Several years ago, I did a home performance assessment for a medical doctor - you know, the 'real' kind of doctor, not like those ivory tower, pie-in-the-sky, I've-got-a-theory kind of doctors who have PhD instead of MD behind their name.…
You know what a bonus room is, right? It's more descriptively called a FROG, for finished room over garage, and it typically has vaulted ceilings and attic kneewalls (more on that later). I love the name FROG for this room,…
Have you thought about the best wall to build a wall? In my Building Science 101 article, I mentioned that buildings need to control the flow of heat, air, and moisture to perform well. Does the standard stick-built, wall with…
A lot of people have difficulty understanding the real meaning of 'peak oil,' the idea that oil production rises, peaks, and declines. It's easy to get confused because we understand quantities better than we understand rates. A lot of people…
Trade shows can be both educational and infuriating, and there’s one product I see at a lot of trade shows that fits easily into the latter category - power attic ventilators. The variety of this device that’s been popular lately…
It's been hot here in the Atlanta area lately. Just three weeks ago we were wearing jackets with low temperatures in the thirties Fahrenheit, and now we're getting up above our summer design temperature every day. That means that a…
HVAC installers and I have a little game of hide-and-seek that we play. Of course, there are the obvious problems I find in duct systems, like the ductopus, ducts installed right up against the roof deck, and duct leakage galore.…
"US military warns oil output may dip causing massive shortages by 2015." That's the headline in an article I read the other day. Politicians and the media may not take energy security seriously, but the leaders of our armed forces…
As I sit here on Memorial Day thinking of my cousin Daniel, who was killed in the first Iraq war in 1991, and all the many others who gave their lives in support of the United States, my mind is…
I'm torn. Since I first dived into the ENERGY STAR Version 3 guidelines, the new HVAC requirements have pulled me in two directions. On the one hand, as someone who's been calling for change in the HVAC industry, I see…