By AllisonBailes 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?
By Elisa Wood We keep hearing that China is going to become a really big deal in world energy markets. But it wasn’t until I read this statement by Jane Henley, CEO of the World Green Building Council, that I grasped the scope of its coming influence:
Continue reading Time to Export Energy Efficiency?
By Green Building Inspector Home Star is a legislative proposal designed to create jobs by providing incentives for residential energy efficiency improvements. The program will drive new private investment into the hard hit construction and manufacturing sectors, while saving consumers money on their energy bills. By building on state programs and existing industry capacity for the retrofits themselves as well as quality assurance, the program will be fast‐acting, in addition to increasing consumer awareness of residential energy efficiency.
Continue reading How Has Senate Changed HOME STAR? A SHORT SUMMARY
By Green Building Inspector After nearly two weeks of intense competition, Mississippi State University (MSU) claimed top honors on May 27 in the second year of the EcoCAR competition, a three-year automotive engineering competition sponsored by DOE and General Motors Corporation (GM). Officially dubbed “EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge,” the competition invited university engineering students from across North America to re-engineer a GM-donated sport utility vehicle to achieve improved fuel economy and reduced emissions.
Continue reading Mississippi State University Wins Year Two of the EcoCAR Competition
By Elisa Wood Not once, but twice President Obama mentioned the importance of energy efficiency in his state of the union address January 27. His support for the resource is no surprise; his administration has channeled $20 billion toward energy savings programs. Obama made clear that going into his second year his support will not waver.
Continue reading Obama, Energy Efficiency & Accountability
By Elisa Wood Tip his hand? In fact, as Stewart pointed out, Obama has shown that hand broadly to the world for the last year. Starting with his January 2009 inaugural speech, Obama buoyed the clean energy industry by advancing renewable energy, a first for a US president in that forum. But that turned out to be just the start. In talk after talk this year, he pushed
Continue reading Obama, Poker and What 2010 Holds for Energy Efficiency
By Steve Feller Businesses are doing about anything they can to survive. Some very creative advertising is showing up everyday, encouraging people to build or remodel. This desperate advertising is being centered on the new ”American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”.
Continue reading 2009 Tax Credits
By Green Building Inspector The National Association of Home Builders has provided a great information resource for the recently enacted tax credits rolled out in President Oboma’s Recovery Plan. Here are the highlights:
$8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance
The tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. The tax credit does not have to be
Continue reading First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit
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