Yesterday I had lunch with Robert Bean and Eric Griffin at the ASHRAE conference here in Atlanta. As we talked about how we got into the field of building science, I began thinking of the reasons I love doing what…
On Saturday, the Energy Vanguard Blog turned 5 years old. It's been an interesting and rewarding journey, and I'm really glad I sat down and started doing it in early March 2010. On Saturday, the Energy Vanguard Blog turned 5…
Someone got creative with their attic insulation! Yes, those are foam peanuts and restaurant to-go boxes. Bill Box, a home inspector in our energy rater class this week, found this in an attic on a recent inspection he did. I…
I've been wrong all these years. Even 20+ years ago when I was teaching high school, I was giving out bad advice. Like so many others, I've been telling people to follow their passion. The problem is, that's like telling…
I've been in Lexington, Kentucky this week at the Midwest Residential Energy Conference. It was great! (And I played nice - I didn't mention in any of my talks that I'm a Florida Gator.) One of the many highlights for…
I'm in California this week at the Dry Climate Forum, hanging out with some of my favorite people in the home performance business. Gavin Healy, Dan Perunko,† Mike MacFarland, and Rick Chitwood are the ringleaders, but all 6 dozen of us…
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." Thus opens Gabriel García Márquez's classic work of literature, One Hundred Years of Solitude.…
The wave is spreading outward from Silicon Valley. Naturally, those of us mainlining Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn were the first to hear the news: Steve Jobs has died. The wave is spreading outward from Silicon Valley. Naturally, those of us…
As we approach Christmas, I am reminded of the days when my siblings and I would, one by one, make our way down to the Family Room on Christmas morning to count the number of gifts for each of us.…
"Making something beautiful is one of the most sustainable things you can do." - Sarah Susanka, Author of The Not So Big House. "Making something beautiful is one of the most sustainable things you can do." - Sarah Susanka, Author of The…