By AllisonBailes 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! By Elisa Wood 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 By Lawson Calhoun 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! By Elisa Wood It’s likely that you’ve heard of EnergyStar and seen the recent headlines about US Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency efforts to ensure that appliances are as energy efficient as the blue EnergyStar label indicates. It’s less likely that you’ve heard of a parallel DOE effort to ensure that minimum energy conservation standards are being met. Because mandatory efficiency standards apply to the manufacture of appliances and therefore are Continue reading There’s a new sheriff in town By Elisa Wood It’s clear that the energy efficiency industry is undergoing an unprecedented boom,spurred by state and federal support and movement toward a smarter grid. But for those in the industry,where exactly can the new business – and the jobs – be found? Two new reports by Colorado-based Pike Research shed some light. After years of focusing on… Continue reading Hot Sectors for Energy Efficiency By Green Building Inspector As the home’s green building verifier I’ll be traveling to the “Hub City”at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. (I should have my head examined) on Monday the 7th for the faming inspection and thermal bypass checklist…(now that should be the news story…that someone was able to get my butt out-a-bed that early for work…) Continue reading Extreme Makeover in Hattiesburg MS Starts this Weekend By Green Building Inspector Starting October 1,2009,you might see the label shown on the right,in red or in black,in combination with ENERGY STAR product labels. This label identifies high-efficiency products that currently qualify for the ENERGY STAR but will not meet the more stringent requirements that go into full effect April 1,2010. Continue reading Windows –New Energy Star Performance in 2010 | |
