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If you’ve ever had to dive into the details of the green building and energy efficiency programs for homes,you’ve experienced the operational definition of the word ‘complexity,’along with a bit of ‘confusion,’too,I’m sure. I know I have. Unfortunately,the programs all just keep going further and further down that path. Continue reading Confusion &Complexity –Can Green Building Programs Be Simplified? I was checking some REM/Rate files for our HERS raters yesterday,mostly submitted forENERGY STAR homes. I’ve come to expectManual J heating and cooling load calculations submitted along with the files to be less than perfect. Mostly,I accept them because they’re close enough. Yesterday,though,I received a Manual J to go along with a file for an ENERGY STAR home that was beyond the pale. It was egregiously horrific. It was spectacularly sordid. It did come close to meeting the ENERGY STAR Version 2 requirements for Manual J (tight or semi-tight infiltration and correct design temperatures),but whoever put this one together was singularly devious in his efforts to justify the oversized air conditioning systems he wanted to install. Continue reading Oversized AC,Screwed-up Manual J,ENERGY STAR HVAC Tirade! May 12th,2011 | Category:Design,Energy Efficiency,energy star,HVAC,Indoor Air Quality,Thinking Green | 2 comments | Efforts have been underway for decades to conserve both energy and water,but never in concert. This is unfortunate because energy uses a lot of water and water uses a lot of energy. Two leading conservation organizations have set out to bring the efforts together. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Alliance for Water Efficiency this week published a white paper that describes the co-dependence of water and energy resources,and outlines strategies to use both more efficiently. Continue reading Energy efficiency absorbs water May 11th,2011 | Category:energy,Energy Efficiency,energy star,Water Savings/Efficiency | Leave a comment | The Environmental Protection Agency calls big-backyard neighborhoods like mine “automobile dependent locations” and contrasts them with “transit-oriented” neighborhoods,places where you can hop a bus or easily walk to regular destinations. The agency recently looked at which kind of neighborhood uses the most British Thermal Units (BTUs),taking into account size and type of house,its energy efficiency,and vehicle use of its occupants. This is known asLocation Efficiency. Continue reading Energy Efficiency and the Annoying Guy Next Door May 5th,2011 | Tags:alternative energy source,wind | Category:Building Green,Customer Service,energy,Energy Efficiency,Green Living,Rescource Efficiency,Sustainability | Leave a comment | My two sisters-in-law have been in town the past few days,and one of them needs to get an energy audit for the home she and her husband recently bought in Seattle. I gave her a recommendation for a company to do the audit (from a couple of friends who used to live there),and now she’s asking the very reasonable question,“What should I be looking for? What should they do when they come to the house?” Continue reading How to Choose a Company to Do a Home Energy Audit The house was at one end of a mountain valley in the foothills of Northern Colroado,and at the other end of the valley was Horsetooth Mountain. During the Summer,they could watch the afternoon storms roll across the valley,and would often see heards of elk and deer roaming. The wildlife would practically dine with us,they were so close. Continue reading No More “Damn Architects!”–The Case for Integrated Design April 19th,2011 | Tags:Design,green | Category:Building Green,Design,Green Living,Thinking Green | Leave a comment | Science is science. Anyone who works on buildings is free to ignore the principles of building science to the extent that they can get away with it,but someone’s going to pay the price. Maybe it’ll be the occupants,who suffer with comfort problems,poor indoor air quality,frequent maintenance,or high energy bills. Maybe it’ll be the remodeler or builder who has to face constant callbacks. That’s the point I was trying to make with my article on can lights. To the extent that program guidelines or building codes allow can lights,a remodeler or builder can use them. If they’re part of the building envelope,however,and create a problem with the air barrier or insulation,the contractor is giving their client an inferior product. That’s just building science. Continue reading Are Freedom and Building Science Incompatible? April 18th,2011 | Tags:Building Science,Green Education | Category:Building Green,Customer Service,Government,Stimulus,Tax Incentives,Thinking Green | Leave a comment | The term “green”is being increasingly applied as an easy way to identify products,including building materials and new homes,as having a better or smaller impact on the environment. That’s fine for marketing slogans and advertising headlines,but it’s also dangerous if the product (or house) isn’t truly sensitive to its environmental impact and is simply trying to Continue reading Greenwashing:Beware! July 8th,2010 | Category:Air Quality,Building Green,energy star,Green Living,Green Risk,Stimulus,Tax Incentives,Thinking Green | Leave a comment | More and more,people are connected to their online lives all day. With smartphones we can carry computers in our pockets,it’s easy enough to listen to music while checking email on the bus. But how aware are we of the water we use everyday? Can smartphones actually keep us more connected to our water usage? They can. Continue reading 5 iPhone Apps That Will Help You Save Water July 5th,2010 | Tags:apps,iphone,Sustainability,Water | Category:Green Living,Home Inspection,mississippi,Thinking Green,Water Savings/Efficiency | Leave a comment | And now for a dose of reality. No doubt smart meters are a good thing,but even their most ardent fans must admit that a degree of hoopla surrounds these little digital boxes. We hear that if consumers can just see how much power they use in real time,and what it costs,our energy woes will be no more. Smart meters will even cure the blind. The energy blind that is. Continue reading Smart meters:Truly a cure for energy blindness? July 2nd,2010 | Category:energy,Energy Efficiency,Green Living,Smart Grid,Thinking Green | One comment | |  Trades Topics Place Type
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