Do you know what two things are required for air to move from one place to another? Do you know why that's important to indoor air quality (IAQ)? Do you know what types of pollutants are best removed by filtration? …
One of the most effective ways to improve your home is to make it more airtight. But airtightness is about much more than reducing your energy bills. I have here a list of 7 ways that airtightness improves your home,…
Consider the multitude of air pollutants you could inhale. You're probably inhaling some of them right now. Which of them, though, should you worry about the most? Well, IAQ researchers have begun addressing that question. The early work is showing…
Let's talk about the blower door today. It's one of the most important tools for analyzing the performance of a house. And it's THE tool for quantifying air leakage. That, of course, is related to energy use, comfort, indoor air…
Breathing clean, healthy air at home doesn't happen by accident. And it's not something you can buy a magic product to do for you. No, it's the result of understanding the basic measures that work to keep your air clean. …
Do you know how to read a roof after a snowstorm? When you do, it tells you something about how good the building enclosure is. We had that opportunity here last weekend. We got 2 or 3 inches of snow…
Several years ago, I heard something really interesting at a talk by a self-described futurist. It's an interesting "Futurists," she said, "look at weak signals and try to figure out which ones will become strong signals." I hadn't thought…
It's been a big year here at Energy Vanguard. In previous year-end articles, I've focused mainly on what happened here in the blog. This year, however, I'm expanding the retrospective to include other stuff. I'll start with the blog, then…
One of the best things you can do to improve your home is to make it more airtight. Yeah, it's good for energy efficiency, but that shouldn't be your main motivation. It's good for indoor air quality. A good air…
You know how the sound from that TV in your den comes right through the wall and you can hear every word? Or the annoyance of your neighbors when their lawn maintenance crew comes every Saturday afternoon right when you…