I recently finished writing the chapter on the interaction of structure and control layers in my book. The last part was on the various ways to insulate the top of a house. The most common, of course, is to have…
It's been muggy in Atlanta this week. We've had dew point temperatures in the low to mid 70s Fahrenheit. I live in a 60 year old house, so the combination of high humidity and air conditioning can mean condensation. Currently…
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things, including my view on higher ventilation rates. A few years ago, Joe Lstiburek of Building Science Corporation pushed hard for lower ventilation rates. He believed ASHRAE's residential ventilation standard (62.2) resulted…
The purpose of my Building Science Term of the Week feature is to provide a basic definition of a term you may have heard without going into all the whys and wherefores. Last week I probably went a little overboard…
On the new home electrification front, the Home Innovation Research Labs released some interesting data this month. You may have noticed that going all-electric with buildings and transportation has become a thing in the past few years. Climate change is…
Building enclosure control freaks know that a good exterior sheathing can make a huge difference in performance. Controlling the flows of moisture, air, and heat requires good control layers. A lot of materials and methods will get you there, but…
Every area of building science has its jargon. And I'm not just talking about the acronyms, initials, and abbreviations that get thrown around casually. I've been making a list of the most interesting, useful, or stupefying BS terms and giving…
At first glance, the word “flux” looks like it may not be appropriate in polite company. In fact, though, it’s a word used in physics all the time. Flux comes from the same Latin root that gives us “flow.” The…
Back in my home performance contracting days (2004 to 2007), I spent a lot of time in unconditioned attics and crawl spaces. First, I was there to find problems. Then, if the homeowners hired me, I'd go in and do…
It's time to revisit one of my favorite topics: the powered attic ventilator. Ten years ago I wrote an article titled Don’t Let Your Attic Suck - Powered Attic Ventilators Are a Bad Idea. It's got 169 comments and would…