Basement Remodel: Phase 1 Finished, Phase 2 Begun
We finished phase 1 of our basement remodel a year ago, but I never showed you how the guest suite turned out. So here's a video tour of it, along with a bit about how the beginning of phase 2…
building science
3 Cool Videos about Hydrophilic, Hydrophobic, & Hygroscopic Materials
As long as we're exploring the wonderful world of water, we ought to show some of the cool stuff it does. In my article Introduction to the Physics of Water in Porous Materials, I described hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and hygroscopic materials.…
Photo Highlights from the 2013 Building Science Summer Camp
Building Science Summer Camp ended yesterday. It's been another fabulous event, the third one I've attended since getting myself invited by writing this piece that caught Joe Lstiburek's attention. As I wind down and reflect on the things I learned…
Latent Heat is the Wicked Witch of the South
In my last article, I explained some of the basic science of phase changes, referencing the Wicked Witch of the West and the phase change she underwent when Dorothy threw water in her face in The Wizard of Oz. (I've…
The Wicked Witch of the West, Phase Changes, and Building Science
Which takes more heat — melting a pound of feathers or raising the temperature of a pound of feathers from the melting to the boiling point? OK, let me rephrase that. If the Wicked Witch of the West melts at…
Big News: The R-Value of Insulation Is Not a Constant
In the world of building construction, improvement, and analysis, we talk about R-value all the time. Generally we talk about it as if it's a constant number. Hey, R-19 is stamped right there on the product, so that's what it…
Do You Know Your Building Science Climate Zone?
One of the fundamental principles of building science is that buildings must be suited to their climate. When they're not, problems can ensue. Maybe it's just that they're not as efficient as they should be. Maybe it's worse. Put plastic…
Guest Post: The Fatal Flaw in Advanced Framing, Part 2
The tragedy of this is that in the effort to sell Advanced Framing as a whole package, presenting it as an alternative to Western Platform Framing, the sensible housing industry has thrown out the very easy and productive suggestions from…
Guest Post: The Fatal Flaw in Advanced Framing, Part 1
A few weeks ago Allison made a couple of quips that could be construed as critical of Advanced Framing methods, also often referred to optimistically as Optimum Value Engineering (OVE). I myself am generally critical of Advanced Framing, so perhaps…
Throwing the Building Science Learning Curve for a Loop
I just returned from Arizona, where I spoke at the Structural Insulated Panel Association’s annual conference. Since it was in Tucson, I also took the opportunity to visit with my friend David Butler. He’s an amazing source of knowledge in…