exterior doors, lights, switches, and plugs.

Many older homes were built to account for this air leakage as a source of fresh air into the home. This air however can pick up dust, chemicals, and even organisms that may be present in the materials it passes through and can bring those contaminants into your home.

In the past few decades homes have been built tighter and tighter to lesson this uncontrolled air leakage in an effort to reduce heating and cooling costs. This has reduced the amount of contaminated air entering into homes but a result of this in some cases is that there is insufficient fresh air brought into the home.

This fresh air is needed to account for pollutants that we create from activities such as breathing, cooking, using air fresheners (though they may smell nice they aren’t usually the best thing to breathe in), using cleaners, using cosmetics, and from other activities as well.

Other sources of fresh air in a home are from the fresh air intake of our furnace (which if you don’t have central air conditioning doesn’t run much in warmer months) or from opening windows (which most of us don’t do much in colder months).

The quality of air from your furnace and through your windows needs to be considered as wel...

In this episode of the podcast I had an amazing interview with Erica Reiner from E. Leigh Designs and we discussed the basics of eco interior design and how we can use materials and products in our home that are better for the environment and for our health.

I provide a basic outline of what we discussed below. For all of the juicy details click on the player above to listen to the full interview.

What is Eco Interior Design?

Eco interior design is similar to regular interior design dealing with the decorating, painting, and furnishing the interior of your home but focuses on using products, materials, and furniture that are more eco friendly. This means that they use less resources and are better for the health of the environment and human health within your home.

How Did Erica Get into Eco Interior Design?

Erica Reiner and her dog Hank

Early in her undergraduate studies, Erica learned about the concept of sustainability and how you can live more sustainably as a person, not just being sustainable as a business or institution.

This concept entered her mind and fused with her foundation of loving nature and animals and set her on a path to focus on sustainability in her life… starting off with her graduate studies in environmental science and then working in the environmental sector and teaching environmental science.

Having completed her undergraduate studies at the height of the economic recession, Erica became a bit bored with her job in the environmental sector. She conquered that boredom by obtaining an interior decorating certificate as the pursuit of a hobby.

After obtaining her certificate in interior design, Erica originally just thought of it as a hobby and not as something she could pursue as a career.

Years later, after seeing people around her starting their own businesses, Erica decided to make an attempt to build a business in interior design which marrys the concept of interior design with eco friendly living.

What Does Erica Focus on in Her Designs?

From her background in environmental studies Erica realized the toxins and resources that make up not only common household cleaners but also many other items around our homes. This combined with society having a very disposable mindset with their possessions has led Erica to focus on the resource and toxicity makeup of items used in interior design.

Are Embodied Resources and Toxicity Levels of Materials and Furnishings Connected?

No.

For example, a wood table may be composed of reclaimed barn board or railroad ties so it does not use any additional resources. It can however contain toxic glues and be finished with toxic finishes that may offgas into your home.

On the other hand, a seagrass carpet or organic undyed and unbleached cotton curtains come from very renewable resources and contain no toxins.

What About Certifications?

Certifications are being used (and more are becoming available) by product manufacturers and home designers and builders which not only focus on the efficiency of the home but also the air quality and resources used in a home.

One of the newer holistic standards is the Well Building Standard  which focuses on human health and well-being in buildings.

How do we Help Make Interior Furnishings and Materials more Eco-Friendly and Healthy without Braking the Bank?

Photo Courtesy of Erica Reiner

Consider our style and aesthetic that we want to use in our home and then factor in our budget.

Determine our design and what items we need to complete it.

Compile an organized list of what we need to obtain to complete our design.

When looking for the items you will purchase take the aesthetic, price and eco-friendliness of the items into consideration as we determine what we will act...

How you can help save the whales (not exactly) without blowing your budget.

Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash

I remember lining up at the drinking fountain in elementary school waiting my turn. We used to give each other a hard time for taking to long and drinking too much and we used to say, “Hey! Save some for the whales!”

In most areas of the world the amount of water we drink is not very directly linked to the health of whales in the ocean; It is however linked to the availability of freshwater in the areas we live in, some of which can experience droughts occasionally or even regularly. In most parts of North America we also pay for the water we use. While it is often not that expensive, it is often also linked to the amount we pay for sewage treatment, thus using less water in and around our home will often reduce the amount of our water and sewage bills.  

So what can we do to save water around our home?

The good news is that the vast majority of things you can do to save water around your home are a few hundred dollars or less…. Unless you are replacing fixtures and have very expensive tastes.

You can even save some water by simply changing a couple of your daily habits.

I am going to start off by listing a few habits you can change, and then move on to maintenance and other things that you can do to save water around your home.

I have prepared a brief PDF download of the items listed below.

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Habits to Change to Save Water

Turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth.

