In this video we meet Casey & Natasha, a conscious couple who built a passive solar home near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In addition to orienting their house to face south, they installed overhangs that block the sun to keep it cool during summer months and allow the sun to enter and heat the house during winter months. They also installed a 10 kW solar system that sells clean electricity back to the grid through Ontario’s MicroFIT Program and the revenue helps cover their own utility bills.

The house was built to Passive House standards and is currently pending certification. You can learn more about Passive House here:
http://www.passivehouse.ca/fundamentals/

The exterior walls of this house are 20″ thick and are insulated using Roxul insulation which is made locally, better for the environment, can get wet, and has less flame retardants than traditional fiberglass insulation, which means cleaner air quality in the home.

To maximize the energy efficiency of their home, they installed triple glazed windows, a drain water heat recovery system, an air source heat pump water heater, and a bioethanol fireplace. They also chose sustainable alternatives like concrete countertops instead of granite, and reclaimed pine flooring instead of using new wood. Last but not least, they designed their house to be completely fossil fuel-free which means that they don’t use any fossil fuels to power or heat their home.

Casey & Natasha are building a conscious group of companies to align their work life with their personal values. Their companies include The Conscious Builder, the Conscious Living podcast and the Conscious Store (coming soon!).

http://cgreyconstruction.com
http://caseyplusnatasha.com

Thanks for watching!

Mat & Danielle

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Net-zero homes first appeared in 2007, but they are taking North America by storm. In part 1 of our Chasing Net-zero series we talk to net-zero pioneer Peter Amerongen about the amazing history of these super energy efficient solar-powered homes and Mike Turner about the secrets of building a net-zero home. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/epis…
Episode 78 Chasing Net Zero: Net Zero 101 – http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/epis…

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The secret to building an affordable, net-zero home that produces as much energy as it consumes is harvesting passive solar energy. Take a tour of Architect, Shafraaz Kaba’s net-zero home and learn how easy it can be. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/epis…

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One homebuilder is planning to build all of their new homes as net-zero ready by 2015. Sound crazy? Hardly. This week we talk to Bijan Mannani, COO of Landmark Group of Builders about their “big hairy audacious goal” of building all of their new homes net-zero ready by next year. Landmark already produces one of the most energy efficient homes on the market, they have a solar division and they have built 18 net-zero homes already.
http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/epis…

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Les Wold is a part of this second wave of net-zero home builders. At 38-years-old he’s a managing partner with Effect Homes, an Edmonton based homebuilder that currently builds about 10 houses a year.

Learn about how these new kinds of homes are getting built and the simple design cues you can take even if you don’t put solar panels on your roof.

Learn more at http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/epis…