What is a hair's breadth? A strand of the finest human hair is about 20 micrometers (also called microns) in diameter. Take a piece and slice it in half. Then take one of those halves and slice it in half…
Indoor air quality (IAQ) researchers have established that little bitty invisible pieces of stuff that float around in the air are bad for human health. Of course, being scientists, they don't call it little bitty invisible pieces of stuff. They…
That face above is of a physician, alchemist, and astrologer named Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He is deemed the father of toxicology and is better known by the name Paracelsus. I begin this article with him because Dr.…
Energy efficiency is a gateway drug to building science. When you really start learning about it, you come to the inescapable conclusion that there's so much more to making homes better than just saving energy. A house is a system,…
Back in 2004, as I was immersing myself in the world of building science and green building, I took the US Green Building Council's exam to become a LEED Accredited Professional. I bought their book. I took a study course…
Last weekend my wife and I went to Asheville, North Carolina to hear Lyle Lovett and His Large Band at the Biltmore Estate. It was a wonderful evening! Mountains, sunset, gardens... We even had four planets lined up over the…
Sometimes people are bothered by how things look. They don't want a return grille showing in that location or they'd rather have the supply registers low on the wall or they just can't stomach the thought of a wall-mounted ductless…
It's been a while since I've written about what I had been calling "The Great Ventilation Debate" back when Joe Lstiburek was battling the ASHRAE 62.2 residential ventilation committee. The 62.2 committee meets in person twice a year at the…
I've been going to the meetings of the ASHRAE residential ventilation committee (SSPC 62.2, to be specific) for the past few years. As a matter of fact, I'm writing this article from my room in Houston, the site of the…
It's getting hot out there. Here in the Southeast, we love our air conditioning. In fact, without air conditioning, far fewer people would live in places like Houston, Hattiesburg, and Sopchoppy. And that's true for the hot, dry places, too,…