If you want to do something really stupid with the ducts for a heating and air conditioning system, put them in an unconditioned attic. In cold climates, designers, builders, and contractors know this and, for the most part, avoid it.…
I spoke at Serenbe,† a beautiful green community southwest of Atlanta, this weekend and got a chance to visit a net zero energy home while there. Built by Luis Imery, one of the home energy raters we're a HERS provider…
If the annual scorecard for state energy efficiency just published by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy were a list of test scores, here's how the grade distribution would look for the 50 states plus the District of…
Great news, everyone! (If you read that in the voice of Professor Hubert Farnsworth, please don't let your imagination run away with you. This really is great news.) The HERS Index will part of the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code. Why…
Psssst. Want a $2000 tax credit for that energy efficient new home you're building? A lot of home builders have taken advantage of this incentive since it was introduced in 2005. (37,506 homes got that $2000 in 2010 alone.) The requirements…
I think I first heard the term greenwashing in 1990, as I was getting ready for the big 20th anniversary Earth Day event in Tarpon Springs, Florida. 'Green' was starting to get some traction as a marketing term meaning 'environmentally-friendly'…
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…
Did you know that if your state has adopted the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), you cannot install an open wood-burning fireplace in a new home? It's true. According to the BCAP-OCEAN code status website, 30 states are on…
I get asked variations of this question often enough that it's worth addressing here. If you're doing a blower door test, how big a house can you test with one fan? Or, put another way, how many blower doors do…
ACEEE's 2012 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard came out last week, and if you haven't seen it yet, download it now and have a look. Massachusetts, which stole the top spot from California last year, held onto the title of the…