Category: Blog Posts

Spray foam insulation has been used primarily for home renovations as a way of sealing and insulating in one step, but spray foam is now even finding a home in new build – but, is it safe? Is spray foam insulation the best idea. There is a plethora of home improvement shows demonstrating how easy it is to buy, renovat…

Drywall is the most common interior finish surface inside homes due to ease and affordability. But there are options! see below for the best natural healthy alternatives to drywall for finishing interior walls. Walls in residential homes are almost exclusively finished using gypsum board (either recycled or synthetic)…

Deep home retrofits through grants and interest-free loans to make your home more energy-efficient were a promise by Trudeau and the Liberals and now in 2021, it looks like they’re becoming a reality. The Canada Greener Homes Grant scheme is investing $2.6 billion over 7 years to help up to 700,000 Canadian homeowners…

Canadian homeowners, with 2021’s grants it’s time to improve home insulation, to upgrade heating systems to more efficient ones like heat pumps, to install solar panels and replace old and leaky windows and doors. How and why to claim the Canada greener homes grant
Buildings, including homes, account for 18% of Canada…

The Canada Greener Homes Grant 2021 is to help homeowners make their homes more energy-efficient, create new jobs across Canada for energy advisors, grow domestic green supply chains, and help fight climate change. Canada launches $2.6B of home improvement grants 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Natural Resources Mi…

This year marked the fourth year Formica Canada ran it’s FORM design competition, and the second year that it was won by Canadian design students. Formica Canada runs an annual design competition called the FORM Student Innovation Competition, and it has been won by University of Montreal students Bénédicte Laurent an…

Ecohome encourage anyone building with some ready mix concrete to check if there is a local supplier of CarbonCrete to help reduce the carbon footprint of your build. A while back Ecohome was pleased to find and report on some upcoming technologies that were producing Low-carbon and carbon-neutral concrete. Buildings…

Raising taxes is usually something that dips into all wallets – but the Carbon tax, applied correctly to target consumption, may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened for the North American construction industry and homeowners. I was a carpenter/contractor for decades, during and in between university. In 2…

A sustainable design challenge from Volvo Cars Canada and The Interior Design Show, The New Garage encouraged Canadian design enthusiasts to reimagine the garage, which has become a key focal point of home design. Keeping this in mind, The New Garage challenge winner, Tiam Maeiyat, delivered a unique conceptual design entitled Parking-Parc.

After studying architecture at the University of Bologna in Italy, Tiam Maeiyat found a career in Montreal as a designer in the field of architecture and interior design.

Tiam’s vision for The New Garage goes beyond vehicle storage to utilize the exterior space as an alternate family room. Enjoy a meal alfresco, or watch a movie under the stars. Inspired by the design of the Volvo XC40 Recharge, the garage uses similar flowing lines to create a dynamic shape when viewed from any angle.

The compact, all-electric XC40 Recharge is designed with purpose for our planet, meaning you can travel up to 335 kilometers on a single charge!

Tiam’s design features multiple sustainable elements, from flexible solar panels to a green roof that purifies the air and provides natural insulation.

Browse the gallery for more garage design inspiration.

The post Meet The Winner of The New Garage Design Challenge! appeared first on House & Home.

When we think of Big-Box Stores & Retailers we don’t generally think of sustainability – we think of a “pile it high & sell it cheap” disposable mentality – but we’ve been discovering that Ikea, the worlds largest furniture retailer, is at least trying. So here’s a new situation – We find that a certain corporation is…