Don Valley Evergreen Brick Works

The Brick Works' organic food market is open again every Saturday morning. The Brick Works has great historical significance for Toronto. After two massive fires, one in 1849, the other in 1904, wood was banned as an exterior construction material in Toronto. Fireproof bricks made from the Don Valley Brickworks were in easy supply as the Brickworks sat on top of the biggest load of high-grade clay in Ontario. Charles Dickens, on a visit to Toronto, apparently gave the city mixed reviews, but he praised the red brick buildings.

Goose family at the Toronto Real Estate Board

This mother goose chose a flower bed by the parking lot entrance to 1400 Don Mills, home of the Toronto Real Estate Board, to start her family this year. Father Goose did his job and was ever watchful for weeks as hundreds of realtors and staff streamed into the building to attend classes and meetings. A yellow security ribbon roped off the nesting area and realtors were given notice not to disturb Mom. Seven goslings were hatched on May 1 and the family has left their TREB "starter home" and moved on.

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Ontario College of Art and Design

Last week the Ontario College of Art and Design held its annual exhibition of the work of the college's 2009 graduate students. Over an intense eight month period, nearly 70 Industrial Design students present their "theses" which are the culmination of their previous 3 years of study. These cover the fundamentals that give students their development tools such as design research, stakeholder analysis, persona and experience development, refinement and production of a prototype ,and presentation of a product, service or system that can be put to market. Impressive to me was how many of the students' projects were dedicated to energy conservation projects, greening our cityscape, and eco-sustainability. Our future is good hands.

It ain't easy being green

Below you can see clearly where the hot air in summer and cold air in winter gets inside this tree house. The window is wide open to the environment and one can almost see the cracks between the wooden planks. The homes we live in aren't quite so obvious in revealing how air that we pay to heat escapes through cracks and holes that we can't quite see but when these apertures are added up by volume it's surprising how large a "hole" is created. Reducing air leakage is usually the most cost-effective measure a home owner can undertake. The leakier the home, the greater the energy savings when the leaks are stopped. It's not unusual for air leakage to account for 35% of the heat loss in a home.

When an energy auditor/advisor comes to your home, one of the tasks performed is a blower door test. A variable-speed fan is mounted on an adjustable panel that fits into any exterior door opening. When the fan is turned on, the pressure inside your home is gradually reduced to allow outside air to flow into the house through unsealed openings or cracks in the house's structure. Pressure gauges connected to the fan measure the rate of air flow reaured to keep your home at a constant pressure so that the energy auditor/advisor can calculate your home's resistance to air infiltration. The results are incorporated into your home's energy efficiency rating.

It's elemental, dear Watson. Drafty and cold in winter, hot in summer

Coon at noon

One of the fundamentals of owning property is taking care of basics. This photo shows how unwanted creatures can take over, finding gaps in the human-made terrain and settling into cubby holes. Raccoon poop carries unfriendly bacteria and smells foul because coons eat garbage. These cute babies will grow up and multiply. Best not to give them too many advantages. Spring is a great time to put unwanted tenants on notice and make minor and major repairs.

Happy Passover and Easter

GARAGE ART

Clocks go back one hour tonight