Homes with high performance can deliver better value every day and well into the future.
Blog
-
Net Zero Building Has a Queen
An historic home destroyed by fire comes back better than ever.
They call it the “Queen of Zero.” Completed in November 2024, this Hyattsville, Md., home represents a story rebirth: a Phoenix of a house rising from the ashes to become a one-of-a-kind Queen Anne Victorian aligned with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) standard.
-
What Is a Residential Renovation?
What Is a Residential Renovation? A residential renovation is the process of improving, updating or restoring an existing home, its interior, exterior or building systems, without demolishing the original structure. Renovations range from cosmetic refreshes such as painting and flooring […]
The post What Is a Residential Renovation? appeared first on Green Building Canada.
-
Housing Act Arrives with a Thud
Unless you’re a banker, a big builder, or an investor, don’t expect much.
-
How Thermal Cameras Detect Heat Loss, Air Leaks and Building Problems
How Thermal Cameras Detect Heat Loss, Air Leaks and Building Problems In this weekly Q&A column, retired builder/building inspector Cam Allen answers readers’ home renovation questions. Have a question? Enter it in the form below. Thermal imaging technology is one […]
The post How Thermal Cameras Detect Heat Loss, Air Leaks and Building Problems appeared first on Green Building Canada.
-
How Much Does it Cost to Install AC in Canada?
How Much Does it Cost to Install AC in Canada? KEY TAKEAWAYS Air conditioning (AC) is one of the most effective ways to keep your home cool during Canada’s increasingly warm summers. But you may well ask, “How much can […]
The post How Much Does it Cost to Install AC in Canada? appeared first on Green Building Canada.
-
Building Codes Don’t Raise Home Prices, Data Centers Hit Roadblocks, and Why Americans Crave Big Homes
This week’s biggest housing stories explore affordability, data center pushback, and the surprising forces shaping the homes we build versus the ones we want.
-
Renewables Set to Lead Canada’s Power Expansion as Alberta Data Centres Drive Demand
Canada is preparing for a major expansion of renewable electricity as the country attempts to meet rising power demand, electrify more of its economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the rapid growth of energy-intensive data centres, particularly in natural […]
The post Renewables Set to Lead Canada’s Power Expansion as Alberta Data Centres Drive Demand appeared first on Green Building Canada.
-
Joined-up by Design: Closing the Gap between Evidence and Action
The built environment is increasingly being asked to deliver on climate mitigation, resilience and nature recovery at the same time. At a macro level, our current ways of working are not yet set up to do that, but this summer’s prolonged heatwaves and wildfires across the UK show that we can’t wait for some future crisis to act; the impacts are already here, and we’re suffering nationally from our unpreparedness.
It is this urgency that makes our BuildingLife Ambassadors campaign so important. Bringing together expert practitioners and policy advocates from across the sector, it gives industry and politicians a crucial message: that decarbonisation, resilience, and nature are interdependent, and demand a joined-up response.
Across the sector, the evidence base has strengthened considerably in recent years. Through UKGBC’s own work, via our four pillars – of our UK Net Zero Whole Life Carbon and Climate Resilience Roadmaps, alongside our Nature Positive Framework and our forthcoming Regenerative Places Framework. Enlivened by insight from industry, academia and policymakers, we now have a far clearer picture of both the risks we face and the actions required.
What we now face is not primarily a knowledge problem, but an implementation and coordination problem.
From evidence to integration
The direction set by that evidence is consistent. Decarbonisation, climate resilience and nature recovery are not separate agendas, but interdependent outcomes of the same system.
However, much of our delivery model still treats them independently, with old-school, siloed thinking and acting. Embodied carbon action remains largely voluntary and is applied inconsistently. Investment in resilience continues to lag behind mitigation. Nature recovery is gaining visibility but is not yet embedded in core decision-making or long-term financing, investment, and asset strategies.
This fragmentation is holding us back. It creates unnecessary trade-offs and, in some cases, locks in poor outcomes.
A building that meets a carbon target but cannot cope with heat or flood risk is not fit for the future. A development that supports nature but does not account for changing climate conditions will not deliver lasting value. Treating these issues separately leads to outcomes that fall short.
The reality we’re navigating
There are clear examples of leadership across the sector. Parts of industry, finance and local government are demonstrating what more integrated approaches can achieve.
At the same time, there are significant political and economic challenges that continue to affect the pace and consistency of climate action, particularly in the UK. Policy signals remain uneven, especially for existing buildings, where greater clarity is still needed.
Progress is real, but it is patchy and too dependent on individual leadership rather than being built into how the system operates.
A broader coalition
It is in this context that our BuildingLife Ambassadors sit. The campaign brings together practitioners, policymakers, investors and advocates from across the built environment. What connects them is a shared willingness to work across the boundaries that still shape much of our sector.
Their role is to reflect and reinforce that way of thinking. To show what it looks like to treat the built environment as a system, and to work across the interfaces that too often hold progress back.
The next phase of the built environment’s transition must be about aligning the entire industry behind the evidence we now have. Voluntary action across the industry has played a critical role in demonstrating what is possible, with many organisations already taking a more integrated approach to carbon, resilience and nature. The priority now is to build on that leadership by translating it into policy frameworks and ways of working that enable consistent, whole-system outcomes across the market, rather than siloed compliance. This also requires far stronger coordination across the value chain, from national policy through to project delivery.
Over the coming months, including through the perspectives of our Ambassadors, we will continue to explore what this looks like in practice.
The task ahead is straightforward to describe, but harder to deliver. A built environment that is low carbon, resilient and supports nature will only be achieved if we treat it as a single system and act accordingly.
The post Joined-up by Design: Closing the Gap between Evidence and Action appeared first on UKGBC.
-
On Solid Ground
This Earth (and earth)-friendly home puts the ‘green’ in Greenwich.
A couple who spent their careers in healthcare wanted a home where they could age in place and that reflected their values: the importance of wellness, connections to nature, and a minimized carbon footprint. They got their wish with the 5,700-square-foot single-family home in Greenwich, Connecticut that they completed in 2025.
