Green roofs and roof gardens
with Janna Levitt, B.A., B.Arch., OAA of Levitt Goodman Architects and Terry McGlade, Horticulturalist and president of Gardens in the Sky, recipient of many gardening awards including 2007 City of Toronto Green Roof Award. Terry has been instrumental in bringing greenroof technology into its own in Canada.

Toronto Botanical Garden Member Fee: $80.00
Regular Fee: $85.00

Join us for this day-long workshop to learn how to create a green roof or roof garden on both new and existing buildings. Rooftop gardens improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions, delay storm water runoff, increase habitat for birds, reduce the heat island effect, reduce cooling costs and increase the value of buildings. From structural issues to plant selection, costs to permits, this workshop looks at the planning and implementation of green roofs on both residential and larger buildings.

For more information or to register, contact [email protected], or phone 519-855-4859 Ext. 101, or visit www.everdale.org

Sustainable living symposium and green house tour
Belleville, ON

The 4th Annual Sustainable Living Symposium, organized by 11 regional not-for-profit groups, will feature a full day of speakers & exhibits on sustainable living, highlighting over 25 local experts through interactive participant sessions and over 50 local businesses, organizations and products in an exhibitor area.

TOPICS INCLUDE:

• Alternative Home Construction & Renovation
• Renewable Energy - Solar, wind & geothermal
• Intensive Urban Food Gardens
• Natural Yards for Healthy and Diverse Ecosystems
• Active Living & Wellness
• Earth Friendly Lifestyle Choices
• Green Consumerism
• Natural Waste Water Treatment
• Sustainable Communities Design
• Organic Food Production
• Innovative, Low-input and Productive Agricultural Crops
• Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Products
• Local Food Systems
• Low and No Emission Transportation

PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED, visit the Symposium website at www.quintesustainability.ca

Basics - Designing a Timber Frame Building in 3D CAD/CAM
Instructors: Wil Dancey & Alwin Jedelhauser
Fees: $350

Workshop fees include accommodation at Riverstone and workshop lunches. Breakfast and dinner is up to the individual.

This workshop will cover 3D design and detailed development of joinery for a timber frame structure using Dietrich’s software. Timber roof design and the envelope of the building will also be created.

Dietrich’s software has evolved over the past 27 years into the most efficient 3D design software available for wood construction. Upon completion of the three days of training, participants will receive a fully functional trial version for a period of three months.

Where:
Riverstone Retreat Centre
233639 Concession 2
Durham, ON
N0G 1R0

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354

Bau-Biologie: An Introduction to Building Biology for Builders and Designers
Instructor: Paula Baker-Laporte & Stephen Colette
Fees: $350

Workshop fees include accommodation at Riverstone and workshop lunches. Breakfast and dinner is up to the individual.

Bau-biologie, a term coined in Germany, is a word used to describe a movement promoting the use of healthy building principles as a means to improve living and work spaces and the health of people who occupy them. Bau-biologie literally means, “building biology.” Both terms are now used interchangeably and both have exactly the same definition -”how buildings impact life and the living environment.”

The course we are offering can go towards your full certification as a Building Biology Practitioner.

ENBB101-An Introduction to Building Biology for Builders and Designers

The role of our buildings is to shelter us from climatic extremes without sacrificing the life-nurturing balance that nature has perfected over eons. Building biology is both the science and philosophy that holds nature as the gold standard against which healthy human-built indoor environments must be measured.

We can sense when an environment feels good to us. Building biology studies the science that is behind the experience of well being. The natural environment is a delicate balance of chemical, electrical and biological energies that has sustained life through the millennia. Humans, along with all mammals, thrive in natural environments with temperature variation, humidity range and complexity of colors and shapes. Understanding the forces that create and maintain both a stimulating and healthy environment and recreating these conditions within indoor environments to nurture us is the work of building biology.

In designing buildings from this perspective, we are also honoring a deep relationship to planetary ecology. As building biology teaches: “there is a direct correlation between biological compatibility and ecological performance.”

This introductory course for builders and designers will cover the following topics:

• The 25 principles of Building Biology
• 7 green building myths
• Building science-understanding the physics/applying the biological principles
• Building biology and the design of buildings
• Building biology and the selection of building systems, materials and finishes

Where:
Riverstone Retreat Centre
233639 Concession 2
Durham, ON
N0G 1R0

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354

EcoNest: Turning Your Dream Into Reality
Instructor: Paula Baker-Laporte & Robert Laporte
Fees: $200

Workshop fees include accommodation at Riverstone and workshop lunches. Breakfast and dinner is up to the individual.

Do you dream of living in an authentic home; a legacy of beauty, health and environmental stewardship that reflects your deepest values? Perhaps you have already searched the conventional real estate offerings and realized that to truly fulfill your deepest vision you must build from scratch; quite a daunting challenge! This seminar will empower you to embark on your unique journey home. Prepare to be inspired as you gather with an intimate group for a deep exploration of all that home can be!

Learning Objectives

• Defining your unique dream - personal resonance
• Creating a living sanctuary - deep health and ecology
• Choosing your land and siting your house - environmental stewardship
• Assembling your team - harmonic process
• Selecting the materials - the biology of building

Where:
Riverstone Retreat Centre
233639 Concession 2
Durham, ON
N0G 1R0

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354

Compound Joinery - Roof & Timber Layout
Instructors: Wil Dancey & Alwin Jedelhauser
Fees: $350

Workshop fees includes accommodation at Riverstone and workshop lunches. Breakfast and dinner is up to the individual.

