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Choose green for your next reno project.
Starting any building or renovation project can be overwhelming. Ask anyone who’s done it. Factor in your environmental values, your budget and your unique taste, and the whole process becomes trickier by the minute. Raisingspaces.com has assembled a range of free research and planning tools to help you make sense of it all.
What’s Green and What’s Not
If you have no formal training in the field, understanding what makes a product healthy and environmentally friendly is tough no matter who you are.
If you’re new to all this, you may not understand all of the terms and acronyms like natural, non-toxic, LEED, cradle-to-cradle, or VOCs. And even if you know the lingo of the field, how do you go about comparing one product to another?
Try some of the tools and calculators below to help you with your decision-making process. Read through the Green Building Basics page to get acquainted with Green Building, and don’t forget to check out the Rebates & Promotions you might qualify for.
Tools
Resources & Links
Ecological Footprint, Energy and Emissions Calculators
Ecological Footprint Calculator (Mountain Equipment Coop)
Tree Canada
Transport Canada’s Urban Transportation Emissions Calculator
CarbonFund - Reduce what you can, offset what you can’t
Carbon Zero Emissions Calculator
Fuel Consumption Calculator (Natural Resources Canada)
GHGenius for deluxe GHG (Greenhouse Gas) analysis (Natural Resources Canada)
Workplace Idling Calculator (Natural Resources Canada)
Home Heating System Cost Calculator Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) has released a new and updated calculator to help homeowners determine the cost benefits of switching to high-efficiency heating systems. (Natural Resources Canada)
Phantom Power Carbon Calculator (Raisingspaces.com)
Conduct an easy audit in your home to save CO2 and money on your utility bill. All you need is a watt meter and this handy spreadsheet with carbon calculations for each province. Eliminate columns and rows as needed. Click here for background.
Natural Gas Furnace to Heat Pump Conversion Calculator (University of Kentucky)- This calculator allows you to determine the savings that could occur by installing a heat pump in a home now heated by a natural gas furnace. You will need the following information: Cost of electricity, Cost of Natural Gas, Furnace Efficiency, Heat Pump COP, and the Amount of Gas used in an Average Heating Season. NEW
Free Design and Drafting Software
Retscreen International - The RETScreen Clean Energy Project Analysis Software is a unique decision support tool developed with the contribution of numerous experts from government, industry, and academia. The software, provided free-of-charge, can be used worldwide to evaluate the energy production and savings, costs, emission reductions, financial viability and risk for various types of Renewable-energy and Energy-efficient Technologies (RETs).
Hot2000 - Free Software that allows you to model the energy use in your home and even factors in Canadian weather averages for your area. It offers a detailed analysis of energy gains and losses to be had by changing design elements like insulation, window type, size and location, and more.
HotXP - HOT2®XP is a new member of the HOT2000TM family of energy analysis software. Developed by the CANMET Energy Technology Centre (CETC), the research and development arm of Natural Resources Canada, it serves as a quick and easy tool for analyzing energy use in residential buildings.
More energy modelling software available through NRCan.
Google Sketchup (for the technologically-inclined)
Find a Qualified Home Energy Advisor
To qualify for the government of Canada’s EcoEnergy rebates, you must have a before and after energy audit done on your home by a qualified home energy advisor. Find one through Natural Resources Canada.
Sustainable Building Sourcebook
Browse a range of materials, products and building systems by category to learn more about their ecological impacts. This site has a wealth of information and is a great starting point for researching material choices.
Natural Resources Canada’s Energuide
Contains a wealth of information on energy and water efficient appliances, home heating systems and vehicles. Browse its contents for purchasing guides, efficiency rating directories, and countless other resources and documents. For easy reference, we’ve listed Energuide’s appliance directories here.
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Refrigerators
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Freezers
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Ranges
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Ovens
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Cooktops
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Dishwashers
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Washing Machines
Energuide Searchable Energy Efficiency Ratings - Dryers
Renovating Green When You’re New on the Scene
Check out this new Raising Spaces green renovation primer, ideal for who want to go green at home, but are new to the idea.
A Consumer’s Guide to Green Power in Canada
Learn about green power, find residential green power providers in your province, and find out how to invest in green power.
Green Alberta
A new initiative is about to launch in Alberta and it’s got the building industry talking. It’s called Green Alberta , an online database of green building products and materials that offer an ethical, health-conscious, environmentally low-impact and cost-effective alternative to current standards in interior and exterior building design.
Natural Resources Canada Alternative Fuel Vehicle Guide
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities North America
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ mission is to increase the awareness of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green roof infrastructure across North America and rapidly advance the development of the market for green roof products and services.
A Guide to Geothermal Systems for New and Existing Homes
Produced by Natural Resources Canada, this 44 page pdf runs through the different types of systems available as well as the financial figures for owners of new and existing homes to install a geothermal system (2002).
The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook, Slowing climate change and saving money, by Godo Stoyke
Get all those hard to find energy related numbers like efficiency ratings, payback periods, and CO2 savings in one tidy and value-packed bundle. Save up to $17,000 in 5 years by implementing Stoyke’s suggested actions. (Purchase through Paypal by clicking the book cover image in the left sidebar.) Reviews Benefits CB Handbook Info
Green Remodeling, Changing the World one Room at a Time by David Johnston and Kim Master, LEED AP
This easy to read resource gives readers all the necessary background on green building issues, plus a project by project guide of interior and exterior upgrades that lays out opportunities to go green including brief blurbs on what makes a material greener. (Purchase through Paypal by clicking the book cover image in the left sidebar.)
Local Sustainable Living Sites
Green Edmonton - GreenEdmonton.ca is a community-driven online portal offering local sustainable lifestyle and consumer solutions for Edmontonians.
Green Living Ottawa - Practicing urban environmentalism, in Ottawa.
Regina Ecoliving - This website is full of great - and simple –IDEAS FOR ECOLIVING!