We just completed our first combined online and in-person home energy rater training class. I've been wanting to do this for a while now because I've suspected that our attempt to buck the industry preference for a 5-day class by…
Three years ago I wrote an article titled, Don’t Let Your Attic Suck - Power Attic Ventilators Are a Bad Idea. Nearly a hundred thousand page views and 93 comments later, it's still generating lots of heat. I don't know…
This week we got a box full of hobos delivered to the world headquarters of Energy Vanguard. Well, OK, they weren't the kind of hobos you see at left but actually HOBOs, the data loggers made by Onset, as you…
At the Forum on Dry Climate Home Performance earlier this year, I got to hear three building science experts talk about a really cool research project they've been working on in Stockton, California. Bruce Wilcox, John Proctor, and Rick Chitwood…
I've been wrong all these years. Even 20+ years ago when I was teaching high school, I was giving out bad advice. Like so many others, I've been telling people to follow their passion. The problem is, that's like telling…
When I was doing research for my recent article on ceiling fans, I noticed that they don't have energy efficiency ratings; they have efficacy ratings. There's certainly confusion in terminology among different sources, but since light bulbs are also described…
Did you know that James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," made a video about doing blower door testing to weatherize homes? Neither did most people, but he certainly did make one. Here it is. I'd love to know the story…
Last week at the Affordable Comfort Conference (also known as ACI), I co-moderated a panel called The Great Ventilation Standard Debate.1 Duncan Prahl of Ibacos proposed the session and rounded up a collection of some of best building science folks…
This weekend I got a chance to see Aqua, that oozing projection of glass and thermal bridges in downtown Chicago. I've written about it before because it's such an energy efficiency monstrosity, so of course I had to get some…
This week at the ACI conference in Detroit, I was part of a session called Speed Dating: Educational Training Tools. It was really fun, with groups of people going to different stations every half hour and getting the scoop on…