This is a habit that has been advocated for for decades. Just wet your toothbrush and then turn off the water until you are done brushing your teeth and are ready to rinse out your mouth.

Turn off the water while you are washing your hands. 

I haven’t heard this one advocated for much but it is something that I have been doing for several years myself.

Simply wet your hands, turn the water off, and then turn the water back on to rinse after you have soaped and scrubbed your hands.

This does result in getting a bit of soap on your tap handles which in my opinion would slightly counteract any germs that may be on the handles from turning the tap on with your dirty hands.

Have “military showers”

A military shower is when you turn off the water once you are wet and then turning the water back on once you have finished washing your hair and body. Depending on the shower faucet you have though, it may be a bit of a hassle to get the water back to your preferred temperature.

Maintain Your Fixtures

Fix or replace any leaky taps or leaky toilets. Sometimes a repair to stop a leak can be very simple and cheap to complete. Even if a leak appears pretty small, the amount of water wasted can become a significant amount over the course of an entire year. 

Use More Efficient Fixtures

Install a more efficient toilet that uses 6 litres or less per flush. You can also look at getting dual flush toilets that allow you to only use 1-4 litres per flush (depending on the model) when a full flush is not needed.

Use a low flow shower head which will reduce your overall water use in the shower. Research different shower heads and if possible (if you know...

Improving Sustainability in Existing Homes

I really enjoy dreaming about renovating my existing home to make it much more efficient and also someday building my own sustainable home. For me (and most others) building a new home or completing a major renovation is way out of reach for financial or other reasons. While it may make me feel warm and fuzzy when I have these sustainable dreams, I want to be able to do something now to make my home more sustainable. I want to reduce my costs and also increase my comfort and enjoyment in my house as it is now….without incurring high costs.

Luckily, there are quite a few things that can be done in an existing home to make it more sustainable, many of which are relatively cheap or even free.  I want to focus on these over a couple of posts to give you solutions that you can use without blowing your budget.

First, I would like to address a couple of potential questions:

What Do I Mean By Cheap?

I haven’t set a hard line as to what I consider cheap.

Over these next posts about cheap things you can do in your existing home I am looking at things that can be done easily and quickly and are much more cost effective than paying thousands of dollars for a major renovation. Generally I am looking for solutions that are as cheap as possible but not more than a couple hundred dollars. The goal is to improve the sustainability of your existing home on a budget…. a very small budget.

What is So Great About Energy Efficiency?

Reducing your energy use will not only be more sustainable to the environment but will also reduce the operating costs of your home and, when it comes to heating and cooling, can also increase your comfort.

In this post I will be focusing on energy efficiency in existing homes and cheap (or free) things that you can do to reduce energy use in your home. (I will save water efficiency for my next post.)

3 Main Areas of Energy Efficiency

I am going to break these energy efficiency strategies into 3 main areas:

Saving Electricity

Reducing Heating and Cooling Requirements

Saving Hot Water

I am going to be covering a lot of solutions in these sections and am not going to go very deep into each of them. If you would like more information about specific solutions or have some that you would like to add (my list is not meant to be exhaustive by any means), leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

When I am talking about specific products, I have tried to include links to the products in the show notes so you can get more information about them or even buy them if you wish. Most of the items I have listed below are items that I have used myself. Some of these links (to Amazon or Homedepot.ca) are affiliate links which means if you choose to make a purchase through them I will earn a small commission, which helps me be able to produce more great content like this. Only buy items that you feel will help you on your journey to a more sustainable home.

I have prepared a PDF with a brief list of all of the items listed below.

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Are you ready to dive in?

1 - Saving Electricity

Become aware of the electricity that you are using in your home.

The Basics of Environmentally Sustainable Homes.

In this post we will be discussing these questions:

What makes homes or the materials used in them damaging to the environment?

How you can know if materials used in your home are environmentally friendly?

How can you reduce energy use in your home?

How can you make your home more environmentally friendly?

How Can Your Home be Damaging to the Environment?

There are many ways that your home can be damaging to the environment and I will discuss a few of the major ones here:

Energy Use

Depletion of Natural Resources

Damage to Natural Habitats

1. Energy Use

One of the main ways (and sometimes the largest contributor) to your home being damaging to the environment is through energy consumption.

In many parts of North America... or the world for that matter, energy is produced by burning fossil fuels which create emissions and deplete nonrenewable resources.

If we are able to use less energy than we reduce the amount of pollution going into the atmosphere from producing that electricity.

When you are thinking about how much energy you are using or trying to save in your home it is useful to know that saving a little bit of energy in your home results in saving a lot of energy at the production source. This comparison is known as source vs. site energy.

Source vs. Site Energy

Lots of energy is lost as electricity is transmitted from the power plant to your home.Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

Source Energy = Energy going into electricity production at power plants or whatever source is putting it onto the power grid.

