Every business has slow periods. New businesses often have plenty of non-billable time, when the owner(s) and employees can work on things that help ensure success but that are often difficult to find time for once the jobs start rolling…
A couple of years ago, my friend Steve Byers of Energy Logic wrote an article about how to get the most out of your conference experience. In it, he included a link to a paper titled 15 Tips from Keith…
I've been going to the RESNET conference at the beginning of each year since 2009. I also went in 2004, and I can tell you that it's a great learning and networking opportunity if you're in the home energy industry.…
A magician doesn't reveal his secrets, right? So why do those of us who blog and tweet successfully keep telling everyone else not only that they need to jump on the bandwagon but also how to do it. I've written…
Halloween can be a lot of fun. Well, let me soften that a bit - Halloween can be fun if you don't stuck doing an energy audit of a haunted house, as I did one year. If you're in the…
I'm a white male. I know, I know. You saw my name and thought I was woman. It's not the first time that's happened. My 10th grade biology teacher refused to believe that I was Allison Bailes on the first…
Last month, the Today Show ran a little sting to see if HVAC contractors would do the right thing when brought to a home to diagnose an air conditioner problem that they'd set up. As it turned out, 6 out…
The ACI Home Energy Leadership Summit is an event sorely needed in our industry. Most of us focus almost entirely on understanding building science and figuring out the best home energy improvement measures or assessment techniques, but stepping back and…
Did you make it to Austin last week for the RESNET Conference? Did you catch the presentation that I did with Peter Troast of Energy Circle? Whether you did or you didn't, now you can download the pdf version of…
Because of this blog, I've sharpened my powers of observation by several orders of magnitude. I thought I was a pretty good observer before, with my background in physics, but writing as much as I have these past two years…