I've been in a lot of crawl spaces and basements that have floors insulated with fiberglass batts. I've seen a lot of new homes that have fiberglass batts installed in bonus room floors, cantilevers, and floors over basements or crawl…
Yesterday, I visited a house in South Carolina and took the photo you see to the left. Notice anything peculiar about the framing here? If not, I'll tell you the answer below, but let me say here that one feature…
Nuclear energy is like religion or politics. Almost no one, it seems, can separate their biases and emotional attachments from an objective assessment of the worth of this energy source. And yes, I count myself among the non-objective. Nuclear energy…
Hey, HERS raters, what if I told you that you could get the volume of a multi-pitched roof for all of your home energy ratings without the need to calculate a single algebraic formula? Or, how about wall area? I know, I'm…
In my quest to educate the world on building science topics, I find that I often have to go back to basics. Whether it's the basic nature of heat, why we're using the wrong quantity to characterize infiltration rates, or…
On Monday, I wrote about the new Concept Home Program offered through ENERGY STAR for Homes. I learned about it at the 2011 RESNET Building Performance Conference last week. On Monday, I wrote about the new Concept Home Program offered…
Version 4 of the ENERGY STAR New Homes program is set to be released in 2016, with a transition program already available. I learned at the 2011 RESNET Building Performance Conference that took place in Orlando, Florida, last week. Version…
OK, I'll admit it. The highlight of my week at the 2011 RESNET Building Performance Conference was getting to meet The Energy Avenger. I've been showing a video of him teaching people how to wrap a water heater for years,…
The annual RESNET conference officially starts today, but the weekend was filled with preconference sessions, committee & board meetings, and lots of networking and reconnecting. Chris and I arrived Saturday at about 4 o'clock and went out to dinner that…
Peak oil has gotten a lot of attention over the past five years or so, though many still don't know about it and most who have heard about it, I suspect, don't believe it. The basic premise of peak oil…