Take the ENERGY STAR new homes program, for example, the one I’m most familiar with. Version 1 required only one inspection, a home energy rating (for the performance path), and no checklists. Version 3, which becomes mandatory for builders wanting the ENERGY STAR label on their homes starting next January, requires 2 inspections, a home energy rating, and 4 checklists.

I understand the need for it from the perspective of the program administrators. Building and energy codes are catching up with voluntary program requirements, so they have to keep moving forward. Program leaders also have attempted to clarify the ambiguity of early versions of program requirements. And they have to make sure that the program is meaningful and that when the program label appears on a home, that home is significantly better than homes without the label. I get all that.

It just seems like we’ve lost our way, that we’ve all gotten blinded by a confusion of checklists, worksheets, prescriptive measures, and certification levels. Not to mention the confusion that comes from having so many different programs out there. If you’re a builder, you have to decide if you’re going for ENERGY STAR, LEED for Homes, EarthCraft House, NAHB Green Building Standard, Environments for Living… It’s not an easy task.

One of the first points of confusion that participants in the ENERGY STAR program face is whether to certify via the prescriptive or the performance path. That sounds pretty clear-cut, right? When you take a closer look, however, you find that the prescriptive path has performance requirements (e.g., testing for duct leakage and infiltration rates), and the performance path is chock full of prescriptive requirements. Just look at the 4 checklists required in ENERGY STAR Version 3.

As constructed, the performance path is differentiated from the prescriptive path by its requirement for a HERS rating. It’s based on how the home is constructed, how it tests out, and how the software does the energy modeling. It doesn’t depend on how the house actually performs, though, and that could differ significantly from the modeled performance. One reason we do it this way is so that the homes certified will carry the program label while they’re for sale, thus helping the builder to market their homes.

But what if we included the performance of a home over its first year of occupancy? Then we could include the actual energy use and calculate the energy intensity, even separating out baseload from the energy used for heating and cooling. It seems to me that this would be one of the best ways to handle quality assurance, too. If HERS raters, builders, and trade contractors know that their work has to pass not only the initial inspections but also a full year’s worth of performance assessments, don’t you think they’ll pay a bit more attention to getting the details right?

We could simplify the requirements for the initial certification and make sure everyone knows that the initial label means only that the home has gone through a process. Even though the energy modeling may say the home will use only $900 of energy per year, for example, everyone will know that that will be compared to the actual energy consumption for the ‘real’ label.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on this Monday morning. I’m interested to hear what you think.

Top photo by acearchie from flickr.com, used under a Creative Commons license. Lower photo by Ian Sane from flickr.com, used under a Creative Commons license.

GIMBBYs aren’t worried about seeing wind turbines or transmission lines from their backyards as are the NIMBYs. It’s the guy next store that they don’t want to see. And GIMBBYs number many among us. A recent study conducted for the National Association of Realtors found privacy to be very important in selecting a home for nearly half of the Americans surveyed.

What’s this got to with energy efficiency? To gain privacy we move to homes that are further from work, schools and stores, suburban and rural outposts that offer us bigger backyards. By way of disclosure, before I go any further let me confess that I am a GIMBBY. I’d probably give up my lights, heat and air conditioning before my five acres of trees shielding me from others.

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.

The EPA’s findings indicate that location really is everything. Transit-oriented neighborhoods offered up more energy savings whether the houses were single family detached, single family attached or multi-family. This is significant because homes that share walls typically require less energy for heating and cooling. But that advantage was not significant enough to overcome driving distance for the big-backyard neighborhoods. Travel requirements pretty much trumped all, indicating that a home’s location is “a major variable for household energy consumption,” the EPA said.

Things have changed. Lighting is now a sophisticated design element of the modern home, whether that home is traditional or contemporary in style. Every aspect of lighting — placement, function, control, style, energy-efficiency — has evolved to offer exactly what is needed in each room.

The thoughtful placement of lighting fixtures with specific function can make a dramatic change in a room. For example, instead of a big overhead fluorescent panel, new kitchens now feature task-specific fixtures such as recessed spot lights over the sink and other work stations, strip lights under wall cabinets, or dropped fixtures over work islands or eating areas. Other examples of task lighting include automatic bulbs in cabinets and pantries, up- and down-lights that showcase landscaping or artwork, and fixtures positioned to throw light on stair treads.

Lighting controls have also come a long way from the simple wall-mounted switch. Homeowners can program or manipulate lighting schemes to create custom ambiance for a casual dinner party or an intimate evening at home. Timers, remote controls, dimmer switches, and motion sensors enhance the flexibility, beauty and convenience of a lighting design using both wired and wireless technologies.

Besides increasing the technical sophistication of their products, lighting manufacturers have had to keep up with current styles and fashions. Pendants, wall sconces, chandeliers, and domed fixtures are available in an almost endless array of styles and finishes. In addition, lighting suppliers have developed a greater range of compatible fixtures to achieve a coordinated look for all lighting products in the house.

