We used to build houses without giving much thought to heat flow through the walls, ceilings, and floors. The main thing was to provide some resistance against wind and rain, and then we'd get a fire going to try to…
The HERS Index is a number that gives you a measure of how energy efficient a home is. We can debate how relevant that number is or how accurate is the energy model it's based on, but the fact is…
Energy usually gets top billing in the green building community. It has a huge impact on the environment. We sometimes pay a significant amount for it (although most of us don't pay enough to motivate serious change, but that's another…
I don't think I can ever say it enough, but the building enclosure consists of several control layers and each one has its job. The primary control layer is the one that keeps liquid water out, and it can be…
Back in 1982, I was an undergraduate studying physics and listening to the Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. I loved my OMD album and was captivated by the song Electricity. Towards the end of the…
I love going to conferences. Since I changed my career in 2004, I've gone to building science, green building, and home performance conferences nearly every year. (I think I missed 2006, but I had a lot going on then.) Last…
I think a lot about building enclosures. I've looked at a whole lot of houses and seen a whole lot of problems with the enclosure. I've also seen a few good ones, although they're all too rare. If you've been…
One of the major fiberglass insulation manufacturers (the color in the photo below gives away which one I'm talking about) is getting serious about the installation quality of fiberglass batt insulation. They've put out a video (embedded below) and a…
What is it about the number three? You've got the Three Musketeers, the Three Little Pigs, and the Three Stooges. Then there's three strikes (what every pitcher wants), three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial), and the three kinds…
Degree days are a combination of time and temperature. We looked at their uses and where they come from in part 1 of this series, and now it's time to go a little deeper. The temperature enters as a temperature…