Evolve Builders Group

Picture perfect. A view into what a great team, great design and great clients can make happen together!

We got this show on the road! Evolve Builders Group Inc combined with Jim Campbell and Clearview Sustainability Network to take Passive Buildings Canada's popular "Boots on the Ground" speaker series out of the city and host it for the first time in Southern Georgian Bay region.

We were nervous. At a time when residential construction in Ontario has cratered, how many local policy makers, developers, building officials and of course and professionals might be keen to learn more about , building?

We needn't have worried: we sold out! More than 115 registrants with nearly a dozen regional and national sponsors, packed the perhaps too small hall to hear our three sets of curated speakers (always at least one representing each of the design world, the trades or supplier view and the owner perspective), touch the wares on display courtesy the sponsor mini-tradeshow and bump elbows with neophytes and experts alike.

So much interest! After I turned off the mic and attempted to wade my way back to our own booth, I never managed more than two steps before being stopped, engaged in conversation: key among the chatter (still more on this later!)

photos: Rockside-Campbell Design

A powerful one-two punch! This is the first video to drop from the "High Performance Design meets Boots-on-the-Ground" speaker series that Evolve Builders Group again hosted in Guelph on behalf Passive Buildings Canada.

This one features Stuart Evans P.Eng. for whose own family we had the recent pleasure and privilege of building their ultra-efficient new home. Further, we received an education from Stuart about how hydronics can be designed for both heating and cooling. Couple this with an air-to-water heat pump then you benefit from the ordinary energy multiplier effect of while basking in the comfort of radiant heat distribution and cooling in a combined system!

Tricks, products, design considerations and results are all captured in his excellent talk.

Liked this one?! Keep watch as we drop the second in the promised one-two punch...combine what you learn here with the potential of phase change thermal storage! More on that soon.

Design: Stone's Throw Design Inc.
Windows: VETTA Windows

Boots on the Ground: Flexibility and future proofing: A case study in modern home hydronics Selecting a mechanical system for a high-performance home involves trade-offs between space, controllability, comfort, first cost, serviceability, and future...

Our Ben Polley declared it to be a treat and a privilege to be invited to speak to Lloyd Alter's multidisciplinary Sustainable Design class at TorontoMetropolitan University.

Lloyd said that they were a strong class and indeed, Ben thought that they posed some insightful questions. Clearly, they must also remain alert in his class as multiple topics were covered (as these pics can attest)!

Thanks to Garrett Johnson who graciously shared some content from recent talks of his own, which Ben repurposed into my discussion around .