Muskoka Sustainable Builders Inc. has found many different approaches to building a home that you can tell your friends is “green”, however we have narrowed our focus to a few main priorities. The first is simplicity. When evaluating some new technique or product one of the first questions that goes through my mind is “would this have been possible 100 or 200 years ago?”. While some of the technology that has been developed is very valuable to building an efficient home, much of it has been developed as a countermeasure to a problem that shouldn’t exist in the first place. The next priority is context. Where is the building located. What are the climatic conditions the building will be exposed to. What functions do the owners need it to serve. What were the traditional solutions found in that area. These are a few of the preliminary questions that need to be addressed. Finally, the idea of bringing all of the features of the home to work together in a harmonious, sustainable system.
Muskoka Sustainable Builders Inc. has been formed to act as a complete general contracting company to guide people through the entire process of building a home in the most sustainable way possible from the purchase of an appropriate lot, to siting the house on the lot, designing and engineering the building and it’s systems, supervision and construction and finally confirmation that the building indeed meets the expected performance for years to come.
I hope this blog will take you on my journey to build a sustainable home for my family and an opportunity to discuss the compromises and choices that we have made.
Thank you,