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OHG 3-Legged Stool of Green Building
What is The 3 Legged Stool? Well it’s one of the philosophies that has led me to form one house green. A philosophy that guides my personal design aesthetic and keeps me focused on what and who is important. In short the 3 legged stool is a concept by which 3 areas of importance come […]
Heat Recovery Ventilator
How a Heat Recovery Ventilator Works Heat recovery ventilation (HRV) systems allow homes to maintain high indoor air quality and low mechanical operation costs. This is achieved by keeping a physical separation between the fresh and exhaust air but allows for exchange of their thermal properties (to degree). As shown in the diagram, a heat […]
Geo-Thermal
As long as the electricity for the circulation pump is acquired from renewable resources (wind/ solar) Geothermal can be considered a 100% renewable primary energy source. Using the earth’s ability to store vast amounts of energy from the sun. We can essentially use the energy found literally right in our own back yards as a […]
ICF
ICF stands for “insulated concrete forms”. Basically, these are cast-in-place concrete forms used to build exterior walls (or the interior party wall of a duplex) of a house. The forms consist of approximately 3″ of foam held apart with plastic webs used to stabilize the foam forms and support interior rebar during concrete pouring. Each side […]
Filter Systems for Rainwater Harvesting and Collection
Rainwater storage systems are becoming very popular in areas of the west coast where there is plentiful rain in the winter months and minimal rainfall in the summer. The warmer climate allows the use of large outdoor storage tanks with no worry of freezing. Rainwater collection is a year around activity. Many residential users have […]
Trombe Walls
A Trombe wall is a sun-facing wall developed by the French engineer félix trombe in 1956, and is built from a material that can act as a thermal mass (such as stone, metal, concrete, adobe, rammed earth or water tanks), combined with an air space, insulated glazing, and vents to form a large solar thermal […]