Green Home Blog

The Green Home Blog is the place where you'll find:

• Announcements about new pages added to the site
  
• Announcements about updates and additions to existing pages
  
• New friends, new links and new discoveries about all things green

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If you're not sure what RSS and blogging is all about, click on the small blue question mark. Once you start, you'll be amazed at what RSS can do! Read on...

For energy efficiency incentives, New Brunswick residents have quite a choice.

Chances are there's an incentives program just for you here -- just view all the different options and decide which ones apply to your particular circumstances.

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Vapor Barrier Installation Is The Key To A Tight, Energy-Efficient House

The system that creates a tight house envelope must include a vapor barrier installation. Our step by step account in words and pictures offers invaluable info for your own vapor barrier project.

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The Photo Album

Photo album of the future Green Home, showing all the "Before" photos of this extensive home rescue/extreme makeover.

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A stair remodeling project that involves moving stairs to a new location.

Ever thought of moving a staircase? It's easy! Watch our step by step stair remodeling how-to explanations. Don't be afraid to do it, it's worth every moment and every penny.

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Deconstruction is the eco friendly sister of demolition.

Include some deconstruction for achieving your sustainability goal! We show you how it's done, with valuable tips and pointers to maximize this phase of your project.

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My Green Home: How To Pick A House For A Green Makeover

My green home makeover had to start with the right kind of fixer-upper: what to look for before deciding to fix your present house or not.

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Green Home Retrofit How-To for the Budget-Conscious - Going Green At Home

Follow this homeowner as she turns her small 1950s house into a green home by improving its energy efficiency -- and trying to do it within her budget!

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Remodeling Costs of my Green Home, Dollar by Dollar and Step by Step

You can have a green home, even on a modest budget. I promised to share the remodeling costs of this project, and I always keep my promises.

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Your Green Home Questions Are Answered Here

Visitors' questions about green homes are posted here, along with our answers. Use the contact form on this page for your own questions.

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Our DIY attic door insulation project -- step-by-step.

Attic door insulation is a must for folding attic ladders and you can take care of that problem yourself with these instructions.

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Oops! I forgot to tell you about my house's final energy rating!

That's right! The second energy audit came and went, the final report itself came and went, the two grant cheques came and went... directly into the bank account... and I plumb forgot to keep you up-to-date.

My apologies, and here's the link to the second blower door test and all the interesting events that followed it.

Got Your Gutters Up Yet?

It's nearly July, it rains almost daily, yet too many homes are still without a gutter system. What gives?

I got mine two years ago, and I'm soooo glad I did. See it here.

New Pages You Don't Want To Miss!

IF YOU HAVEN'T VISITED My Green Home Project lately, you've missed these new pages:

• THE SECOND ENERGY AUDIT
• THE DOOR MAKEOVER
• INSTALLATION OF THE SUBMERSIBLE PUMP

See you there!

Another Reason for Going Organic

There is a myriad reasons for going organic in the garden, but one that is often overlooked is the fact that if you don't you may be poisoning pets and wildlife.

This spring, a family of red foxes have made their home in my rhubarb patch. I have been watching their antics from my kitchen window, so glad that neither the rhubarb nor the big apple tree next to it ever get sprayed.

Want more reasons for going organic? See here.

Are You Eating Green?

Today, I had my first dandelion salad of the season.

What's that got to do with a green home project?

Just that living green has a lot more to it than an energy-efficient house. It includes shopping and eating locally, and what could be more local than the wild foods found in your back yard?

Dandelion salad is a traditional European treat; there, people grow dandelion greens in their vegetable gardens. Yes, deliberately!

Dandelion greens are diuretic, high in potassium, and have several other medicinal properties.

And they taste great.

Here's the classic French recipe I used today:

• Pick dandelion greens before the flowers appear
• Wash them in several changes of water
• For each pound of greens, fry 3 oz of chopped bacon; when it's crisp, remove it with a slotted spoon
• Add 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar to the pan and stir
• Pour the hot vinaigrette over the dandelion greens
• Mix well, taste and add salt and pepper to taste
• Sprinkle the bacon on top
• Eat while still warm
• A bit of raw garlic and/or chopped onion can be added

Delicious!

Demise of Canadian EcoENERGY Grant Program Is Announced

IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

"March 31, 2010

Effective today, the ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program is no longer accepting bookings for pre-retrofit evaluations. The program will continue to be administered until March 31, 2011. If you have already booked an appointment for a pre-retrofit evaluation, have completed an evaluation or applied for re-entry to the program, you remain eligible to apply for a grant.
Deadline for Post-Retrofit Evaluation

It is suggested that you complete your energy upgrades well in advance to allow enough time for your post-retrofit evaluation, as all post-retrofit evaluations must be completed by March 31, 2011. Contact the energy advisor that is listed on your pre-retrofit evaluation report or contact a licensed service organization and provide them with your file number. For more information, refer to the questions and answers."

For more details, visit the Canadian Government's website.

For details about my own adventure with this program, the following link will take you to my Energy Audit page.

Third And Last Passive Solar Experiment

Tiling Kitchen At Long Last

You know you're close to the finish line when there's a man in your kitchen and he's wielding a trowel!

Now that the dishwasher had been installed, it was time to apply the kitchen backsplash tiles.

The white subway tiles remind me of my childhood, when all the bathrooms I knew had this type of tile on the walls.

Going Organic Made Easy

Are you thinking of growing some veggies this summer?

The time to plan (or maybe plant, if you're in the other hemisphere!) is now.

And this is the year for going organic.

With an expert's help, we have put together a short guide to help you get started.

You'll find it at http://www.my-green-home-project.com/going-organic.html

Another Use for Leftover Foil Insulation

I've found another use for the reflective foil insulation that was leftover after the foil insulation project.

I figured if it was good for water heater jackets it would make a great additional layer of insulation on the built-in dishwasher when we installed it yesterday.

It will serve a double purpose:  it will help reflect the heat back (that's why the shiny side is facing the dishwasher), and also keep the noise down.

Waste not, want not!