When I was building a home in 2001, I came across a gazillion little things that I needed guidance on. I'd never built anything larger than a bookcase, so new home construction was quite a big step. I bought books,…
Asbestos was a popular material for most of the twentieth century, mainly because of its ability to insulate and act as a fire retardant. In fact, it's still used heavily in some parts of the world, such as India and…
The photo above shows a common problem in new homes. It's also one that can make it difficult to pass the blower door test required by many building codes these days. If I tell you that the wall pictured here…
If you're building a house and want to have a really good building enclosure, you need it to be airtight, handle moisture properly, and have a good amount of insulation. Ideally, you'd also consider the effects of solar radiation on the…
Someone got creative with their attic insulation! Yes, those are foam peanuts and restaurant to-go boxes. Bill Box, a home inspector in our energy rater class this week, found this in an attic on a recent inspection he did. I…
Numbers. We deal with them all the time. They come at us from all directions. We believe them. Or we don't. We throw them out and expect others to believe us. Those of us who work in the field of…
This morning in my ASHRAE newsletter, I saw an interesting story about a cool thing Amazon.com is planning to do with heat. Amazon, in case you didn't know, is a heavy user of computers. Not only do their run their…
The RESNET board of directors last week issued Formal Interpretation 2014-04 (pdf). If you're on RESNET's mailing list, you may not have noticed this one come through on 24 September because they send out so many emails, but it's an…
The 9th annual North American Passive House Conference happened two weeks ago in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) has been holding this conference every year since 2006, and it just keeps getting…
A common misconception about the energy recovery ventilator (ERV) is that it's good for humid climates because it helps to dehumidify a home. It's usually the better choice for a humid climate when you're trying to decide between an ERV…