Reid's Heritage Homes is building five net-zero homes as part of NRCan's Eco-Energy program. Here's their first home nearly completed on the left. The only external signs are the solar on the roof and the air source heat pump heating system mounted on the side of the house. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

114. Net-zero contagious: Five mini net-zero communities spring up across Canada

Canada’s latest batch of net-zero homes is being built in Guelph, Ontario. We head to the build site to check them out up close.

113. Beyond the Tesla Powerwall: How energy storage is shaping up in Ontario

Elon Musk’s presentation on the Powerwall gave the energy storage business a billion dollars worth of free press. In Canada, Ontario is leading the way in energy storage deployment; we head there to learn more.

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

Shipping container architecture has become more and more popular over the years. We check out an off-grid solar powered sea contaner cabin called the Octopod, located near Bobcaygeon, Ontario.

Solar flowers at Clarkson Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Region of Peel in Mississauga, Ontario. This flamboyant solar system is installed right next door to a former hybrid bus plant that also has a 427 kW solar system on it's roof. More than 23,000 renewable energy projects have been built in Ontario since the launch of the Green Energy Act in 2009. Photo David Dodge, Green EnergyFutures.ca

111. Ontario: Canada’s energy transition success story

Ontario’s energy transition — shutting down coal and ramping up renewables — is the most successful greenhouse gas reduction project in Canada’s history.

Location Efficiency expert Kurt Borth says too many people "drive until you qualify" for a big house, without considering the very real and significant transportation costs you will experience just getting to work and play. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

110. Location efficiency: Discovering the hidden transportation costs of where you live

Transportation is the average family’s second-biggest household expense. We learn why buying a location efficient house might just save you a whole lot of money.

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

Why changing the way we make things could change everything.

Dominic Ries, Adrienne Lynn and Cam Munro of Clark Builders stand in front of a gate designed to keep soils and construction mud on site by using a cattle gate that shakes the mud off vehicles before they leave the LEED construction site and hit the streets of Edmonton, Alberta. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

108. LEED works: How a green building rating system transformed the construction industry

LEED is everywhere but is it worth the effort? We look into the effectiveness of this ubiquitious green building rating system.

Jacob Komar of Revolve Engineering shows off the workings of the geothermal system in the net-zero Mosaic Centre commercial building. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

107: Geothermal: Hitting the geoexchange heating and cooling sweet spot

More than 100 hundred episodes after our first episode on geothermal we circle back for a follow up.

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

A new breed of startups is taking on a $750 billion dollar opportunity in industrial and commercial energy efficiency. We talk to two of them.

Judith Sayers at the China Creek run-of-river powerhouse. Photo by David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

105. Judith Sayers, First Nations run-of-river hydro trailblazer

Meet Judith Sayers, an incredible leader who got one of the first run-of-river hydro projects off the ground in B.C. that was majority owned by a First Nation.

Keeping turbines off of ridge tops, upwind of side slopes, and away from pronounced valleys, help reduce raptor fatalities in wind farms. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

104. Birds, bats and wind turbines

We dive into the science and research behind the effect of wind turbines on bats and birds.

The grand opening of the Mosaic Centre for Conscious Community and Commerce in Edmonton. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

103. Welcome to the Mosaic Centre: Canada’s biggest net-zero building

Net-zero houses are almost old news here at Green Energy Futures. But a net-zero commercial building? Now that got our attention.

Austin Brown of the National Renewable Energy Lab keeps this hunk of coal on his desk as a reminder of what a kilowatt-hour of electricity actually is. Burning this softball sized piece of coal will give you roughly a kilowatt-hour worth of electricity. Photo courtesy of Austin Brown NREL.

102. Everything you wanted to know about a kilowatt-hour but were afraid to ask

We can be guilty of using jargon here at Green Energy Futures. That’s why this episode is dedicated to clearing up two of the most common used and misused terms that come up on a regular basis.

Think of the filter material in your fish tank. Thanks to its very porous structure biochar provides an excellent medium for bacteria to live and do good work cleaning water, soils or someday perhaps even the stomachs of livestock. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/biochar

101. Biochar 101

Titan Clean Energy Projects is a Saskatchewan-based company making a very interesting product: biochar. We visit their plant and learn more about this amazing product.

Prior to launching the solar municipal feed-in-tariff program Banff invested in solar systems on public buildings such as the public washrooms in downtown Banff. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

100. Banff launches the first municipal solar feed-in tariff in Canada

Feed-in tariffs have transformed renewable energy markets around the world. Now the mountain town of Banff is the first municipality in Canada to institute this important piece of renewable energy supporting policy.

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

What happens when you sell unserviced lots for a dollar and get people to build green homes on the edge of a small Saskatchewan town? We find out.

Nissan LEAF makes it "easy to be green," offering the space and range to meet everyday needs, while also providing an exceptional value proposition due to zero spending on gas, lower operating and maintenance costs and a starting price after tax incentives competitive with a comparable gas-powered car.

98. Market snapshot: The state of electric vehicles in Canada

We check out one of the rarest electric vehicles in Canada and that spurs us to check on the state of the EV market here in Canada.

The wood for Millar Western's mills comes from the boreal forest surrounding the Whitecourt area in northern Alberta. Waste from the mills is burned by Whitecourt Power to generate electricity. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

97. Ban the beehive: Why wood waste to energy is a no-brainer

Whitecourt, Alberta has a pulp mill and a saw mill. With all that wood comes wood waste. We look at how one company is turning this wood waste into something useful — green electricity.

Green Energy Future's David Dodge and Keith Wallgren of RBF Cycles get ready to try a little winter cycling in the most northerly big city in North America. Photo Duncan Kinney, Green Energy Futures

96. Winter Cycling 101

David Dodge gets out of his comfort zone and jumps on a bike in the middle of an Edmonton winter. He learns about what kind of gear you need and how to stay warm for this fun, energy efficient mode of transportation.

Ryan Jansen of the Saskatchewan Research Council research shows batteries can increase a wind turbine's capacity factor significantly, allowing grid operators to incorporate more wind turbines. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

95. Cowessess First Nation has the biggest battery in Saskatchewan

Energy storage is getting ready to expand across the world. We head to Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan to see a finished project and understand more about this important next wave of energy technology.

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