Lloyd Alter
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Author of Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle, Teaching sustainable design at Toronto Metropolitan university, Substacking at lloydalter.substack.com
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Articles by Lloyd Alter
The Stone Demonstrator shows us how to build for a New Stone Age
I am back from my travels to London and Portugal and am resuming our regular schedule. All terrible photos by Lloyd Alter I am fascinated by “the New Stone Age”- the architects, engineers and masons using stone as a structural material. I have previously quoted Steve Webb of Webb Yates Engineers, who points out the silliness of mining limestone, grinding it up and cooking it at 1450°C, only to mix it with more stone and water to turn it back into… stone.
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A very serpentine Serpentine Pavilion shows how to do more with less
The Serpentine Gallery’s “annual architectural commission showcases new temporary buildings by international architects.” I have seen a few of them, and have questioned the value of investing so much money and carbon in such a temporary building.
ISO-Chemie joins permanent passive house exhibit in Matlock
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Housing minister calls for faster retrofit to shield homes from energy shocks
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge Ireland needs to dramatically accelerate the retrofitting of its homes, schools and businesses to build resilience against future energy price shocks, the Irish Green Building Council's 2026 Policy Scorecard has warned.
Straw houses could help meet housing targets and cut emissions
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge The UK could meet its housing targets of up to 300,000 new homes each year, swapping high-carbon building materials for straw without running out of supply, according to new research.
Campaigners tell Irish government to publish Climate Action Plan
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge This year's climate plan, traditionally published at the start of the calendar year, has now been delayed for a second consecutive year. Stop Climate Chaos, a coalition of environmental groups, said that a “disregard for its own climate law”.
Households feeling the heat of global oil conflict
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge The figures, published by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), found that 1,163,000 were sold across twelve counties, up on 1,048,000 in the first half of 2025. Sales were measured in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.
Armacell quantifies emissions avoided by insulation
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge An independent study commissioned by Armacell calculated the impact of two of its product lines: ArmaFlex, used in commercial and residential settings, and ArmaGel, used in industrial applications.
Central Bank: Irish housing completions set to fall as housing crisis continues
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge With the embodied carbon of construction estimated to take up 14 per cent of Ireland's emissions, one powerful way of cutting Ireland's emissions is to build less stuff. The new figures from the Central Bank suggest that in the housing sector at least, that's precisely what Ireland's doing.
How deep is too deep for cost-optimal retrofit?
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge A cri de coeur in the passive house world is "Fabric First!" – let's fix the building envelope or fabric before we do anything else.
Scottish passive house equivalence receives cautious welcome
Government The UK’s Passivhaus Trust has published its initial response to the Scottish Government's Stage 2 consultation on a proposed Scottish ‘passive house equivalent’ policy, ahead of a fuller submission due before 16 October this year.
Price regulation promised to address district heating affordability
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge The move comes as analysis by Passive House Plus indicates that the cost of communal heating can be in the region of three times higher than a heat pump.
New and enhanced Irish retrofit grants go live on 6 October
Irish homeowners seeking to switch from boilers, solid fuel or storage heaters to heat pumps can avail of an additional €2k worth of grant funding – bringing the total amount a homeowner can claim for heat pump grants up to a maximum of €14,500. The extra grant is reserved for pre-2021 homes with oil, gas or LGP boilers, solid fuel burners or electric storage heaters.
From compliance to performance: reflections from Essen
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge There was a strong UK interest at the 28th International Passive House Conference in Essen, where the themes could hardly have been more relevant as the industry prepares for the Future Homes Standard, continues under Part L 2021, and confronts the limitations of SAP and EPC-based compliance.
Widespread insulation failures found in EU tests
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content?
Want immediate access to all back issues and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge The company, a leading insulation manufacturer and one of Ireland’s largest domestic businesses, was hit with the €40m fine on Thursday October 8, 2026, for providing incorrect information during a 2021 Commission review of Kingspan's planned acquisition of Slovenian outfit Trimo, under the EU Merger Regulation ('EUMR').
