Freeze Warning! The Admission of Incompetence
It's "Freeze Warning" time of year again. We had our first freeze of the winter here in Atlanta last week, and I saw the sign above. I cringe every time I see one of these signs that says "Let faucets…
water
The One Reason NOT to Do It Yourself
I've taken on a whole lot of do-it-yourself (DIY) projects over the years. I built furniture (end table, bookcase, coffee table...) in high school and college. Thanks to owning a couple of old Volkswagens ('61 Beetle and '65 bus), I've…
How I Got Faster Hot Water
In my last post, I told you about the plumbing work I did to begin the retrofit of my hot water distribution system. I'm bypassing the original too-long, too-big copper pipes with shorter, smaller runs of PEX tubing. My goal…
My New Project: A 1961 House With Home-Performance Angst
Let me tell you the story about a poor, young country boy who broke the law and launched me into my new project. Back in February, I was driving home from work one evening when a driver T-boned me. The…
The Water Efficiency Rating Score (WERS) Launches
The Green Builder Coalition has been working hard on their Water Efficiency Rating Score — the WERS — for homes. The inaugural WERS training happened in Santa Fe, New Mexico in March. I was in that class, and I learned a…
What’s the WERS?
Now's your chance. The inaugural train-the-trainer session on the Water Efficiency Rating Score, WERS, is happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico in just three weeks. Mike Collignon from the Green Builder Coalition has been doing an amazing job getting this…
My Top 10 Energy Efficiency Articles and Ideas of 2015
The year 2015 is almost finished. I've written 69 articles here in the Energy Vanguard Blog. I've been to a bunch of conferences and talked to a lot of people. A lot of thoughts about building science, energy efficiency, indoor…
Don’t Talk to Me About Vapor Barriers!
I was at a meeting recently when the discussion turned to wall assemblies. One of the speakers then asked what we should do about vapor barriers. It's what everyone wants to know, right? Should I use a vapor barrier? Should…
Accidental Dehumidification – A Preventable Mess
"Oops! The house just had an accident. Whose turn is it to clean it up?" Yep. We're entering the season of accidental dehumidification. If you've got windows that start collecting water, like the one shown above, you're a victim of…
New Mexico Green Builders Create Water Efficiency Rating System
Energy usually gets top billing in the green building community. It has a huge impact on the environment. We sometimes pay a significant amount for it (although most of us don't pay enough to motivate serious change, but that's another…