Reading the Roof After a Snowstorm
Do you know how to read a roof after a snowstorm? When you do, it tells you how good the building enclosure is. We had that opportunity here last weekend. We got 2 or 3 inches of snow in Atlanta…
insulation
Building Science News & Trends for 2025
Several years ago, I heard something really interesting at a talk by a self-described futurist. It's an interesting "Futurists," she said, "look at weak signals and try to figure out which ones will become strong signals." I hadn't thought…
Energy Vanguard’s 2024 Retrospective
It's been a big year here at Energy Vanguard. In previous year-end articles, I've focused mainly on what happened here in the blog. This year, however, I'm expanding the retrospective to include other stuff. I'll start with the blog, then…
InSoFast Makes Basement Insulation Easy
If you've seen any of the articles or videos about my basement renovation, you probably know I'm using a product called InSoFast to insulate the floors and walls. You can see it on part of the basement in the photo…
A Fistful of New Building Science Videos
We're doing some new things here at Energy Vanguard. We've had a YouTube channel since 2010 but haven't done much with it. So one of the new things is working on putting out new videos every week. Here are the…
Concrete, Steel, and Demolition in My Basement
Things are heating up in my basement now. Really. Our outdoor temperatures have risen since I began my basement renovation in early February and I still don't have heating and cooling down there yet. So it's getting a bit warm…
The Problem With Too Many Basement Walls
Ever been in a basement that smelled musty? Maybe the better question to ask would be if you've ever been in a basement that didn't have that smell. Far too many basements do. There could be any number of reasons…
Weatherizing an Old House: An MLK Day Service Project
A lot of volunteers gathered in Decatur, Georgia this past weekend for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project. They worked at a number of sites doing all kinds things to improve the homes of low-income senior citizens. The…
Do You Really Need That Much Window Area?
Windows are thermal bridges in pretty much every home. The best windows available have an R-value of only about 12. More affordable windows are in the R-3 to R-6 range. Wall R-values are in the 13 to 15 range on…
Uncovering the Secrets of an Old House
I've been in a lot of old houses and seen a lot of interesting things. One of the things I love about that is trying to figure out the mysteries I find. Lately, the mysteries I've been encountering are in…