Here's a house we designed for a builder in the historic Grant Park neighborhood in Atlanta, which should be completed by January 1, 2012. The home is 2-stories, has 4-bedrooms and 3-and-a-half baths, and is just under 2,200 square feet. The builder decided…
Imagine designing and building a submarine. What's the most important thing you have to do? Keep the sailors alive! How do you do that? By making sure that when the sub dives below the surface, no water leaks in. The…
Air conditioners don't last forever. Shocking, I know. The good news, though, is that if you have an old air conditioning system, replacing it should save you money. Efficiency has improved a lot since that old hunk of metal and…
Oh, man, how can I say there's a single book that I'd call "the best book I've ever read"? That's just not possible. But it's the topic of today's Let's Blogoff, so, as usual, I'll answer the question the way…
Ah, so what exactly is this hidden flaw? "My HVAC guy put a zoned system in my house and told me it was the cat's pajamas," you may be thinking about now. Or maybe your HVAC installer described it as…
At Building Science Summer Camp a few weeks ago, I heard from Sam Rashkin that changes to the ENERGY STAR Version 3 guidelines and implementation schedule were on the horizon. This week, the EPA announced those changes—and some are rather…
Did the grass outside have dew on it this morning where you live? It did here. (That photo above is the actual dew on the actual grass on this actual morning just outside my actual house!) The appearance of liquid…
About a decade ago, I read about a new book that Stephen King had just published. It was titled, On Writing, and I was puzzled about why he'd want to write about writing. I mean, the guy's a fiction writer,…
Energy Vanguard has been a Home Energy Rater Training Provider for one year now. We received our accreditation from RESNET in July 2010, and we just finished up our fourth class. As always right after a class, I'm both exhausted…
Sometimes HVAC companies take the easy way out when they install ducts. They may even have done this in your home. I've seen it in many, many homes, and I know as soon as I see it that the duct…