What My Green Building is all about

Tags

green building, green building in Canada, John Otvos, Nova Scotia energy efficient housing

Firewood guillotine for branches and saplings. This blog is about connecting with thoughtfulness to our Earth and to our neighbours as well as ourselves.

The tag line for this blog, a ‘storey board’ from the Annapolis Valley, is a metaphor depicting an image. It is that throughout our entire life span, we tell the stories of our lives. We relate with others, those stories which we find interesting or technical, as well as those which move us emotionally. Building is of great concern to me and to other like minded folk, since we spend a great deal of time indoors heating ourselves throughout colder weather.

gorf or frog . . . by any other name

How we heat directly impacts the greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere. The world’s climate scientists are in virtual agreement that we humans are changing the chemistry of the planet. This, for the first time by a living species of animal. The biggest aspect of this tragedy, is that most people are unaware of this or if they are, go on living as it tomorrow will turn out the same as today.

Imported Pakistan pickup. Hey, the car not the driver! I miscalculated and needed several more sheets. 432 in total. Made in NB with oil from ????? These types of products are what we should be saving our petroleum for, not burning it for locomotion.

For me, with my current recognition of this phenomena, the task is to be responsible for what I build and how I spend my building $$. All these choices jayöh makes, he makes with more than a modicum of consideration. Q.~ How does this affect our Earth? Does it help our mother or does it hurt her? Extrapolate all you do in a given day and think on the consequences. Did BP think like this corporately, when it came to the Gulf of Mexico disaster? Sorry, for me it’s all related.

yellow spotted salamander egg cluthches . . . spotted in the pond

My intention is to build a new house with an ERS (Energy Rating System) rating of 100.
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/ers-next-gen.cfm?attr=24
This is the highest rating that any new building can achieve under the current new guidelines adopted at various stages of governance. NS among all the other provinces, has a better than just meet the current standard. According to a spring seminar held by Solar Nova Scotia, http://www.solarns.ca/ Shawna Henderson of Bfreehomes
http://bfreehomes.com/cms/ presented the membership with this new ERS data. In the future houses with the highest ERS no. will command a premium price upon resale and be much sought after by the paying public. This system will set itself in place much the same as the EnerGuide http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/energuide/home.cfm system has for purchasing new appliances.

Tube type hot water collectors on a mansion in Cow Bay near Eastern Passage, NS.

Not to jump the gun too far ahead, but to give readers a little sneak preview of this building:
– Under concrete pad R value of 20
– Wall cavity R value of 60
– Ceiling space R value of 80
– Windows are to be triple glazed fibreglass insulated frame and sash, with argon gas between the panes and low E on panes 3 & 5. Doors constructed similarly .
– Two layers of fibreglass backed gypsum board, i.e., drywall, on all surfaces for increased thermal mass
– Active components of a DHW or domestic hot water plate collector system, ground mounted.
– Several PV or photovoltaic panels ground mounted to offset electrical usage.
– Establishing a small scale wind turbine if resources allow, to reach the ERS of 100

no threat felt by my ruby throated male hummer friend & his harem

I Am John Ötvös, aka jayöh.