Daniel Proulx has lived in his home for 45 years, and has spent the past 30 doing retrofits.  His home is now completely off-grid.

Pierre Harrison and Susanne Leffler built their own passive design straw bale home near Wanup and have been living there for over 11 years.  “Living in a straw bale house is very calming, relaxing and cozy because the walls block out so much sound. In the winter, the stucco on the walls stores a lot of heat which makes the house very comfortable. All of these nurture a sense of well-being in the house. It also helps that we are in the middle of the forest,” says Pierre.

Bernard Proulx built this Passive House for his son in 2016.  Can you tell by looking at it that there is no furnace and it relies almost entirely on the sun for heating even on the coldest days?  A 2 kw electric fireplace is available for extra heat if needed. 

When I reach Wanda Martin, it is -47 with wind chill, and her Passive House is warm and comfortable.  And she has no gas bill!  Greater Sudbury’s plan to reach net zero carbon emissions aims for all new homes to be Passive Houses by 2030.  Sounds great to me!