Student-led Climate Leadership for Alberta Schools white paper

150. Student white paper calls for climate change action in Alberta schools

David DodgeEducation, Energy Efficiency, Solar 1 Comment

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson You may remember the students from the Centre for …

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142. Alberta students school Premier Rachel Notley on climate change

David DodgeEducation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Solar 1 Comment

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson There’s a stereotype about young people. They don’t care …

The Temperance Street Passive House will be the first passive house certified in Saskatchewan. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

139. The first certified passive house in Saskatchewan

David DodgePassive Solar, Buildings, Energy Efficiency, Solar 5 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson In 1976, gas prices doubled overnight. Naturally, this freaked …

Energy audits are often supported by municipal or provincial energy efficiency programs because they provide a strategic recipe book for all future energy efficiency improvements to businesses or homes. It provides hard, cold facts about return on investment for each change you are contemplating. It might be the best money you spend. Here, Rob Gawreletz inspects the attic insulation and seals in a home audit by CReturns, in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

138. Energy efficiency coming to Alberta, at last!

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson On March 2, 2016, energy efficiency companies and experts from …

Edmonton's new carbon neutral net-zero garage suite is full of sensors and will be part of Godo Stoyke's PhD lifecycle assessment of the home to determine if energy efficiency and solar energy production can make not only the operation of the home carbon neutral, but whether it can also offset the carbon used in materials and construction and decommission. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

137. Carbon neutral laneway home–first of its kind

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage 2 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson This carbon neutral garage suite is a first for …

Visiting the Kinney Earthship, in the dead of winter on the Canadian prairie landscape north of Lethbridge, Alberta does invite comparisons with the lunar landscape! So much so it inspired photographer Steve Nagy to create this selfie in the middle of the night on a fine winter day. And in fact the number one question the Kinney's get about their Earthship is how does this passive solar heated home work when it's -30 degrees celsius.

136. Earthship living in a cold Canadian winter

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Net Zero, Passive Solar, Renewable Energy, Solar 8 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson  When we last visited the Kinney Earthship it was a smokin’ hot 30 …

Peter Amerongen is one of the acknowledged grandfathers of the net-zero home—a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. Using his secret formula for insulation you can make a net-zero home in the most northerly city in North America. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

132. Insulation 101: One builder’s secret blueprint for a net-zero home

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson The era of net-zero homes is upon us. These super-efficient …

Carl Lauren of Tyee Log and Timber Homes in Kimberley B.C. wanted to promote energy efficiency in home building so he pushed City Hall to start a program. Pictured is the crew that hand builds log homes at Tyee in Kimberley. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

131. Small town energy efficiency program is simple by design in Kimberley B.C.

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson All Carl Lauren wanted to do was promote the …

Even the suburbs of Vitoria-Gasteiz are green and pedestrian friendly. Photo, David Dodge

128. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Spain’s green capital is made for walking

David DodgeBiogas, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy 2 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson Change is hard. Green energy enthusiasts talk a lot …

Edmonton's Energy Transition Strategy seeks to reduce emissions by 35%, reduce individual energy use by 25% and get 10% of our electricity from local renewable energy sources by 2035. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

123. Mayor Don Iveson on Edmonton’s landmark Energy Transition Strategy

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson Climate change is often portrayed as this giant, fuzzy, …

Jason Rioux's shipping container cabin. The cabin was built out of seven containers in a hub-and-spoke pattern near Bobcaygeon, Ontario. Photo Courtesy of Jason Rioux

112. Welcome to the Octopod: An off-grid, solar powered shipping container cabin in Bobcaygeon, Ontario

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Solar 1 Comment

By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney  Whether you call it a cottage or a cabin, …

Geoff Wensel works hands-on in his pilot plant that makes shingles out of recycled milk jugs, plastic grocery bags and limestone waste. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

109. Cradle to Cradle: Recycling’s cooler younger brother

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By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney What if you could take waste limestone, add in …

AIM Energy Pros have created their own custom circuit by circuit energy monitoring unit that here is hooked up to Evergreen Ecological Services electrical panel searching or energy savings. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

106. The $750 billion dollar opportunity in industrial and commercial energy efficiency

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By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney Put your hand on the radiator in our office’s …

No two homes are the same in the Craik Eco-Village. There are tiny homes, homes made of straw bales, homes made out of insulated concrete forms – each home is its own unique recipe for building eco-home. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

99. Craik, Saskatchewan: The little Eco-Village that could

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Solar, Wind 3 Comments

By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney  About ten years ago the town of Craik, Saskatchewan, …

Green Gift Guide3

91. Green Gift Guide

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By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney The holiday season is here and so are our …

DIY Solar Hot Water Heater Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

90. DIY Solar air heating

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By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney Solar energy is a popular subject on Green Energy …

Dave Spencer and Debbie Wiltshire in front of their net-zero home. They wanted to develop a green community in Calgary and started the process more than 12 years ago. The concept turns traditional suburban neighbourhoods on its ear. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

86. Echohaven: An environmentally friendly, energy efficient suburb

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By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney To borrow a popular internet meme, what if I …

Wilbur McLean, a communications officer with the city of Medicine Hat, stands in front of a wall of smart meters. Medicine Hat has installed 26,000 smart meters.

85. How to make your smart meter even smarter

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By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney Smart meters are unabashedly good. This might seem like …

The Kinney family Earthship at dawn. The house is 2,300 square feet in size with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

82. How we built our own Earthship, a radically sustainable, off-grid home on the prairie

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Passive House, Passive Solar, Solar 4 Comments

By Duncan Kinney and David Dodge When you tell people you’re building an Earthship there …

Landmark Solar Townhomes

81. Chasing Net Zero: Go big or go home

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Energy Labelling, Net Zero, Renewable Energy, Solar 4 Comments

By David Dodge and Duncan Kinney American poet, philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau once …