Have you thought about the best wall to build a wall? In my Building Science 101 article, I mentioned that buildings need to control the flow of heat, air, and moisture to perform well. Does the standard stick-built, wall with…
Putting spray foam insulation on the roofline of both existing homes and new homes has been growing in popularity over the past decade. But, is it always the best way to treat the building envelope? When does it make sense…
My two sisters-in-law have been in town the past few days, and one of them needs to get an energy audit for the home she and her husband recently bought in Seattle. I gave her a recommendation for a company…
I've been struggling to write a review of the ACI (Affordable Comfort) conference since it ended on Friday. Inspired by Steve Byers's post, though, and my San Francisco sight-seeing tour, I'm going to dive in. I've been struggling to write…
Here's another in the series of building practices that drive me crazy - recessed can lights. They're so popular that some remodelers carry a shotgun and walk through the house randomly shooting holes in the ceilings to install them. Here's…
I've been in a lot of crawl spaces and basements that have floors insulated with fiberglass batts. I've seen a lot of new homes that have fiberglass batts installed in bonus room floors, cantilevers, and floors over basements or crawl…
Yesterday, I visited a house in South Carolina and took the photo you see to the left. Notice anything peculiar about the framing here? If not, I'll tell you the answer below, but let me say here that one feature…
You may have heard somewhere that insulation works by trapping air. 'Dead air pockets' is the operative term often used. So, the logical next question, then, is, why doesn't the large dead air pocket in an uninsulated wall cavity reduce…
If you read my article last week, you know that most insulation materials don't stop infiltration, although it's commonly believed that adding insulation is the solution to a drafty house. That's only one of many limitations you need to be…
Guest post by Ed Voytovich of Building Efficiency Resources (The BER). I know Ed mainly through our interactions in the LinkedIn RESNET BPI group, where he's a frequent and knowledgeable contributor, though we also met IRL (in real life) at…