{"id":3753,"date":"2008-10-21T01:00:44","date_gmt":"2008-10-21T07:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=3753"},"modified":"2017-08-02T15:14:40","modified_gmt":"2017-08-02T19:14:40","slug":"green-home-how-to-make-your-home-energy-efficient-using-mainstream-and-green-building-techniques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/green-home-how-to-make-your-home-energy-efficient-using-mainstream-and-green-building-techniques\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Home: How to Make your Home Energy Efficient using Mainstream and Green Building Techniques"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former Canadian municipal councilor and current building design consultant David Braden<\/a>, has built himself a green\u00a0home using current building techniques that doesn\u2019t even require a furnace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be able to heat our entire house with a common hairdryer, Dave boasts<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 No furnace even in the extreme Southern Ontario weather.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Braden is not the first to promote taking one\u2019s home off the grid, but he is trying to do it in a way that utilizes common building techniques and architectural devices (i.e. not with flushless toilets, buried geothermal lines, and other techniques that are available, but that most observers associate with \u201ctreehuggers\u201d). According to Braden<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t want to be conveyed as a hippie. I want to get the message to the mainstream. People need to know that in fact there is a great solution sitting right in front of us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Most homes tend to lose significant amounts of heat due to air exchange. So, the more airtight you can make your home, the more energy efficient it becomes. To overcome \u201csick home\u201d syndrome, and just to get fresh air, off-the-grid homes do need to have air exchangers<\/a>\u00a0(basically, a device that provides air circulation with the outdoors while ensuring that heat stays inside).<\/p>\n

The key to Braden\u2019s success at creating a green house is his utilization of the vapour barrier. Rather than putting it near the drywall, he\u2019s located it as close as possible to the inner walls. This avoids puncturing the vapour barrier with drywall screws, fuse boxes, and all sorts of other necessary devices to run a home!<\/p>\n

Photos<\/a>\u00a0of his home demonstrate the various techniques that he used to ensure minimal heat loss throughout:<\/p>\n