Blog by Patricia Houlihan

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Canadian lenders going green with new line of mortgages

January 20th, 2008
More Banks Are Starting to Offer Green Mortgages

Some major banks and credit unions are starting to offer what they are calling "green mortgages" and "green loans" for energy efficient house purchases and improvements. It is hoped that the green mortgages and loans will make Canada's housing supply more energy efficient reducing some of the 40 per cent of green house gasses emitted by bu ...

Insures put the breaks on green roofs

January 19th, 2008
BC Insurance Industry Refuses To Insure Green Roofs

BC's insurance industry and homeowner protection office has stopped covering green roofs. The insurance industry's refusal to cover green roofs has caused confusion and outrage in the green-roof industry and delayed dozens of developments including the Olympic Village, which was originally required to be build with a green roof.

Man ...

Making the case for in floor heating

January 18th, 2008
Mike Holmes Makes A Case For In-Floor Heating

Mike Holmes is a huge fan of in-floor heating and believes you will be too. In-floor heating is the most energy efficient way to heat your home because it heats the floor, instead of the ceiling like convention systems. In-floor heating can also be zoned allowing you to have different thermostats for separate areas in your house to deliver h ...

Residents at risk in worlds polluted cities

January 17th, 2008
Report Finds Residents Of The Worlds 10 Most Polluted Cities Living Under A Death Sentence

A new report published by the Balcksmith Institute has found that the 10 million people, living in the world's 10 most polluted cities, have shortened life expectancies. The report shows that residents of highly polluted cities are at high risk for developing lung infections and cancer.

"Living ...

A house, a designer, then maybe Mr. Right

January 16th, 2008
You Don't Need To Wait For The Perfect Partner To Create Your Dream House

Many single women are not waiting to find the perfect partner and get married before purchasing and decorating their dream home. The traditional order of first comes love then comes marriage has given way to first comes a home - then maybe Mr. Right.

Trend and style watcher Sara Costello, creative director of D ...

Environmental Activists Say That The Time For Talk Is Over

January 15th, 2008
Environmental activists who have been following climate change for longer than just the last few years say that the time for talk is over. Both veteran and new activists agree that 2008 is the year to demand new legislation and firm deadlines for reducing the greenhouse gasses that the United Nations says are causing human induced climate change.

With environmental issues at the top of C ...

Vancouver Eco Software Firm Lands Al Gore As Client

January 14th, 2008
Vancouver software company Visible Strategies makes mapping software that creates images used for tracking and measuring an organization's sustainability performance. Launched in February of this year the company's first major client was Al Gore's Live Earth team and all eight of the venues where the concerts took place last summer.

Live Earth organizers used the software to produce imag ...

Green Myths Exposed

January 13th, 2008

Hmmm easier than you thought to Live Green: Green Myths Exposed

Is it more environmentally friendly to wash your dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher? Can I take baths or does it use too much water? Good news for people who like the convenience of using their dishwasher and relaxing in nice warm bath - both of these practices are not as wasteful as commonly thought! Having spe ...

No More Green Lip Service In 2008

January 10th, 2008
Was 2007 the year of living green or just talking about living green? It seems to me that after 17 years of practicing environmental law and not being able to understand how people couldn't get the issues, now environmental issues are everywhere. The media which was generally in the past doing almost nothing to help get the word out is now almost (if this is possible!) over reporting some is ...

Check out Green Show Homes that demonstrate environmentally conscious building practices for designers, builders and buyers

January 9th, 2008

There are a lot of green living expos popping up now and in the USA a lot of green show homes-we aren't quite there in Vancouver even though I think we think of ourselves as living quite green. In many ways today's green show houses are like the 1933 World's Fair Homes of Tomorrow, which were a popular way of showcasing new technologies like dishwashers and central air conditioning. Toda ...

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