When I wrote about the net zero energy home that Amy Musser and Matt Vande built, I was really impressed that they were willing to share the mistakes they'd made and what they would do differently if they could go…
Of course, there are more than 3 reasons that your 3 ton air conditioner isn't really 3 tons, starting with the fact that it's not 3 tons in weight. That unit refers to cooling capacity and goes back to the…
Neville poked his head up through the scuttle hole into the attic and surveyed the situation. Troy immediately heard a scream erupt and had to get out of the way as Neville quickly jumped down off the ladder. Neville poked…
If you were a really strange person, or even a normal person who maybe just has some really odd ideas, and you wanted to breathe the gaseous emissions from a dead, rotten decaying possum, while in your home, how would…
Acronyms and initials (let's call that AI,† for short, not to be confused with the other AI, which stands for artificial intelligence, or AIA, which stands for American Institute of Architects) are part of the jargon of every field. Our…
Building a house is expensive enough already. Why would you want to spend a bunch of money fixing something that could have been done right the first time...or the second time? Well, no one intends to have to spend that…
Let's face it. Some ideas are just plain stupid. The photo below shows one of them. The product description† says, "Use to decoratively cover up A/C units..." Yes, they include heat pumps, too. What do you think will happen if…
You may not realize that among his many other accomplishments, Dr. Joseph Lstiburek, the well known building scientist and Canadian firebrand, invented the Turbo Thermo-Encabulator Max. He's tried to keep this secret and you won't find anything about it on…
In the world of building construction, improvement, and analysis, we talk about R-value all the time. Generally we talk about it as if it's a constant number. Hey, R-19 is stamped right there on the product, so that's what it…
One of the fundamental principles of building science is that buildings must be suited to their climate. When they're not, problems can ensue. Maybe it's just that they're not as efficient as they should be. Maybe it's worse. Put plastic…