This advanced workshop will cover:

• Calculation of roof geometry, including the basic skills needed to accurately derive roof angles and lengths (backing angles)
• The basic principles and rules for roof layout
• How to evaluate what is essential when dimensioning shop drawings
• Basic 2D computer drafting skills

Where:
Riverstone Retreat Centre
233639 Concession 2
Durham, ON
N0G 1R0

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354

Timber frame: Square rule layout
Instructors: Joshua Thornton and Ali Lam
Fees: $450

Fees include lunch for participants during workshop days.

We will discuss and demonstrate both the mill rule and line rule method of layout, which are variants of the square rule layout method. Participants will learn to layout their timber by making all of the necessary assessments, measurements and markings to proceed to the cutting stage. At the cutting stage, participants will use primarily hand tools to execute the joinery, while modern machines will also be demonstrated and used.

Where:
Flesherton, Ontario

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354

Rocket Stoves: Building the Pocket Rocket
Instructors: Ernie Wisner & Erica Ritter
Fees: $350

Fees include lunch for participants on workshop days and camping accommodations.

Rocket Stove is a somewhat generic term describing a range of highly efficient wood burning stoves. Called “rocket” because of the loud noise they make and their intensity of burn, these stoves were developed by fire experts working in mostly third-world countries, mostly for women, who were concerned both with the scarcity of wood fuel and the health issues related to the smoke from cooking inside their homes.

Day one will have two components; a “minds-on” session, and a “hands-on” session. In the morning we will discusss the fundamental principles of rocket mass heaters and rocket stoves. Our theoretical discussion will then turn towards application of these principals. We will discuss many different possible configurations for cooking, storing heat in thermal mass, heated benches etc. Participants are encouraged to bring designs, plans and ideas of stoves they would like to build. For inspiration the recommended reading is the book, Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient Woodstoves YOU Can Build. These will form the basis of a design charrette (forum) where we will discuss the ideas in relation to the fundamental principals discussed in the morning.

The second part of day one will be hands-on. Using the same materials as a real stove, participants will build mock-ups of some different rocket mass heater configurations. You will learn how to make the combustion chamber made of firebricks and heat riser made of a 55 gallon steel drum and how to make a cob mixture of clay and straw with which to surround your stove and serve as a thermal battery.

On day two we will build the Pocket Rocket, an offshoot of the Rocket Stove. It is easy to make from inexpensive materials and can be used in the place of an outdoor wood burner or fire pit for increased fuel efficiency and decreased smoke pollution. A perfect urban back-yard heater.
Students will learn some of the principles of wood combustion, how to work with metal tools such as tin snips, and how to keep a fire going in a downdraft wood stove, which is different from any other wood burning device.

The book, Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient Woodstoves YOU Can Build, by Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson will be available for purchase. We HIGHLY recommend that you read this book before coming to the workshop so that you can prepare your own plans to discuss with Leslie and the rest of the class during the design charrette.

Where:
Flesherton, Ontario

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354

Timber frame: Plumb-line scribe
Instructors: Joshua Thornton and Ali Lam
Fees: $450

Fees include lunch for participants during workshop days.

Perhaps as a gut response to the rise of CNC machining in the timber framing industry, plumb line scribe techniques have gathered a steadily increasing body of practitioners in North America these last several years. Allowing the timber framer to use material otherwise unfit for square rule timber frame construction, plumb line scribe techniques open the door to truly utilizing low processed local timber to it’s maximum potential! Incorporating natural curves, cambers, twists, bows and other irregularities often to the framers advantage is one of the key benefits.

The plumb line scribe is at once incredibly simple and phenomenally advanced. Conceptually based in geometrical relationships, the first step is to layout a section of the building – full scale - on the layout floor. All of the critical information which relates to the building geometry is then directly lofted off of the floor using plumb bobs or spirit levels. Simultaneously, the information which relates to the idiosyncrasies of each individual timber are referenced to the plumb line and transcribed onto their mating piece.

These techniques form the basis for resolving incredibly complex building geometries without ever using trigonometry (or even requiring to know the roof pitch!).

While this workshop is suited to the seasoned timber framer, looking to add new skills to their repertoire, beginning timber framers, unclouded by years of other habits, take to the technique rather remarkably… provided they come with a sharp chisel!!

Where:
Flesherton, Ontario

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354

Instructors: Robert Laporte & Joshua Thornton

Dates:
4-day Intro: May 28th to 31st, 2009.
7-day Builder Training: May 25th to 31st, 2009.

Fees:
4-day: $495
7-day: $795

In this session the participants will have the opportunity to learn the production techniques for creating healthy natural straw/clay walls. This is a hands-on experience constructing these wonderful walls with locally sourced materials using the production techniques of the professionals.

Intro to Econest - Four-day Workshop
In the four day workshop, participants join-in with the seven day crew to complete the infill of the straw/clay walls. You will learn about the different types of clay/loam and aggregate combinations which can be used in insulating exterior walls. Woodchip clay, Hemp clay, and straw/clay will all be discussed prior to the students being introduced to the production oriented tools and equipment we will use. This session is oriented towards natural building practioners who wish to learn the nuances of straw/clay applications, as well as interested individuals who wish to experience natural building for the first time!

Builder Training - Seven-day Workshop
The seven day workshop caters to those who are already in the trades and are looking to understand more about natural infill systems of straw and clay. We will also teach you the framing techniques required to create walls which will be accepted by your local building inspector. Furthermore, you gain the valuable insight as to how to time your sub trades in these projects allowing you to avoid costly mistakes! This session is the first of a series provided by the EcoNest building company.

We will also be touring Ontario’s first EcoNest home, The Martin House, to see a completed EcoNest home!

Where:
Zimmermann Residence
Rothsay, Ontario

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354