In our last home energy rater (HERS) training class, we saw something very interesting on one of our field visits. We were doing a Blower Door test on a new house, and one of the bedrooms upstairs had plastic taped…
ENERGY STAR. LEED for Homes. Builders Challenge. HERS. It's easy to fall into the wrong line of thinking about this. I did it myself when I was new to the HERS rating industry. It's even easier now that RESNET is…
It's been a while since my last post on the big picture of energy, so today I present to you two more metrics that show we have a serious problem. Peak oil, as I've written here before, brings about a…
"If architects did their job there wouldn’t be any need for building science." So says Joe Lstiburek, principal at Building Science Corporation, in an interview with Andrew Michler of Inhabitat. Actually, there still would be building science. It's just that…
OK, HERS raters, here's a question for you: Have you done ratings on homes that have duct systems in encapsulated crawl spaces? If the duct system didn't qualify for the RESNET exemption from testing (ducts 100% inside the building envelope…
Here's the thing. If you have anything to do with houses (home builder, remodeler, HERS rater, trade contractor, homeowner...), you probably ought to understand these three fundamental principles of air movement. Then you'll have a better chance of knowing how…
Flex duct. It's ubiquitous now in homes with forced air heating and cooling systems. It's easy to install. It's cheap. The installer can show up and rough in a whole duct system without ever having seen the house before and…
As I sit here on a nice cool May evening, getting ready for my trip to New England tomorrow, I'm thinking about sweat. And that makes me think about air conditioning. It may seem like it doesn't make sense, but…
Smart people in the home-building industry have a saying about codes: A code-built house is the worst house allowed by law. The implication behind that statement is that if all you're doing is meeting the code, you're probably short-changing the…
We're making progress! With the all the emphasis on energy codes and energy efficiency programs like ENERGY STAR New Homes, more homes are getting Manual J heating and cooling load calculations these days. The intent is that the heating and…