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That face above is of a physician, alchemist, and astrologer named Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He is deemed the father of toxicology and is better known by the name Paracelsus. I begin this article with him because Dr. Brett Singer, at Building Science Summer Camp...
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Last year I wrote some articles on duct design and one of the topics I covered was this thing called friction rate. At the end of that article, I discussed "How to think about friction rate." It confuses a lot of people because it's the wrong name. First I'll tell you why and then I'll tell you...
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I've posted a lot of crazy duct system photos here in this blog. Remember "Release the Kraken!"? How about "Two Jellyfish Mating"? And about three years ago I found one that instantly became my new favorite duct disaster. But those were all in fairly standard homes. They didn't have any...
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Hurricane Katrina barreled through New Orleans in 2005. The levees failed, flooding 80% of the city and destroying many homes. The low-income residents in the Lower 9th Ward were particularly harmed by the storm, many losing everything they owned. Two years later, Brad Pitt started the Make It...
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Everyone these days wants to be a building scientist. It's the second most popular branch of the sciences, after all (the most popular being physics, naturally). So today let's discuss how you can enhance your future in building science by learning how to talk like a building scientist.
When I'm...
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Dan Morrison was my editor when I first started posting some of my articles over at Green Building Advisor. He's now on his own and one of the things he does is the 7 Minutes of BS podcast for ProTradeCraft. If you haven't checked it out, get over there. It's amazing. Dan interviews a lot of...
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Energy efficiency is a gateway drug to building science. When you really start learning about it, you come to the inescapable conclusion that there's so much more to making homes better than just saving energy. A house is a system, you know. There's moisture and comfort and indoor air quality...
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Back in 2004, as I was immersing myself in the world of building science and green building, I took the US Green Building Council's exam to become a LEED Accredited Professional. I bought their book. I took a study course at Southface to prepare for the test. And that's when I learned a...
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I love to share good resources and here's one you need to know about if you're interested in the nitty gritty of HVAC systems. I'm talking about HVAC School, with their various channels like their daily Tech Tips email, YouTube videos, quizzes, and a podcast. It's all free.
Bryan Orr (shown below...
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The 22nd annual Westford Symposium on Building Science (aka, Building Science Summer Camp) happened two weeks ago. And it began with a bang, as Professor John Straube expounded on moisture physics for half a day. I've now had the chance to hear him present on mechanical systems for low-load homes...
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