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Tuesday, 2 February 2016
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Why a Tire-House?
Why a Tire-House ?
Renovating a two story attached-house in Ottawa, we quickly realized how inefficient and wasteful modern housing is. Having seen various concepts on HGTVs 'Extreme Green Homes', we set out to design and build a home utilizing our favorite concepts; Passive Solar, Thermal Mass, Greywater Irrigation & Natural Ventilation. Basically, it's heated by the sun, its temperature regulated by mass which absorbs excess heat during the day and releases it at night, diverts 80% of used water into an indoor greenhouse and is ventilated naturally to remove humidity.
Passive Solar
(from wikipedia) In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it doesn't involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.
Thermal Mass
(from wikipedia) Thermal mass is a concept in building design that describes how the mass of the building provides "inertia" against temperature fluctuations, sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect.
Greywater collection and irrigation
(from wikipedia) Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation.
Our house will feature approximately 350 square feet of rubber lined indoor planters, growing anything from bananas to blueberries and diverting anywhere between 45-90 gallons of water away from our septic system every day. A diverter valve will allow toxic greywater to bypass indoor planters and be sent directly to a traditional septic system.
Natural Ventilation & Stack Effect
(from wikipedia) Natural ventilation is the process of supplying and removing air through an indoor space without using mechanical systems. It refers to the flow of external air to an indoor space as a result of pressure or temperature differences.
Renovating a two story attached-house in Ottawa, we quickly realized how inefficient and wasteful modern housing is. Having seen various concepts on HGTVs 'Extreme Green Homes', we set out to design and build a home utilizing our favorite concepts; Passive Solar, Thermal Mass, Greywater Irrigation & Natural Ventilation. Basically, it's heated by the sun, its temperature regulated by mass which absorbs excess heat during the day and releases it at night, diverts 80% of used water into an indoor greenhouse and is ventilated naturally to remove humidity. |
| example of an incomplete tire-wall and roof/window framing |
Passive Solar
(from wikipedia) In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it doesn't involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.
Thermal Mass
(from wikipedia) Thermal mass is a concept in building design that describes how the mass of the building provides "inertia" against temperature fluctuations, sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect.
Greywater collection and irrigation
(from wikipedia) Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation.
Our house will feature approximately 350 square feet of rubber lined indoor planters, growing anything from bananas to blueberries and diverting anywhere between 45-90 gallons of water away from our septic system every day. A diverter valve will allow toxic greywater to bypass indoor planters and be sent directly to a traditional septic system.
Natural Ventilation & Stack Effect
(from wikipedia) Natural ventilation is the process of supplying and removing air through an indoor space without using mechanical systems. It refers to the flow of external air to an indoor space as a result of pressure or temperature differences.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
The Road So Far
Now with our building permit for the house in hand, we are waiting for the snow to melt so we can start constructing our dream!
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Be The Change
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi.
We can sit here all day and list the many things that are wrong with the world, but I would rather focus on the things I can change. I want to be a good person and I want to teach good values to my children. I want to eat food that is healthy and unprocessed so I can live a long and happy life with my family and friends. In order to achieve these goals, I must step out of the box and seriously consider a different lifestyle. After several years of dreaming and many months of planning, I believe I can bring this idea to life.
My name is Erin and my husband Jay and I are about to embark on an adventure that not many people would consider, this will be "Our Journey to Sustainability". We are going to sell our home in the suburbs and move out to the country to start a small hobby farm. The house we plan to build will be able to produce it's own power and water, and will have extensive greenhouses so that we are able to grow everything from bananas to blueberries. We hope to lead by example and show others that green living can be easy and affordable. Our home will be open to friends and family who want to relax and get out of the city, and also to those who want to bring some of our fresh organic produce home.
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