Sol Plan Review

High-Tech Homebuilding for Cold Climates

The Drawing-Room Graphic Services, Ltd., Box 86627, North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 4L2, Canada. $40.66/year in Canada (includes GST), U.S. $46 in the U.S.

Sol Plan Review is the thinking builder’s guide to advanced Canadian home­building. Considering how much governmental support there has been for energy and resource-efficiency research in Canada, there is a lot to report on. This sixteen-page, bi-monthly periodical includes regular sections updating readers on news from CANMET (Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology—the research and development arm of Energy, Mines and Resources Canada), and from the Technical Research Committee of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association. Among the projects covered are the well-known R-2000 Energy-Efficient Houses program, a healthy houses competition, and the construction of ten “advanced” houses—chosen for their energy and material resource efficiency.

Editor Richard Kalduski also includes detailed articles about energy- and resource-efficient homebuilding, many of which are written by experts in the field. Recent topics include: Avoiding common drywall problems, ducted make-up air for mechanical ventilation, and indoor air quality in R‑2000 houses.

– NM