Jargon Watch: “Costco Doors” for connecting your SUV to your monster fridge
The big fridge, the big car, and the big grocery store are all part of one economic machine. The Costco Door is another cog. I am travelling for the next two weeks, and posts will likely be few and inconsistent. I am freezing subscription payments and extending terms for paid subscribers for the duration.
Happy Birthday, Fridtjof Nansen, a Pioneer of Passive House
The Fram was so far ahead of its time that it is still ahead of our time. On Nansen’s birthday, I am updating a post I did earlier after the 2026 International Passive House Conference, where Dr. Wolfgang Feist described Nansen’s ship as a Passive House. . Fridtjof Nansen, front plate from Farthest North Fridtjof Nansen’s 165th birthday is tomorrow, 10 October.
How deep is too deep for cost-optimal retrofit?
Insight Decarbonising homes at scale demands pragmatic sequencing, not doctrinal purity. Lloyd Alter reconsiders the retrofit strategy he once vigorously opposed – while mounting a defence of deep fabric retrofit, with caveats. Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content?
Thinking about glass doors makes my head hurt
Actually, walking into one makes it hurt more. This is just one of the problems aging boomers face as their vision is compromised. Kelly and I went out for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate our freedom from babysitting the grandchildren, trying out a new neighbourhood restaurant with a new storefront. I stepped inside and turned right to enter, and BANG! smashed my forehead over my right eye and my nose into a glass door.
Nobody at the home show knows or cares about killer countertops
Engineered stone countertops are the most popular, but making them is killing workers, I visited the Fall Home Show in Toronto over the weekend to talk countertops with kitchen suppliers and renovation contractors. I wanted to know their thoughts about the dangers of Quartz engineered stone countertops, a subject I have written about before.
Transport and Building Emissions Are Not Separate—They Are 'Built Environment Emissions'
We have to stop putting everything into separate silos, it all connects. I didn’t think I would get a post up today; we have been babysitting our two grandchildren since Tuesday and are exhausted. However, I just saw a post on LinkedIn where UK critic and author Phineas Harper asks, “What words do you use to mean "the built landscape"? Sometimes I say "architecture," but that doesn't feel broad enough.
I hope I never need to use this free survival guide
Actually, Jessica Wildfire has written a guide we should all think about now before we need to use it. Jessica Wildfire and her raccoon A few years ago, after a polar vortex event, I wrote about the benefits of building resilient housing, concluding: “Every building should have a proven level of insulation, airtightness, and window quality so that people are comfortable in all kinds of weather, even when the power goes out.
If you’re serious about sleep, learn from Marcel Proust
I previously wrote about the dreadful term “sleepmaxxing,” where “Through metrics that track quality and recovery, rest is no longer just experienced, but is measured, analyzed, and optimized via wearable sleep trackers.” They throw all kinds of technology at the problem of sleep, but the solutions may be simpler; in a new study, doctors prescribe blackout curtains.
Are standing desks better than sitting?
A decade ago, everybody wanted a standing desk. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic said, “Sitting is the new smoking.” (Though he denies having said it) Peak standing desk was probably around 2015 when Fast Company published Kill Your Chair! The Standing Desk Explosion of 2015. I was a big prostletyzer at Treehugger, and we were all building them out of Kleenex boxes and IKEA hacks.
“One Built Environment” unites all strands of construction, transportation, and infrastructure
I received an email this morning from Nick McKeogh, CEO of the NLA (I think it's short for New London Architecture; it’s hard to pin down), regarding the One Built Environment Declaration, which calls on the British Government to recognize that “everyone who plans, designs, funds, builds, manages and renews the UK's built environment” is really part of one industry.
No, LED lights are not “the new asbestos”
I usually write my posts for Monday on the weekend, but I had trouble getting started on my choice for today- a critical look at an article in The European titled ‘The new asbestos’ – UCL researchers warn LED lighting may be damaging our health. It discusses how LED bulbs don’t emit any near-infrared light, which is evidently needed for mitochondrial health.
It’s PARK(ing) Day because streets are for people
It’s PARK(ing) Day in Toronto and around the world- a day when we take back the streets and make space for people, not cars. It started as a one-off in 2005 when Matt Passmore and his team at Rebar, a San Francisco design studio, bought two hours of time from a parking meter, rolled out some sod, installed a bench and a tree, and wrote: The image went viral, as these things do, and Rebar got numerous requests for information from people in cities worldwide.
