Featured Blog Posts – July 2011 Archive (8)

I published this Q&A with Chris Cheatham on daily5REMODEL this morning. Click here for the original article, along with comments. -- Leah Thayer

 

 

Chris Cheatham…

Continue

The candle has been around the cave and the realm of weatherization and energy efficiency for some time now, but here’s an app which few have ever conceptualized.

 

In the early days of weatherization, before the thermagraph, even before the blower door, the trusty candle provided us several enlightening concepts. It would flicker when breezes brushed against its flame as a clear indicator of infiltration. Before the fancy schmancy digital manometers, a few old timers would…

Continue

 This blog is cross-posted with Remodeling Magazine with the kind permission of the editor.

 

Let me recommend an excellent, well-written blog indeed.  Melissa Baldridge goes well beyond the nuts-and-bolts conversations in which we so often engage, and she presents ideas from a broader perspective.  At the point where remodeling meets building performance, the industry necessarily concerns…

Continue

Here’s something you don’t hear people complain about much these days: worker shortages.  That is, unless you’re in energy efficiency, an industry that is booming as others are busting.

Sixty percent of those responding to a recent survey by the Association of Energy Services Professionals cited a lack of talented workers in energy efficiency.

“Energy efficiency is a rapidly growing segment of the overall energy industry and we…

Continue

*This post was drafted by Isaac Elnecave and Michael Hairston of the MEEA Policy Team

 

At the recently concluded ASHRAE Winter Meeting in Montreal, significant changes occurred to the development of the ASHRAE 90.2 standard (ASHRAE 90.2 is the companion standard to ASHRAE 90.1 and applies primarily to residential dwellings). Prior to the…

Continue

By Alan Meier

It’s easy to lose the longer perspective when we are involved in day-to-day efforts to save energy. That’s why I want to focus on a single home—Danny Parker’s house in Florida—to illustrate the bumpy road to zero energy use. The figure on the right shows 21 years of electricity use, along with many of the major events in Danny’s household. (Follow the green…

Continue

In the housing retrofit and energy upgrade world, we use lots of foam products, don't we?  Did you know that some products may not be used in certain areas of houses? Codes and product manufacturers specify what can be used where, and when an ignition or thermal barrier must be used to cover the product in order to meet codes and protect occupants in the event of a fire.  Read all about our research at www.PureEnergyCoach.com and click on Quality… Continue

Who doesn’t pat themselves on the back when Google puts money into their industry? Ah, the giant likes this market. I must be on the right track!

So what does it mean now that Google has announced it will retire its Google PowerMeter because it didn’t catch on? Are all those companies who are investing in smart grid on the wrong track?

Clearly not. Google had star quality…

Continue