Energy is then lost through:

Heat losses in combustion (For sources such as coal or natural gas)

Traveling long distances through power lines.

Every time the voltage gets stepped up or down through a transformer.

Site Energy = Energy consumed at your home that you pay for and use.

Having a knowledge of source vs. site energy can help you feel a little bit better about the small wins you are making in reducing your electricity usage.

Electricity used to light up a room or brew your coffee isn't the only way that energy is used in your home though. Your home's energy use actually starts long before you move in.

How does your home use energy?

Energy is used and carbon emissions result from harvesting/manufacturing materials used in your home

Energy from gas, electricity, or other sources is used during the life of your home to heat your home, your water, and power appliances

Finally, energy is used to recycle or dispose of old materials when they have reached the end of their useful life. This applies to items and appliances within your home and your home itself.

While it is great to save energy, energy use is not the only way that your home can be harmful to the environment. Many natural resources are used in homes and some of these cannot easily be replenished.

2. Depletion of natural resources

Think for a minute about what materials are in your home? Are they renewable?

The most common materials in your home are:

Concrete

Wood

Glass

Metals

Plastics

Paints

Of this list, wood is the only renewable one…. When forests are managed well.

The other items take a lot to produce and use a lot of natural resources that cannot be replenished.

Glass, Metals, plastics, and concrete (to an extent) have a bit of a saving grace in that they can be recycled to help reduce further natural resource depletion.

Depletion of natural resources is also one of the ways that your home can be dam...

What do I want to get from making my home and my life more sustainable? How do I plan on getting there?

I have always wanted to have a career that would allow me to support my family and still have time to be with them.

I have been interested in architecture and sustainable homes from a young age.

My first career was in in aircraft maintenance but I switched to architecture to have more time with my family and to hopefully one day design and build my own home.

I started the architectural technologies program at SAIT in 2011 and was able to get a position with the Green Building Technologies office starting in my first semester and continued working there for the duration of my program.

My Sustainable Goals

I want to make my current home constructed in 1981 more sustainable.

I will start by monitoring the energy usage in comparison to the exterior temperature for at least a year. At some point after that I will complete renovations to drastically reduce the energy requirements of my home. After those renovations I will monitor the energy usage and temperature for at least a year following the renovations to confirm the exact energy improvements.

Through my monitoring I will be able to record my energy usage in comparison to the actual exterior temperatures using a measurement known as heating degree days.

Heating degree days and cooling degree days are used to design heating and cooling systems and calculate expected energy usage. They are based on average climate data for a given location and measure how cold (below a baseline temperature - +18 degrees Celsius in Canada) it is and for how long over the course of a year.

I tried to explain heating degree days in the podcast episode at 6:25 and I apologize if it came out pretty confusing. I did find a great article explaining heating degree days at http://www.degreedays.net/introduction

You can also read the wikipedia entry about heating degree days… but it is a bit dense: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heating_degree_day

This end data will provide a comparison of energy usage per heating degree day before and after the renovation…. Not just “my bills are lower” which could also be attributed to a warmer winter….. Read the article at degreedays.net/introduction for another great illustration.

I will also possibly look at getting some sustainable certifications for my renovation.

My thoughts on certifications

Certifications are all slightly different and some have specific focuses. I think certifications are great to provide independent documentation and certification for what you have done to your home and can help increase the value of your home when selling. They can also help guide you on your path towards a sustainable home.

Some of the more known and used certifications are:

Passive House (Passive House Canada, Passive House Institute US, Passive House Institute) - Passive House is focused on low whole home energy use. It is based on building a highly insulated and airtight building and having low electrical and fuel requirements.

LEED for Homes (Canadian Green Building Council LEED for Homes, US Green Building Council LEED for Homes) - LEED for homes takes many different energy, health, and environmental concepts into account and gives you points based on the steps you take to make your home more sustainable.

EnerGuide for Homes (Natural Resources Canada) - EnerGuide for Homes is a Government of Canada program and gives you a rating for your home based on energy usage.

Energy Star for Homes (Natural Resources Canada, Energy Star US) - Energy Star for Homes is a program run both in Canada and the US. It is also based on home energy usage.

There are also many other standards available which offer certifications for meeting certain energy usage goal...

Why should you have a durable home?

Have you ever had an old junker car that you were always afraid of it breaking down?

I bought my first car when I was 17 for $250. It was a 1981 Toyota Corolla Sedan with a 1.8 litre engine and standard transmission. It was already almost 20 years old when I bought it and as soon as I started driving it the starter went (which made learning to drive a standard even more fun as every time I stalled it it was harder to start). I almost always had to fix something to keep it going (which I enjoyed). Finally, after I had driven it for several years it had had enough and developed an electrical short that I couldn’t find and I had to retire it.