Will GLP-1 drugs change home design?
A kitchen island in the Cube house in Brooklyn by Palette Architecture. Photo: Emily Gilbert Writers of a certain age (like me) often see things happening today and whine, “I predicted that 20 years ago!” Readers of a certain age may remember Faith Popcorn (yes, her real name, legally changed from Plotkin).
Are green roofs over?
Toronto City Hall/ Lloyd Alter Diana Lind of The New Urban Order and I had an epistolary exchange of letters discussing green roofs, which we are both publishing on our sites. She asked me if I thought green roofs were no longer a thing. Diana starts: Diana Lind: The Philadelphia’s 76ers just shared first some renderings of their proposed new stadium in South Philadelphia. When I saw the design, it made me think of the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.
Why cities need more decent seating
A friendly bench seen in London/ Lloyd Alter I have not been feeling well since we returned to Toronto on Wednesday, so today’s post will be short and will mostly be archival material. A recent Globe and Mail editorial reminds us that cities need seating, not just for older people but for everyone: “There are plenty of reasons why people might want to sit down in the middle of a city. Chatting with a friend, taking a look around, reading a book or maybe just having a rest on a hot summer day.
How Trump tariffs turned stainless steel into a Veblen Good
Thorstein Veblen, in a wooden chair Warning: a lot of f-words near the end. I almost fell off my Thonet 209 chair (3.5 kg of bent beech and cane) when I read in the Wall Street Journal that "Stainless Steel Is Pricier and Trendier in the Home Than Ever.” It begins: “It was a material once reserved for dishwasher facades, industrial kitchens and medical supplies.
Stop the Presses for Labor Day (or Labour Day, which is how you should spell it)
I am taking the day off, as everyone who works in media should, to celebrate a holiday that began with a battle between the printing trades and George Brown of the Toronto newspaper The Globe over long hours, low pay, and toxic working conditions. I have published a version of this for many years, and here it is again. The North American holiday actually has its roots in a newspaper strike in Toronto, a fight over toxic working conditions.
Should we forget recycling and just bury our trash?
I spend the summer in a cabin near Dorset, Ontario. When we started here almost four decades ago, we took our waste to the dump. Years ago, it became a “transfer station,” where we put our waste into containers that were taken somewhere else. This year it changed again; they closed the reuse depot and only accept organics, recycling, and household waste. The garbage police look at every bag (clear bags only). They are very picky; it is more intense than airport security.
For boomers, upsizing is the new downsizing
So many baby boomers suffer from Dorian Gray syndrome. I have previously discussed the virtues of downsizing as you get older, and talk often about sufficiency, asking how much we really need. But it is not popular; I've often complained that boomers aren’t budging- they want to age in place, with all their rooms and their stuff. Others want to downsize a bit, but often into retirement communities where they can live on one level and walk into a big garage.
Reading Jane Jacobs on import replacement in a time of tariffs
I spent the weekend re-reading Jane Jacobs’ Cities and the Wealth of Nations, thinking that her concept of import replacement was suddenly relevant in Canada, where American tariffs and Canada’s counter-tariffs might make imports significantly more expensive. Since she is most famous for her views on cities and planning, I thought it might have lessons for the design of our buildings and cities in the face of the current economic situation.
Trump's plans for space could trash the environment, the climate, and the ozone layer
Rockets were smaller in 1946, and we didn’t worry about emissions. Compared to cars and airplanes, the environmental impact of rocket launches has been considered minor. That’s because there aren't that many of them, but that’s about to change. Lost among all the noise coming out of the White House lately are last week’s announcements, “President Donald J. Trump Launches the Golden Age of Space Transportation”.
Why is Muskoka investing $17 million in a prefab factory?
There already is a prefab factory in Muskoka. Why build another? I spend my summer in a cabin on a small lake in a corner of Muskoka, Ontario, not the part famous for being a summer playground for rich Americans or the Heated Rivalry guys. But I follow the local news and was intrigued by a proposal by the Chairman of the District of Muskoka to invest $17 million in a factory to build prefabricated housing near the Muskoka airport.
