Tis the season for pumpkin spice. It began with pumpkin pie and then later spread to fancy coffee drinks. Starbucks introduced the pumpkin spice latte in 2003 and turned it into a trend. Now everyone knows it even by its…
I taught Manuel about sealing the holes in air barriers, ducts, and crawl spaces. He taught me how to face my fears by sticking my arm into holes in the ground. Manuel was my best worker when I did home…
It's the last day of the year, so let's wrap it up with some lists. Whether you missed some of the articles I wrote this year or are just curious about what other people were reading here, I've got three…
Using the wisdom of Cool Hand Luke to explain building enclosures, mechanical systems, or indoor air quality is a long established tradition in building science. Joe Lstiburek's Cool Hand Luke Meets Attics is the pinnacle of this genre, of course,…
The US Energy Information Agency does a Residential Energy Consumption Survey a couple times each decade and in the 2015 data, they showed that the average energy use per household member per year is 30.3 million BTU, or 8,800 kilowatt-hours. …
In case you hadn't heard, we had an inauguration for a new President of the United States this week. And Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders made one of the biggest sartorial splashes. Photographer Brendan Smialowski got a photo of Bernie sitting in a…
Ten years ago today, I published one of the most significant articles I've written here in the Energy Vanguard Blog. Titled I Don't Need No Stinkin' Building Science Summer Camp!, this article got me invited to that invitation-only event where…
Yes, it's April Fools' Day again. With all that's happening in the world because of the coronavirus, it may have slipped your mind. It didn't slip mine, but I'm not putting out a new April Fools' Day article this year. …
Welcome to another January, this time in the year 2019. The month, of course, is named after the Roman god Janus, who has two faces, one looking backward, one forward. Because, you know, to really know where you're going, you…
KERKLUNK!I instantly spring up in my bed at the loud noise. "What the heck was that?!" I don't know but it seemed to have come out of the heating vent on the wall above my dresser.I'd been lying quietly in bed…