Many of Canada’s greenest apartments are ultra-affordable. Here’s why: social housing providers have embraced energy-efficient passive house standard
Think you can’t afford an eco-home? Some of Canada’s greenest apartments go for as little as $85 per month—hanks to social housing providers who have embraced energy efficiency standards and green building techniques.
Those builders say it’s a way to use public money to solve multiple problems at once, including mitigating and adapting to climate change and tackling growing housing unaffordability and homelessness. It’s already helping green building techniques spread to other types of construction and housing.
It’s a global standard for airtight, energy-efficient buildings that require very little space heating and cooling and maintain a comfortable temperature year-round. The standard also emphasizes features like natural light and ventilation with fresh air.
Mass timber is another form of green construction that some are also using—engineered wood panels and beams replace some components made of carbon-intensive steel and concrete in construction. The wood also stores carbon captured during the growth of the trees it came from. The panels and beams are pre-fabricated in a factory, construction is quick.
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