RESEARCH:

The Green Foundation has maintained a small scale, but continuous,  research effort since 1987. The result is a growing green technology reference library housed at the Green Foundation office in Alberta, Canada.  The library has been maintained and catalogued by Paul J. Belanger with much help over the years by Darrel Wharton, for the past 21 years.  The library is extensive and includes thousands of documents, articles and books from all part of the worlds. 

Here are the main topic areas of the Green Foundation knowledge bank and library:

• Anthropology
• Architecture and Design
        - alternative, sustainable
        - Buckminster Fuller
        - Sim Van Der Ryn and many other green architects
        - ancient
        - community design
        - natural building techniques, worldwide
• Boreal ecosystem
        - boreal botany
        - boreal zoology
        - boreal ethnobotany and anthropology
        - boreal edibles
        - boreal survival skills, wilderness skills
        - boreal/arctic climate change
        - natural history, ice ages
        - watersheds in boreal regions
• Bioregional strategies
• Community planning, design
        - social models, examples from around the world
        - social models examples from ancient history, anthropology
        - community based economics
        - communitarian approach
        - consensus
• Conservation
        - water
        - energy
        - resource
• Disaster preparedness, local groups
• Ecology
• Eco-tourism
• Education
        - alternative
        - nature based
        - nature deficit disorder
        - Edward De Bono
        - different world views
        - science toys
• Food
        - small scale processing
        - drying, storage, root cellars
        - food security issues
        - community food production planning
        - home scale food production for health and self-reliance
• Future Technologies
        - emerging renewable technologies
        - new sustainable transportation methods
• Greenhouse design for cold climates
        - cold frames
        - green house management
• Globalization
• Human health
        - nutrition
        - biochemistry
        - toxicology
        - indoor air quality
        - modern chemical stress on humans
        - women's health
        - alternative medicine, community based health care
• Indigenous history, Canada
• Indigenous culture, the Americas
• Indigenous technology , The Americas
• Mass media,
• Organic Gardening in northern climates
• Oil/Gas industry in Canada
        - tar sands cleaning technology
        - heavy oil cleaning methods
• Permaculture
• Plant Knowledge
• Pollution in Alberta
        - oilfield flaring
        - pulpmill pollution
• Pollution in Canada
        - water pollution
        - pesticides
• Pollution from hormone biomimicry chemicals
• Pollution, EMR
• Recycling
• Restoration Ecology
        - land reclamation
        - recovering polluted waterways
        - prevention
        -industrial ecology
• Shelter technologies
        - for cold climates
        - building on permafrost
        - new shelter systems research
        - indigenous and ancient worldwide
        - alternative
        - passive solar
        - super energy efficient
        - small houses, housing for homeless
        - affordable construction techniques
        - energy efficient design
        - healthy materials, chemical free construction
• Solar Desalination,  non RO, non fossil fuel
        - for costal villages
        - small scale for individual household
• Solar energy
        - solar electricity
        - solar hot water
        - solar heating
        - solar cooling
        - wind power
        - water power
        - wood  energy technologies
• Tools
• Whole Systems
        - ancient Understandings
        - indigenous knowledge
        - physics
        - integrated design
        - mythology
• Wildland conservation
• World environmental history

FUTURE RESEARCH FOCUS
The below topics are a "top 7" list of research efforts planned for the future. Progress with any of these efforts is based on the resources available.

1. SOLAR-DESALINATION: In East Africa install the best available medium scale solar desalination unit for potential widespread costal use. Initial testing to begin spring 2009 in Alberta Canada.

2. HOT CLIMATE AIR CONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION, using natural, very low cost technologies. First phase of this project requires and extensive literature and historical search.

3. WRITE THE BUILDING CODE FOR COLD-CLIMATE STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION. (Start date: not yet set.)

4. RESEARCH AND WRITE FIRST DRAFT OF A BUILDING CODE FOR A TOXIN- FREE, HEALTHY BUILT COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT. Start date: Jan 2009

5. COLD - CLIMATE (LOW ENERGY) REFRIGERATOR. Goal is to use 5% of the power of a conventional energy efficient fridge. (Start date: 2009 probably)

6. GREEN HOUSE FOR EXTENSIVE FOOD PRODUCTION IN COLD CLIMATES (Goal is to achieve a design, which does not require the use of fossil fuels and does not use plastic.)

7. TERRATREE PROJECT: a method of mass-producing a small house frame with the use of a factory. See link.