I just read "How I (Almost) Saved the Earth" by Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created Dilbert, and, although it was funny, it was also a sad and telling account of the home energy rating industry. Adams recounted the frustration…
I visited a new house earlier this year that had a basement wall that looked fine* at first glance. At left you see this wall, with its 2"x4" framing and fiberglass batt insulation. That wall you're looking at, though, has…
When I wrote about my trip to the Southeast Building Conference (SEBC) in July, I mentioned how some products on display there really annoyed me because they're either bad to the bone or overhyped. The main one in the latter…
My grandfather (yes, the first of this line of 3 Allisons!) was an electrician, plumber, and HVAC contractor, and I had the great fortune of being able to spend a month or two every summer from the time I was…
If you're in the market for a new heating & cooling system and you're looking at heat pumps, make sure you understand how they're rated for efficiency - and which rating is more important for you. If you're in the…
Yesterday, our first HERS rater class students had their first shot at the national HERS rater test. I'm happy to report that 100% passed the test, and the high score was 98%. Yesterday, our first HERS rater class students had…
The ENERGY STAR homes program has grown tremendously since it was introduced in the mid 1990s. In the initial program, version 1 of the guidelines, most homes were certified through a home energy rating and a single inspection that occurred…
This week I read and commented on Avoiding the Global Warming Impact of Insulation by Alex Wilson" target="_blank">Avoiding the Global Warming Impact of Insulation by Alex Wilson over at Green Building Advisor. I'd avoided the article for a while since…
Matt Simmons died this week. It's a huge loss for the peak oil community, as he had great knowledge and understanding of the big picture of global oil production, especially in Saudi Arabia. Matt Simmons died this week. It's a…
There's been a lively discussion going on in the RESNET/BPI group on LinkedIn. I posted my article about how infiltration occurs at the surface, not in the volume, and it's generated some good comments. In that article, I said we…