Security lighting has also grown in popularity in recent years. Inside the home, high tech wired and wireless timers can be programmed to create the illusion of activity while the owners are away. Outside, motion-activated lighting is a basic feature, especially at entries. Outdoor fixtures can highlight house numbers to assist emergency services. Lights in the garage and house can flash on and off as part of a security system that alerts neighbors or police of an unauthorized intrusion.

Outdoor light fixtures are increasingly powered by solar energy and light sensors to save even more electricity. Small photovoltaic cells are built right into path and landscape products to power them only at night. These systems require no wiring or current from another source, making them safe and easy to replace as needed. Homeowners enjoy the added convenience and beauty of outdoor lighting, whether or not they remember to turn them on or off.

Professional builders incorporate modern lighting design and products in their new homes, adding long-lasting value while enhancing style, convenience, comfort, security, and efficiency.

There is a direct connection between heat loss and heat gain as it relates to your home’s protective skin, also known as the building envelope. Ideally your home should maximize heat retention during the winter and minimize heat gain during the summer. The best energy efficient design should incorporate a well sealed and insulated wall structure that helps protect you from temperature change and block unwanted moisture and air from entering your home. These mechanisms are known as transmission and air leakage.

Thermal resistance (your home’s wall insulation) and surface area are two factors that govern the rate of heat transmission. Air leakage is measured in CFM (cubic feet per minute) and depends on the surface area of the holes in your home and the pressure differences between the outside and inside. A large difference in temperature, known as ∆T (Delta “T”), creates a greater pressure. Maintaining a balanced interior pressure will improve indoor air quality. Sealing or reducing the number of air leaks in your home not only stops unwanted air infiltration (both cold or warm air) but also lowers the amount of moisture that rides along the air flow path and helps maintain pressure balance.

A second source of pressure change occurs when air leaks in through the building skin as a result of your home’s air conditioner. Air leakage into your home is often 2-3 times greater when the air handler (your air conditioners’ fan motor) is operating. The unit “de-pressurizes” your home and increases the opportunity for air infiltration. Stopping the holes will lower the pressure difference.

A third, and often overlooked, pressure change can occur as a result of leaky ducts in either the supply or the return air chamber of your heating system. This type of unbalanced system can also create a depressurized “combustion appliance zone” (CAZ). An example would be a back drafting chimney (and its accompanying odor) or a flame roll-out of the water heater. Both have been known to cause house fires. Also, if you’ve noticed that as you shut a bedroom door the last few inches the door is “sucked shut”, you should have a balance test performed on your heating system. These “out of balance” pressure zones can create unhealthy conditions by pulling unwanted air from a water heater exhaust (can create dangerous level of carbon monoxide) or an increased level of soil gases (radon).

Maintain your home by regularly checking for and repairing air leaks to your heating system and your home’s skin. Doing so will help keep your family healthy and lower your energy bills at the same time.

Listen to How Air Affects a House

This podcast series is excerpted from a two-day class called “Building Science Fundamentals” taught by Dr. Joe Lstiburek and Dr. John Straube, of Building Science Corporation.

themselves to upgrade their homes to create a more eco-friendly household. One of the best ways to incorporate environmentally friendly house wares into your household is by changing your current home lighting scheme to feature more energy efficient and eco-friendly options. There are several ways you can achieve this effect and you may be surprised how easy creating a ?green? lighting scheme can be.

The quickest and easiest way to make your home lighting situation more environmentally friendly is by upgrading your old light bulbs to new Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL ). These CFL light bulbs use roughly 25% less energy and last up to 10 times longer than traditional light bulbs. Not only do CFL bulbs require fewer replacements, but they also save you money on your monthly electric bill. Though CFL bulbs are slightly more expensive upfront, they more than make up for the difference in price with their longer life span and energy efficient properties. Now-a-days CFL light bulbs can be found in almost every supermarket and house wares store across America. You’ve probably already seen their distinctive swirly light bulbs in your local grocery store, but were unsure of how helpful they were in terms of energy efficiency.

Improving your home lighting is an excellent start in terms of creating an eco-friendly home. Americans generally expend much more energy than is actually necessary and energy efficient lighting will help insure that you’re not using more power than you really need. Also, since CFL bulbs last so much longer than a traditional bulb, you’ll create less wasted energy, which is always good for the environment. And, once you learn to manage your energy consumption, you’ll begin to improve other facets of your home. Soon, you’ll have a home that is completely designed with Mother Nature’s best interests at heart.

The prison is a medium-security institution that houses Anderson Hardwood Flooring company’s operation, sports 250 employees and is the lartest of seven mini-factories run in the state’s prisons.

“The idea was to put inmates to work in a real-world working environment,” says Tony Ellis, the state’s director of prison industries. “They learn how to maintain production, job skills and quality control. They learn to be responsible for completing a job.

“You want to incarcerate them and let them pay whatever penalty is imposed on them by society, but you want to hopefully change the behavior that got them there in the first place,” Ellis says.

Read more about the story by Hannah Miller