Garbage, Garbage, Garbage!

In an effort to make their 200 year old house more energy efficient the owners were told by an energy auditor prescribed by the eco-energy retrofit program of Canada to add more insulation to the walls.  Before I go any further the walls of this Ontario cottage style house are 24" thick with stone and mortar.  So, how do you insulate?  The Contractor hired only offered one option.  Gut it!  Rip out every bit of character from inside and replace it with new materials.  All the lath and plaster,  baseboard, casing, kitchen cabinets and some flooring were removed.

Shouldn't we be making are houses more energy efficient not just for our pocketbook but for the effect it has on our carbon footprint as well?  Yes this house is a little more energy efficient, but at what cost to the environment.  The big dumpster in the pictures was emptied three times before the project was complete.  Twice with the material that came out of the house and once with new material cut offs.

There are better options to keep the integrity of the heritage building while also limiting what goes to the landfill.
60% of heat loss in a house is do to air leakage.  Look at the spots that are known to let air in.  Around windows and doors, baseboard, etc... it might be that easy.

Help the old with the new.  New spray foam insulation's are on the market that are specifically designed to be injected into wall cavities and expand to fill all voids creating an essential air barrier.  This method causes little damage to the house and next to no garbage.

Please help the environment and find a contractor who has an understanding of building science and and a desire to keep garbage out of the landfill.