Last night down at the Brick Store Pub, I ran into someone I know from the gym, and, as it turns out, he lives on Drexel Avenue. Naturally, I asked, 'Do you know Mike Barcik?' Of course, he did. Everyone,…
Yesterday I went to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for a meeting of the State Codes Advisory Committee (SCAC). Wait, wait, don't leave yet! I promise there's good stuff in here. Yesterday I went to the Georgia Department…
Yesterday I gave some general advice about how to choose a HERS rater training class, and one of suggestions I made was to contact former students of each HERS training provider you're considering. Testimonials in the trainer's marketing materials may…
In the past couple of years, the number of organizations offering some kind of training or certification for home energy auditors or home energy raters has grown rapidly. As I've discussed here before, some energy auditor certifications are scams, and…
Last week I went down to Orlando for the Southeast Building Conference. I was originally slated to speak on the topic of Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEMs), but I was accidentally left out of the program and instead ended up on…
I've been spending a lot of time at the drafting table lately. In fact, I've worked up about half a dozen floor plans in the past week alone. I'm gearing up to release a series of pre-packaged construction-ready plans for…
I was in a crawl space in Atlanta yesterday putting a new HERS rater through his field test and found that this home has a dehumidifier down below. Not surprisingly, it ran continuously the whole time I was there. If…
Energy Vanguard Energy Ratings (EVER) has been a RESNET accredited Home Energy Rating Provider since April 2009. In that time, more than 3 dozen raters have signed up with us to get their certification. Currently, we have 21 certified home…
Every once in a while I like to post some of my favorite pictures of atrocities I've seen in houses, for example the duct stump in the Little Shop of Duct Design Horrors. Today, the subject is HVAC filters, specifically…
Most houses in this part of the world are 'stick-built.' That is, they're framed with 2x4s - sticks. This term came from the timber framers who were used to building with massive posts and beams. When smaller lumber became available…