Ahhh February, we are now in the second full month of winter and many people in the northern states and elsewhere are starting to feel run down from a lack of sunshine. If you are starting to feel this way may we suggest that you ...
In case you missed it – January happens to be National Radon Month. Radon (Rn) is a chemical element found on the periodic chart, with an atomic number of 86 found all over the world. Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive, colorless, and tasteless gas ...
In the last few weeks, it sure has been interesting – here in Alabama we would go from freezing temps in the morning with highs in the 70’s later that day. In Denver, they had the opposite issue when they went from T-Shirt weather in ...
UPDATE - this was originally written in 2011 - for 2012 taxes are due on the 17th, and then we go back to the 15th for the next three plus years... Oh no, it’s April 16th and taxes were due… on the 18th? In reality, ...
Air can easily leak in and out of a home through cracks, joints between different materials, where holes have been drilled to allow pipes and wire to enter the structure, and many other openings. Some of the popular areas for air leakage is around doors, ...
In our last article, “Energy Efficiency vs. Conservation – what is the real issue?” we covered plenty of the issues that involve your actual house while it is being worked on. While we have also had several articles on making your house more energy efficient, ...
Since 2008, hundreds of builders in cooperation with DOE, the NREL and numerous other parties have taken up the Building America Challenge to build thousands of high-performance homes. The end goal is to too help all builders reach the Net-Zero mark by 2030 as economically as possible. Since 2008 the target has been set at Read more ...
In our ongoing series on Air Sealing, we are going to focus on the dreaded attic hatch, or as Allison Baile’s of Energy Vanguard so eloquently calls it, “A Mind-Blowing Hole in Your Building Envelope.” Instead of crunching the numbers as he did, one just needs to walk by one in a hallway during the Read more ...
Whew, as of yesterday and taking the ENERGY STAR V3 test (long story short – the test was not available when I took the original class), that is it for the test taking (at least in the foreseeable future). As I was sitting there taking the test, I was amazed at how many people were Read more ...
In layman’s terms, what is a duct test? A duct test is simply hooking up a specialized fan & checking to see how “leaky” your duct’s are. How does one perform a duct test / what should I expect to see? Using a calibrated fan & connector as shown above, we hook the fan up Read more ...
Well today was the last day for the mandatory class, where we finally went through the final three checklists. We started the day off with a RemRate file & simply told to get it into compliance with the new version of ENERGY STAR. As a quick tip for any fellow raters, do not forget about Read more ...
This week brings me back to the great city of Atlanta, this time for 2 quick classes. The first class is a mandatory 2-day class for all ENERGY STAR® raters who wish to continue with the program after January 1st of 2012. Based on my schedule for this year, it was simply best to get Read more ...
I guess I can credit some of my desire to learn about and utilize energy efficient designs, green buildings, & solar power with the area I grew up in. I can recall some of our schools field trips where we would go see new houses being built with photovoltaic panels, and eating food cooked on Read more ...
As we mentioned back in Energy Auditing Services Update – RESNET Certification article, we have completed all the steps required to become a Certified Energy Rater with RESNET. Unlike the BPI certification we received earlier in the same week, there is a lot more involved in this process than simply taking a written test & Read more ...
As many of our regular readers know, we have long supported and still recommend purchasing ENERGY STAR® rated products. Unfortunately, though there have been some issues that have popped up lately that have caused many groups and individuals to question if the program is more fiction than fact. On the flip side, we have some people Read more ...
Ok, I admit it, I had no clue and this is its 22nd year of it being observed. Obviously though I am not the only one, as one site that lists all the different “National Fill in the Blank Month’s” has over 30 listings just for October and not one of them is about energy. Read more ...
Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?
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