When we own an older car we know that many of the components are getting close to wearing out and repairs may be required frequently.   

New cars can appeal to us as they look nice and require very few repairs. The only work we usually have to do is basic maintenance.

We have the same desires for our homes.

We want our home to look nice… not run down. It is always our desire for our homes to just work right and not require any repairs or maintenance. We want to be able to just move in and enjoy our home… not spend all of our spare time maintaining and repairing it.

Newer homes often require little to no repair and generally look better… unless you are going for the look of a classic, older home that can’t quite be duplicated in a newer home.

Old homes can look great too and require very few repairs but this takes work and staying ahead of the game. It takes repairing and maintaining items before they wear out beyond repair. This requires an understanding of the materials of your home.

There are many components in a home that will wear out and require replacement eventually. Maintaining them will extend their lives but their days are still numbered. Failing to replace old materials and components when they can no longer function properly may result in other issues. For example: old windows, roof, or deteriorating cladding may fail resulting in water leaks and damage to both the structure and contents of your home.

Most people know that their home will require work to maintain.They may not realize however exactly how much maintenance is required or know enough about maintaining their home to stay ahead of the maintenance curve… to stay in the zone of maintaining and not sliding into the zone of repair and replacement due to improper maintenance.

Whether your home is new or old there will eventually be some maintenance required. It is important to plan for it and manage it properly.

Maintaining your home is great but what does durability have to do with it?

What is a Durable Home?

Durability is the ability to withstand wear or damage.

Having a more durable home means that the materials, and systems in your home are designed to require less maintenance and last longer before replacement.

Less maintenance means less time, money, and stress .

Durable Home Construction

Another part of durability is to ensure that your home is constructed to perform properly.

Your home can be made of the best materials but if it isn’t constructed and detailed properly having the best materials doesn’t make it much better than an old shack.

Your home must be structurally safe and manage the flow of water, air, vapour, and heat between the indoors and outdoors.

To put it simply, a major role of the exterior shell (walls, roof, foundation/floors) is to keep the indoors and outdoors separate.

A failure of your home to properly manage water and air flow can lead to major problems including water damage and mould.

When we think of sustainability we most often think of “green homes” being sustainable to the environment meaning that it does not degrade the environment through its construction or use.

The definition of sustainability describes the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

Over the years as I have learned more and more about sustainable homes I have discovered that a sustainable home can benefit much more than just the environment by being:

More cost effective to construct.

More cost effective to heat, cool, and operate.

More durable and cost effective to maintain.

More conducive to the health of those who live in it.

More comfortable.

Better able to meet the habits and needs of those who live in it.

While we mostly speak of homes as being sustainable to the environment I propose extending that definition to include the items above to account for how sustainable a home is to it's owners, occupants, and their finances.

So let’s dive into the aspects of this re-defined sustainability…

(I am only going to provide brief outlines for each of these aspects below and in the future will expand more on each of them in their own episodes)

The Environment

Environmental sustainability is fairly well known and it’s necessity often debated in modern society.

Sustainable homes most often strive to use materials and construction methods that have minimal environmental impact and in some cases provide a net benefit to the environment.

Different areas that are looked at are:

Energy used during construction of homes and production of the construction materials.

Depletion of natural resources such as forests, water, minerals, and stone.

Damage to natural habitats.

Impact on the environment when construction materials are disposed of or recycled at the end of their life.

The environment is often the main point of discussion around sustainable homes and rightly so. We can’t just order a new planet to live on if this one goes bad and expires. We need to ensure we are taking care of the Earth and preserving it not just for the next generation but for the many generations that will follow us in centuries to come.

Construction Cost Effectiveness

When a new home is being designed the potential construction costs are often reviewed to ensure that it will be within the home-owners budget.

Wouldn’t it be disappointing to build your dream home and then having to eat rice and beans for the next 10 years to afford your mortgage payments? Just Sayin’

When construction cost estimates are above the budget of the future home-owner this results in going back to the drawing board and finding areas where costs can be reduced.

Most often this results in losing those granite counter tops or settling for less extravagant plumbing and lighting fixtures. Rooms may also be sacrificed at this stage… so much for that home theatre room I’ve been dreaming about….. not to mention my Man Cave.

One thing that is not often looked into is using more cost effective construction methods or materials.

You may have really wanted to have that nice stucco finish on the outside of your house but if you switch to a cementitious siding (Hardie Board) you can usually save 30% or more on the cost of cladding your home and are still left with a very durable product.

And what about the main structure of your home? There are many options out there besides the most commonly used structure of wood framing on a cast-in-place concrete foundation. It’s worth looking into what other construction methods are available in your area that may be able to cut costs slightly while still providing you with an enjoyable and structurally safe home.