Greenroofs in city's are the answer to cooling down.

I've been thinking this for a while, especially after looking out from several Toronto high rises and seeing the many bare flat roofs that are dying to be greened!! There's a good article in NewScientist confirming that this infact makes a huge difference, as does greening walls...
I wonder what Toronto will be like in a few years time with all the new glass condo's in place...

Why aren't more people building like this...

Another article in the star, about better designed houses to reduce the need for air-conditioning, even on the hottest days.

One of which refers to passive cooling, quite a few different people advertising this when you google it - another similar term is passive solar gain. The theory is that you use a bit of common sense in the design of your house - seems a bit of a luxury in most mass builds. So you get the warmth of the sun in the winter months, and block it out in the summer, also using shade, movement of air to exhaust the hot air, and circulate cool air. We first saw this in the BedZed carbon neutral development in the UK.

Toronto housing/real estate madness

Interesting articles in the Toronto Star this weekend about fake bidders in the housing market (also covered in this blog). I must admit that whilst we've been bidding, there has been suspicion of a bid by phone that wins (as attached to the agent), and also before bidding starts on expectations on what the property will go for... The trick it seems is to low ball the listing price, and then expect it to be bid up - if not it will usually be listed again at a higher price...