For Stephen Magneron, a “chainsaw retrofit” offered the precise remedy to convert a 1970s bungalow into a high-performance net-zero residence.

CHASING NET ZERO SERIES AUDIO BLOG By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca For Stephen Magneron, a “chainsaw retrofit” offered the precise remedy to convert a 1970s bungalow into a high-performance net-zero residence. This description might evoke a horror film where Leatherface uses a chainsaw to tear apart a house. Yet “chainsaw retrofits” are an established—common approach for upgrading older homes. “We chopped off the overhangs, and then we wrapped the building with an airtight membrane, and then insulated it with a Larsen Truss system on the walls and the roof,” says Stephen Magneron, a master energy advisor with…

Green Energy Futures · Episode

Green Energy Futures · Episode

Discover Urbandale's journey to net zero ready and the secret powers of the energy advisor that helped get them there.

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YouTube video by Green Energy Futures

Energy Advisors are the unsung superheroes of the Net Zero Home revolution.

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CHASING NET ZERO Video Story - Subscribe to our Chasing Net Zero Series on YouTube AUDIO BLOG By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca The energy advisor is the unsung superhero of the net zero home building revolution. Every net zero builder we’ve spoken to in our Chasing Net Zero series credits energy advisors with not only helping them get to net zero, but more importantly, helping them do it cost-effectively.

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YouTube video by Green Energy Futures

Tribe Solar Installs the Ultimate Home Energy Hub By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca Tribe Solar is a four-year-old solar startup in Alberta that is not only installing solar systems, but they are also pioneering the next level of energy storage in homes and literally flying in solar modules. I went to the home of Spencer Young, a 14-year solar veteran himself who had just worked with his colleague Cameron Shirt of Tribe Solar to install solar on his home using drones, a first for this area.

David Dodge is the host and producer of GreenEnergyFutures.ca, a series of more than 400 documentaries on the energy transition, clean energy and green buildings. Click to read Green Energy Futures, a...

Kyle Newman ignored the highly prescriptive, expensive checklists of passive house standards and built his version of a "Pretty Good House"– it turns out these are net zero homes.

Subscribe on YouTube By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca AUDIO BLOG Kyle Newman has been passionate about the environment and building things from a young age. He grew up on construction sites, and his father loved concepts such as passive houses and straw bale homes so it seemed perfectly natural for Kyle to find a way to build the most energy-efficient homes he could.

By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca Jeremy Moorhouse is a data geek who normally works quietly behind a desk. That’s why it may be surprising that he’s now in the middle of a cross-Canada tour to see the projects and hear the stories of the energy transition. I know Jeremy, who has worked for the Pembina Institute, Clean Energy Canada, and the…

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Take the full video tour of the cool features of the Avalon Zen Livingston Net Zero homes in north central Calgary, Alberta. Subscribe on YouTube AUDIO BLOG By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca Affordability is the holy grail of net-zero home building, and thanks to two decades of pioneering work, Chris Williams of Avalon Master Builders in Calgary, Alberta, can now say you get net zero for zero extra dollars.

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YouTube video by Green Energy Futures

Net Zero for Zero Extra Dollars - Inside Avalon Master Builder's 20-year journey to affordable net zero

By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca With 115 homes labelled as net zero or net zero ready in Calgary, Alberta, Avalon Master Builder in Calgary, Alberta, is a leader in building net zero homes in Canada. Avalon's Zen Livingston net zero project in north central Calgary, Alberta. And perhaps more important is their focus on affordable net zero, or "Net Zero for Zero Extra Dollars" as Chris Williams, president of Avalon, says.

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Green Energy Futures video story - Subscribe today for 400 more stories. By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca Passive solar greenhouses might be just what’s needed for people in northern climates to grow their own local food and enhance food security. Jianyi Dong of Fresh Pal Greenhouses Photo Fresh Pal Greenhouses That’s the conclusion Sadru Nazarali came to when he discovered Fresh Pal Farms in Alberta, that has installed five passive solar greenhouses each the size of half a soccer field to grow vegetables with no fossil fuels, just solar energy.

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By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca A former building inspector went to work for Doug Tarry Homes in St. Thomas, Ontario, because after a great deal of research and advice, Doug Tarry nailed net zero. Doug Tarry consulted building science experts and even started his own HVAC company before settling on the design of his net-zero-ready homes. “I had been a building official for about 18 years.

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Doug Tarry was one of the first production builders to go all net zero - this is how it happened

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Chasing Net Zero Series By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca Doug Tarry is a leader in building climate-resilient, super energy-efficient net-zero homes in Canada. In fact every home he builds is built to a net zero ready standard. Doug Tarry Homes, has built 686 net-zero-ready and net-zero homes in St. Thomas, Ontario. And Doug has even written a book, “From Bleeding Edge to Leading Edge: A Builder’s Guide to Net Zero, Homes” to help other builders follow in his footsteps.

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Extended Range EVs - Too late for the show? Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast - 5 min By David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca Extended Range EVS or E-REVs could be obsolete before they hit the showrooms, says Simon Lindley, host of the popular YouTube Channel Trucked Up EVs. E-REVS seemed like the magical answer to the high cost of EVs and range anxiety.

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YouTube video by Green Energy Futures

We're going on tour to tell the stories of some amazing Canadian home builders who are building net zero homes. These are the homes of the future today and s...

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We're touring across Canada to discover the best builders of net zero homes in Canada. The series is called Chasing Net Zero. In part two of our story on Land Ark Homes we take a tour of their award-winning net zero show home in Watercolour, the all net zero ready and net zero neighbourhood in Westport, Ontario.

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YouTube video by Green Energy Futures

Steve Rolston had a choice: With no natural gas available, he could either bury propane tanks and "go back to the dark ages" or build all-electric homes using cold-climate air-source heat pumps. The...

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YouTube video by Green Energy Futures