Mark Carney says, “You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked.” Here’s how we can fight back
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney complained in his speech on Saturday that deals with the USA are “written in pencil.” We learned this when Howard Lutnick blackmailed Canada over the Gordie Howe Bridge between Windsor and Detroit, and I suspect Lutnick is behind the last-minute changes that led Canada to walk away from the Smoot-Hawley tariff negotiations. So now, as Mark Carney notes, we are in an economic war.
Can cement plants actually remove CO2 from the atmosphere?
Last year, everyone was talking about Abundance, based on the thesis that we can have “the future we want” with affordable housing, clean air and water, supersonic weekends in London, all powered by geothermal, nuclear and renewables, with AI and other technologies lifting billions out of poverty, if we just let builders build and inventors invent. In the meantime, we can keep burning fossil fuels because soon we will be able to suck the carbon dioxide out of the air.
Falls kill more people than guns or cars, but we can reduce the risk.
Me pumping my legs 581 times this morning. I have written often about falls and how they kill more people than guns or cars, but nobody wants to talk about it. I usually write about how it is a problem of dangerous design: This isn’t just a problem of people being old and frail; it’s a design problem. It’s an interior design problem, a building design problem, an urban design problem, a maintenance problem, and an attitude problem of blaming the victim.
Quelle surprise: Court says Doug Ford can rip out Toronto bike lanes
Memorial to a cyclist killed on Bloor Street W before there were separated bike lanes. We will see more of this./ Photo Lloyd Alter I was not surprised when the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Justice Paul Schabas’ finding that Doug Ford’s removal of bike lanes was unconstitutional under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
internal insulation
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It's not a data centre; it's a "digital refinery" turning natural gas into intelligence
Eve Harrington accepting award on behalf of the Province of Alberta’s ad agency Get ready for next year’s CLIO advertising awards, or their Canadian equivalent, the EFFIES. They are going to go to whoever put together Alberta’s campaign selling gas-fired data centres- oh, sorry, just as methane was rebranded as “natural gas”, data centres are now “digital refineries.” I am fascinated by marketing. I start every morning with my daily Seth Godin. I have written often about how to market Passivhaus.
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Infill proves a 'bubble of pleasantness' for Cork family stars An Edinburgh-steeped couple wanted Georgian grandeur in a Cork city infill. Their architect obliged, wrapping double-height spaces and oversized glazing in a climate-responsive envelope that shrugs off Irish winters.
On Simplicity (which actually is the absence of complexity)
I was recently bemused by a LinkedIn Post written by architect and development strategist Sam Mcheileh, looking at SANAA’s New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. He writes: “it looks straightforward: a stack of offset boxes. But shifting those volumes complicates everything - from the floor plans to the smallest details. It complicates the structure too.” He concludes: “Simplicity is rarely the absence of complexity.
Expanded EJOT range provides soffit insulation boost
Want immediate access to all back issues of Passive House Plus and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €20, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge DDS-Z fasteners are a popular choice in projects requiring soffit liners to meet higher thermal performance and fire resistance objectives in projects such as car parks, undercrofts and other ‘cold’ spaces over which residential or commercial accommodation is built.
Canadian billionaire says older people shouldn't get to vote. It's not a new idea
Fortune Magazine headline Many are outraged by Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke’s suggestion that “when you get your pension deal it’s locked in and guaranteed. But now you are a dependent and that means no voting, just like dependents under age. Enjoy the deal, let people with a stake in the future decide.” Missing Middle’s Mike Moffat writes in the Globe and Mail: “I find the idea of disenfranchising retirees highly objectionable.
Cypren Edmunds: “I would outlaw siloed thinking”
Cypren Edmunds didn’t set out to revolutionise construction. With a background in sport, music, and carpentry, his journey into sustainable building began in a damp-ridden London flat where water dripped from light fittings and mould covered the walls. That experience transformed him from frustrated tenant to housing activist – and now one of Europe’s most passionate advocates for straw construction, as chair of Straw Building UK and president of the European Straw Building Association.
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