I was on a tour of passive house projects in Seattle a couple of days ago when someone asked me, "What do you call the outdoor part of a heat pump? The condenser? The compressor?" For someone not immersed in…
What if a builder refused to build from plans drawn by an architect? What if a tile installer refused to implement designs handed to them and instead did their own thing? What if an HVAC contractor told a potential client…
It's cooled off a bit here in Atlanta. A couple of weeks ago we even had temperatures down in the low 50s Fahrenheit. Ah, that felt nice, especially since I've been running again this year.1 With the fall equinox two…
Last week I taught a class called What the Duct!? at the Builders' Boot Camp in Virginia. Paul Francisco was one of the other instructors (teaching about indoor air quality), and on the last evening at dinner, our conversation turned to…
I've got the curse, you know. I can't walk into a building and not check out what's going on with ductwork, windows, and anything else that lets me apply what I know about building science. Yesterday, I went to lunch…
When you approach the subject of building science, especially as it regards heat, air, and moisture flows through the building enclosure, it's easy to get confused. There's a lot to learn: blower door testing, insulation grading, R-value, permeance, radiant barriers,…
Now that Summer Camp is over, I'm excited about Boot Camp. That would be the Builders' Boot Camp that Community Housing Partners (CHP) puts on each year. It's being held on 30-31 August. I haven't been part of it before,…
One week ago I spoke at the Westford Symposium on Building Science. You may know it better as Building Science Summer Camp, since that's what everyone calls it. I wrote up a little summary of the whole conference last week…
A comfortable, energy efficient home begins with a good building enclosure. That means control layers. You've got to control the flows of moisture, air, and heat. Today, let's talk about controlling heat and further, let's focus on heat going through…
Well, another Building Science Summer Camp has come and gone. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know about it. You may even know that I have a special history with it. Dr. Joseph Lstiburek and…